There’s nothing worst than a no-show. Not only are you losing money by not treating that patient, but you have a gaping, unexpected hole in your schedule that’s impossible to re-book at the last minute. You’re left with a block of wasted and unprofitable time, leaving you with just enough time to return a phone call or two.
Is it possible to proactively reduce no shows and ultimately increase the profitability of your practice? Of course. You can start by examining why no-shows occur.
Why do no-shows occur to chiropractors?
You’ll learn a lot about your practice by doing this. Begin by looking at the charts of the people that don’t show up, and see if you can uncover any trends. Look for commonalities such as they were scheduled several weeks or months ahead of time or it’s the same people repeatedly. If they were scheduled far ahead of time, perhaps they found someone that could treat them sooner. Have someone in your office call and ask. If this is the problem you should consider how easy it is to access you. You may discover you need to leave time open in your schedule for new patients.
Another thing to look at is consistency in no-shows. Are the same people repeatedly not showing up? For these folks consider keeping open one particular time of the day, such as right before lunch and the last appointment in the afternoon. This way if they don’t show up, they are not disrupting your schedule as much.
Studies show that self-paid care sees more no-shows than those whose treatment is covered by insurance. If you are a cash practice you may see higher percentages of patients not showing up than in other practices.
Some practices charge for no-shows. If you do that you can be sure the patients won’t be back! You may consider sending a note to their PCP (if you are in communications with them) so they understand what is going on and why treatment has been discontinued. You don’t want the patient bad-mouthing you to your referral source.
How can you proactively prevent no-shows?
The most common technique is to have someone in your office place reminder phone calls and/or emails a day or two before the scheduled appointment. There are also several vendors that provide automated systems that call patients in the evenings when they are most likely home. The service is fairly inexpensive and easy to implement. If you have practice management software check with your provider to ensure the automated phone system integrates with your program.
Also, include in your initial paperwork how important it is for patients to cancel appointments if they can’t make it and request a 24 hour cancellation notice.
Proactively reducing no-shows starts with you evaluating your processes. How you handle emergency treatments and new patients can be two immediate ways you can make a difference to your bottom line.
About the author
Founder of A Marketing Connection and The Copywriting Institute, Kelly Robbins, MA, is an award winning author, copywriter and healthcare marketing coach/consultant. Kelly is a blogger for both ChiroEco and MassageMagazine and is the author of Marketing 101: Why Successful Alternative Healthcare Practitioners Specialize as well as co-author of The Practice Evolution Success Kit. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection, a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to receive her free report, “5 Critical Mistakes Healthcare Marketers Make that Lose Sales and Plummet Profits” at www.AMarketingConnection.com or 303-460-0285.
