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Cambridge Dental Consultants
Cambridge Dental Consultants
Dental Practice Management Articles
Blog By:
Kevin Tighe
Kevin Tighe

Broken Appointments: Following Up On

Broken Appointments: Following Up On

4/9/2014 6:38:00 AM   |   Comments: 0   |   Views: 986
 
Correctly handling missed appointments is key to the successful management of your dental practice. If not handled as soon as they occur patient treatment plans can be disrupted, the schedule is thrown off and patients can be lost.
 
When a patient misses an appointment they must be called within 10-15 minutes. Note this call as a contact note in the patient's screen. If you are unable to reach the patient try at least two more times that day. These attempts will also be noted in the patient’s appointment note. If you aren't successful in reaching the patient that day try again the following day. 

When you reach the patient reschedule the appointment. Say something to the effect of:

Dental Office Scheduling Coordinator (SC): "Hello, Mrs. Smith. This is _____________ at Dr. [name]’s Dentistry. We had you scheduled for an appointment today at 1:15 and it's 1:30 now. What happened (said in a very light manner)? I thought maybe you might have forgotten or something. I know how hectic things can get. I hope everything is OK.”

The patient will either say, "Oh gosh, I did have an appointment at 1:15. I'm so sorry," or "I thought my appointment was at 4:15."

Whatever the response is you now need to reschedule the patient. Get them in as soon as possible preferably that day. If the patient can't come in that day then try the following day.

SC: "We really need to get you in as soon as possible. You do remember the importance of getting these fillings done?" (let patient respond.) "Good! Can you come in at 3:30 today?"

Patient (Pt): "Sure."

SC: "Great. Then we'll see you at 3:30."

Keep it very light but with enough intention to let the patient know that they must make it in.

If you are unable to contact the patient the same day the appointment is missed call two more times the following day. If still no contact inform the doctor in writing that you have not been able to make contact for two days. The doctor may want to call the patient which will put more emphasis on the importance of the appointment. He will let you know if this is the case. Mainly you want the doctor to know that you are working on getting the patient rescheduled but the patient is becoming a problem.

On the third day call the patient once at lunch and once just before leaving for the night. If unable to contact send the patient a letter stating he missed the appointment three days ago and you've been unsuccessful in reaching him to reschedule. Ask the patient to please call you to reschedule. Remind him of the importance of getting the treatment done as well as what could happen if the patient's condition continues to go untreated.

The following steps occur when a patient cancels, breaks an appointment or is a no-show for their appointment:

- Remove the patient from the appointment list.
- Place on unscheduled list.
- Name will appear when trying to fill schedule on unscheduled list.

When you reach a patient who missed an appointment find out why they missed it:

SC: “You missed your appointment today. Was there a problem?” Keep it light. Don’t get angry.
Pt: “Oh, shoot. I forgot. I’m so busy at work.”
SC: “I understand. I’m sure your schedule must be hectic. We normally charge a $30 broken appointment fee but I’ll waive that for you this time. Let’s go ahead and reschedule your appointment but let’s make sure it’s at a time that you know you can keep. We run on a really tight schedule, so what is the best time for you - morning or afternoon?”
Pt: “Morning.”
SC: “All right. I have a 9:00 AM appointment on Wednesday, August 10th. Sound good?”
Pt: “Great”.
SC: “O.K. I’ve got you down for Wednesday, August 10th at 9:00 AM. I’ll call you the day before.”
Pt: “OK”
SC: “Great! I’ll see you then”

If a patient breaks an appointment for a second time and is very remorseful you can give him one more chance. Say something like this:

SC: “John, I can’t believe you missed your appointment again!!” (Not angry, not accusing. Keep it light, surprised). “What Happened?”
Pt: “I’m so sorry. I feel like a goof. I just completely forgot.”
SC: “All right. I’ll give you one more chance. But, John you must KEEP YOUR APPOINTMENT!!! It totally throws a wrench in our schedule when someone misses an appointment. We don’t double book our patients so we really need you to keep this appointment”.

Then continue with the script to schedule.

If the patient breaks the appointment for the third time or is not sorry after the second broken appointment, say the following:

SC: “I’m sorry but I just can’t schedule another appointment for you. When a patient misses an appointment it really throws a wrench in our schedule and the doctor/hygienist ends up doing nothing when he/she could have been seeing one of our other patients who may have been waiting two weeks or more. We have so many patients who really need these appointments. I can’t schedule another appointment for you but what I can do is call you when I have a last minute cancellation. I feel terrible about this because you’re at a point where you really need to get something done about your gums. They’re just going to get worse and I don’t want to see you ignoring your dental care.”

“If someone cancels at the last minute I’ll call you. If you can make it great! Or you can stop by when you have an extra hour or two. If we can get you in we will.”

www.mydentalconsultant.com

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