One Dentist Eliminated No-Shows with SMS Appointment Reminders
No-shows are a serious issue in dental offices. Some surveys estimate they account for as much as 10% of appointments, resulting in thousands of pounds lost each year. Many practices send reminders via post or email, but simple appointment reminders aren’t always that effective. Not only is there a loss of revenue, but other negative side effects as well.
According to dentist Andrea Kowalczyk in an article on rdhmag.com (part of the Dentistry Network), “When hygienists and team members have too much downtime, it breeds a host of negative feelings and frustrations that permeate the practice, particularly if salaries are paid based on production numbers.”
There is something that can be done about no-shows, and it’s a simple use of technology everyone has: SMS messaging.
No-show rate "eliminated"
Today’s lifestyles are on-the-go and mobile connected. Sending a paper reminder in the mail, or even an email, just won’t get the attention you need it to. SMS messaging though, is a perfect way to get appointment reminders in front of your patients, and offer them the chance to cancel or confirm with a simple reply.
Kevin Morgester, DDS, reported that after they began using automated reminders, their no show rate “has been eliminated”. They sent messages via email or SMS (patient preference I assume) but the article reads as though text was their main method.
To get such a reduction, they send out three reminders per appointment. The first goes out a month before, the second one week before, and the final one the day before. This combination gives enough opportunity for patients to make changes or cancel, and their practice has been buzzing ever since. They now service 70% of their practice “online” and they even send post-operative care information via text and email. It works so well because as Morgester notes, “Like us, patients also work during the day and may not be able to take phone calls, but they can text or email.”
"Lost patient syndrome"
Sometimes when a patient cancels or doesn’t show up for an appointment, they can get lost. Not lost in real life, but lost in the mass of paperwork or computer records at your practice. Unless you have a method for identifying those people who haven’t been in for a year, or two, or ten they may be lost forever.
In an article on DentalEconomics.com, Linda Miles comments on the impact these lost patients have, which is similar to that of many no-shows. “Dentists see major declines in their hygiene departments, which result in major declines in the operative and restorative side of the practice. Within 90 days of this decline, panic sets in,” she says. “The doctor and staff begin to sound and act desperate, which leads the patients to suspect that something is wrong.”
If your patients begin to feel nervous about you and your practice they may not come in for their next visit, or may find another place to go. In her article, Miles details the extensive amount of work required to call each and every patient and try to get them to come back in for their regular check-ups. She estimates it can take 20-40 hours a month per dentist for this activity alone.
By using SMS messaging, you can stay in contact with your patients in a way that takes much less time, but also can prevent them from getting lost. Here’s how it works:
- You send an appointment reminder via SMS
- They cancel via SMS reply
- A month goes by (or some predetermined time period)
- You send a short SMS reminding them they need to reschedule
- They call and reschedule
This is a simple example, and it may need to be repeated at intervals until the patient reschedules (not too often or they’ll just get annoyed).
By integrating SMS appointment reminders into your practice, you can reduce no-shows and lost patients. Both can save you time, money, and keep moral high in your practice.
Related Articles
Why SMS is the Perfect Tool for your ‘Beautiful Christmas’ Campaign
Christmas is coming and with it plenty of opportunities to increase your retail sales or market your services. If you're a hairdresser or beautician, you'll know how busy you get during the festive party season. It's still not too late to create an SMS campaign for Christmas and the New Year.
Estate Agents: Sell More Properties with SMS Marketing
If you're an estate agent who isn't using SMS to increase their database of buyers and sellers, then you're an estate agent who isn't maximising their clients' phone numbers. A mobile number is something your purchasers and sellers are quite happy to share with you, and this voluntary opt-in can be invaluable when it comes to getting an edge in a competitive market. Using this information, you can create effective and affordable marketing campaigns, whether you’re alerting your clients to a change of price or promoting a particular property.
Event Promotion : Use SMS Marketing to Fill Empty Seats
If you run paying events - music, drama, sport or even fine dining, training courses or workshops, you'll know the hardest seats to fill are the last few and they are also the most profitable if you can sell them. SMS is an immediate and compelling means of event promotion that can shift those last few places.
6 Ways Gyms Are Using SMS Marketing
Marketing for gyms and leisure centres is unlike marketing within many other industries. It's not enough to simply gain a customer and expect to keep them indefinitely. It's important to make every attempt to keep that customer dedicated and interested in achieving their fitness goals to avoid lapsed memberships and cancellations. It's in every gym's best interest to have a loyal customer base that feels supported and encouraged to attend the gym regularly. Failure to do so can result in members who feel it is a waste of money to pay for a membership that they don't use often enough. That's where SMS marketing can make a big difference.
5 Reasons to use SMS for Transactional Messaging
People rely on their mobiles for everything these days. They check them up to 200 times a day! Any business that communicates with customers can take advantage of that by using SMS messaging for transactional information. Read on to see the top 5 reasons why.
SMS Marketing for Independent Driving Instructors & Driving Schools
How to Use SMS Messaging to Improve Customer Service
Global brands are increasingly taking advantage of a Short Message Service (SMS) to connect to customers and improve customer communication and engagement. This trend is taking root amongst small companies too, as they grasp the potential to not only communicate effectively in real-time but use SMS to save time and money in their customer relations procedures.
Universities and Summer Schools Use SMS to Keep Students Focused
It used to be you could skip a lecture or sleep late at university. But using the excuse you forgot about a session is about to become less believable than it already was. And it's all down to the ways educational institutions are using new technology to engage with students, mainly SMS.
Using SMS Messaging to Take Customer Communication to Another Level
When people talk about SMS marketing they usually refer to the one-way message with coupon codes for a sale. Or potentially a two-way message requiring the customer to respond with a keyword in order to get a deal. And that is customer communication for sure. It’s also marketing. But it’s just the very basics of what SMS messaging can do for your business.
5 Ways to Use SMS to Save Money and Improve Your Retail Business
Every good retail business owner knows that the key to success is keeping his or her customers happy. Your level of customer service should be all encompassing to succeed and should consist of more than just being polite to the customer at the till.