Today, about 82.4% of Americans own mobile phones and as the years progress, this number keeps increasing too. This number is a strong enough proof that the best way to reach people will be through their mobile phones. It goes the same with medical appointments booked three or four weeks ago. Sometimes sticky notes on the fridge or in planners are not enough to remind you just in time for your next appointment. So for medical clinics, it is time to take matters into your own hands by proactively reminding your patients that they need to see you on the date and time that they have specified when they first called in. This can only be achieved by having an automated appointment reminder system in place.
Clinics that provide appointment reminder services through text and call have experienced a drop in their no-show rate a month or two after implementation. This is because patients experience two things:
• Properly customized reminder messages establish a positive impression that would make patients want to come at their requested appointment schedule
• You are making it less of a hassle for your patients since you are the one reaching out to them via reminders
And to widen the scope of patients that you can reach, you must set your system to send out phone, call and text reminders without human intervention. It must also record all replies in a central database for easy monitoring by your staff during your clinic's hours of operation.
But if your patients do not want to receive reminders, regardless of the means, you should respect that decision. So instead of making your appointment reminder compulsory whenever patients make appointments, make it optional. Give your patients the freedom to choose whether or not they want to be reminded and how they want to receive reminders from you. Other than that, get their approval whenever you save their contact information in a central database and if you plan on using their information to send future marketing messages.
To make sure that only those who agreed to receiving appointment reminder messages actually get contacted, let them fill out a form provided by the staff (if they come in to set an appointment). If appointments were set via the online scheduler, patients should be directed to a web form so that they still fill it out. And what happens if they only called in for an appointment? A verbal confirmation will do.
In addition, in every appointment reminder message sent, the phone number to reach a medical receptionist for changes and cancellations should be included. If patients know how to contact you in case they can't make it to their next appointment, then the slot would be opened for another patient. Since the reminder messages were sent two or three days prior to the appointment, that gives ample time for the other patients to fill the cancelled or postponed slots.
Bear in mind that every missed appointment is a point against your target monthly revenue goals. The effect may not be immediately felt by your clinic but over time, it will be. So to make sure that your monthly revenue target is met, implement appointment reminder software properly.
Experience the positive effects of appointment reminder software that has been created with efficiency at its core. Call AngelSpeech today to get a free demo of how the best appointment reminder software should work
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