Dental Practice Management Articles from Cambridge Practice Consultants CEO - Kevin Tighe
Certain types of dental patients can be predicted to cancel or now show at a high rate. Therefore it is vital that your Scheduling Coordinator have a system to identify such patients so they can be confirmed direclty. Do not just send a postcard or a text message and assume they will show up. Such patients fall into the following categories:
1. Those who have previously broken an appointment (dismiss or put on a short list after the third no show/cancel or after the second time if not sorry).
2. Patients in their 20s (older people are the most reliable).
3. Patients who use Mediciad or any other government plan (those who pay cash or have private insurance are more reliable).
4. The further in time the patient schedules the appointment (get patients in quick!)
5. Those who have not been in the practice for some time (except if it's an emergency).
6. International patients. This is probably due to a language barrier or different moral codes, etc.
7. A parent or spouse making the appointment for their grown child or spouse.
8. New Patients ( a call from the dentist can greatly reducenew patient cancels/no shows).