Appointment misses are the dirt that clutters the system if scheduling appointments serves as the oil that keeps your engine running. It doesn’t matter if you provide the greatest healthcare in the world if you can’t get patients through your doors. People fail to show up for appointments for a variety of reasons. So minimizing appointment misses is a tricky balance that you need to juggle in your healthcare web design.
To get it right, you’ll have to keep testing different approaches to your practice’s website to see what works best for your patients.
Automate your appointment reminders
Consider the following question. Do you ever remind patients about their appointment after they’ve made it to your office? The majority of practices will say yes! If you don’t, you should understand that the majority of practices that don’t use appointment reminders have an appointment misses rate of over 10%.
You and your team can set it and overlook it by implementing an automated appointment reminder system. It would be even better if your system were AI-driven. Once you’ve established your scheduling system, make sure it highly values convenience. An automated system may overlook your patients’ preferred dates and times.
Remind patients of their appointments
We are all kept busy by life. And, let’s face it, we could really use a reminder now and then. So, sending your patients a swift, polite, and respectful appointment reminder (or even calling them) is a good idea. This would not only assist in jogging their memory, but it is also a thoughtful (yet easy) action that many healthcare practices overlook.
One of the most popular solutions to these problems of missed appointments is to send appointment reminders. In addition, appointment reminders through email have also proven to be one of the most effective methods.
Create unique appointment templates to remind patients of their appointments
Do you still use appointment reminder cards in your office? That’s perfectly acceptable, and there’s nothing wrong with it. However, there are other innovative options to consider in your healthcare website. Encourage your patients to place their follow-up appointment in their phone’s calendar pronto!
You could also consider giving your patient’s appointment reminder tabs. The patient’s next appointment would be clearly marked on that tab.
Keep an efficient waitlist
If a patient fails to show up for their doctor’s appointment, your healthcare website must fill the spot with someone from the waiting list. This list will help fill out whoever patients will cancel their appointments. It will also help to protect your practice’s revenue.
So, how do you go about compiling such a list?
Keep in touch with your patients and find out what days of the week they are typically available. You might be able to salvage a no-show this way. If someone fails to show up for an appointment, go through the list, post it to the calendar on your website, and contact the patients to see if they’re available for a checkup.
