3 Ways to Reduce the Number of No-Shows in Your Dental Office

Having no-shows at your dental office will cost you money and otherwise drain your practice. Of course, things do happen and there will be the occasional no-show from time to time. However, you need to ask yourself what an acceptable no-show rate for your dental practice should be. If you have the right practices in place, your target for no-shows can be as low as 1%.

Reducing No-Shows in Your Dental Practice

Below are a few effective tips on how to decrease no-shows in your dental office:

• Successful confirmation process – In the past, phone calls were the most common and effective way to remind patients of their appointments. Today we recommend a combination of email and text message reminders. Confirm appointments at two weeks and then two days. This confirmation process will reduce no-shows.
• Create a sense of demand – Patients who miss their appointments should not be allowed to schedule for at least a week or two out. This gives your patients the impression that your practice is in high demand, reducing the odds that they’ll pull a no-show again because they know that it will be difficult to reschedule.
• Threaten charges for no-shows – Lastly, put a policy in place that if a patient misses two or more appointments in one year, there will be a fee ($50-100). Reiterate that the dentist has chosen to waive the fee this time. It’s not a good idea to actually charge your patients, as this could lead to alienating them. But the threat alone is often enough to put a stop to chronic no-show patients.  

All dentists have no-shows in their offices, it’s an inevitability. But using the above strategies can help you decrease no-shows and increase the profitability of your dental practice. For more information on the success, sales, and acquisitions of dental offices, please contact CTC Associates today. Our goal is to help you reach yours!