7 Ways to Reduce Patient No show Rates and Cancellations
For a healthcare practitioner or provider, one of the biggest worries is high patient no show rates. No shows mean when a patient fails to attend a scheduled appointment without informing the healthcare provider on a prior note. If your patients do not show up after booking an appointment, it can negatively impact growth and revenue. COVID-19 has been responsible for the increasing patient no show rates even though the availability of online medical help and telemedicine has increased. In fact, in the U.S. alone, patient no show rates or missed appointments vary from 5.5% to 50%. If patients do not show up or miss appointments, it contributes to increased health risks for the patient, care deficiency for the patient, lack of continuity for the patient healthcare provider, and loss of revenue.
In a study, it came to light that 67,000 cases of patient no shows can drag around $ 7 million from the healthcare industry. Not only that, but it also does not free up time for other patients since the provider’s schedule is booked. This creates problems for a healthcare provider as other patients begin to feel they are not getting the access to the care they need.
7 Ways to reduce patient no show rates
Reducing patient no show rates is extremely important for healthcare providers and clinics. These seven strategies will reduce patient no show rates and manage them better.
#1: Connect with patients through a preferred mode of contact
There can be many ways to contact a patient. It includes email, phone, text messaging, or even social media. Patients also expect more from healthcare companies in terms of engagement. Patients need the convenience of being contacted in a mode they prefer. This can be phone, text messaging, or email. Patients need to be reached out in a means they prefer. Most patients(98.2%) would prefer text messaging over any other mode of contact.
#2: Give the option for digital check-ins and updates
Patients are often busy and look for an easy way to book an appointment. If a healthcare practitioner makes patients wait before an appointment, they will simply churn or lead to a no show. A digital check-in or touchless process will save precious time. Healthcare practitioners need to offer patients the chance to pre-register and communicate the same. Patients need to receive personalized text messages about their appointments.
#3: Offer easy rescheduling
Healthcare practitioners must be able to reach out to patients actively if they miss an appointment asking to reschedule. You must be able to persuade them to book another appointment for rescheduling. In this way, patients know that they can connect and continue their treatment without the hassle of looking for an appointment. Smart tools like Emitrr allow you to reschedule or book an appointment for patients with a single missed call.
#4: Cut down waiting time for patients
Reduce the duration between scheduling an appointment and the appointment itself. If your patients feel they are waiting for long, they will be frustrated. To improve patient no show rates, a healthcare practitioner needs to ensure that patients have faster access to medical services. It is important to reduce the waiting time to ensure lower no show rates. To solve this and cut down waiting time, healthcare centers need to identify where delays occur and align the scheduling process accordingly. Using a tool to schedule patient appointments and engage with them can reduce waiting time for patients.
#5: Send follow-up messages
Healthcare practitioners need to send an adequate number of follow-up messages. Appointment reminders, thank you notes, and medication messages can keep patients engaged. Healthcare practitioners can also automate thank you messages and appreciate customers regularly. This builds patient engagement and loyalty.
#6: Use texting etiquette
Texting patients the right way is important. A texting etiquette guide will help you know when is the right time to text, what to text, and how to personalize the message. A patient engagement tool like Emitrr allows clinics to include personalized tags in a message while drafting it. Make sure that the messages you send to your patients are short and crisp.
#7: Use a patient engagement software
The most effective strategy and solution to reduce patient no show rates are leveraging the support of patient engagement software. Patient engagement software tools can help you boost appointment confirmations, reduce patient no show rates, schedule patient slots better, and increase patient attendance. Patient outreach via text reduces missed appointments. With a patient engagement tool like Emitrr, a healthcare provider can make it easier for customers to book new appointments, ask questions about open hours, or set reminders for their upcoming appointments. These reminders are bidirectional allowing patients to text back if they have any questions, confusion, or want to confirm their appointment.
How Emitrr can help healthcare centers reduce patient no show rates?
Emitrr is a smart receptionist for healthcare companies so they don’t miss any appointments, calls, or messages. This can help with reducing patient no show rates and cancellations by ensuring patients are engaged and informed about the appointments, rescheduled timings, or any other critical information. Hospitals and practices can automate appointment reminders which reduce your patient no shows. These automated appointment reminders will replace manual activities so there is no chance of forgetting to remind, reschedule, or follow up.
Emitrr helps clinics prioritize patient retention and satisfaction. Dental practices, clinics, medical centers, and hospitals can use automated chatbots and AI to send notifications to communication channels they prefer- text or email or call.
Emitrr’s patient reminder and engagement solution can be integrated with EHR to reduce patient no shows.
Emitrr seeks to address the core problem of patient no shows. Patient no shows or patient cancellations can lead to revenue losses and jeopardize patient treatment and care. Emitrr’s comprehensive patient engagement and patient reminder solutions are specially for healthcare practitioners, clinics, and healthcare providers to reduce patient no show appointments, bring down cancellations, and enhance the quality of patient care.
To learn more about how Emitrr can help your small business reduce patient no show rates, talk to our team.
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