We’ve all had to deal with last minute changes in the schedule due to cancellations and no shows. But is there any way to minimize these occurrences? In this course we aim to provide you with useful, easy to implement strategies to decrease your chances of cancellations and no-shows.

Yes, sometimes patients will have valid reasons to cancel or not show up, but in most cases, when someone is breaking an appointment it is a sign that they did not see the value of keeping that commitment. In other words, the dental visit was moved one or more notches down in the stack of priorities of the patient’s mind.

POLICY

Every office has a different policy on cancellations, broken or late appointments and no-shows. Whatever your policy is, make sure your front desk spends a couple of minutes discussing it with the patient beforehand. The last thing you want to do is to bring up the policy like a King’s proclamation after the patient has failed to show up.

Try your best to make it part of the friendly conversation when you’re making the next appointment.

“We’re counting on seeing you here on the day of your appointment. However if for some reason you’re not able to make it, we kindly ask that you give us at least 48 hours advance notice to give the appointment to another patient on our waiting list.”

It is difficult to remind someone about the policy without feeling like you’re scolding them, but you can’t have control of the schedule unless you’re able to have a candid talk about the policy with patient’s that keep failing.

To approach this subject you need to have tact but be firm. Show genuine concern about the consistent behavior and ask them if there is anything you can do to help them make it to their agreed appointment on time. An extra reminder?, a call to their spouse. If after offering suggestions, the patient does not show interest in changing the habit, you must make them aware of the consequences of continuously breaking appointments.

“John, I know you are a very busy person and it is hard for you to make it to your appointments, but when you fail to show up with enough advance notice, not only you risk changes on your dental treatment, but it puts a heavy burden on us scrambling to find someone to take your spot at the last minute. Can we agree on making your next dental appointments a priority?”