Patient Recall 1, 2, 3: Proven Strategies to Keep Your Patients Coming Back
- Hygiene & Recall Management
- 10/20/2024
- BY Leah Crites
Recognizing the power of effective patient recall is imperative to ensure your patients remain your patients. Even with the most advanced recall systems, you need to know how to use it effectively to benefit your practice.
At MaxAssist, we care about helping you keep your schedule full. Through expert advice and our 1, 2, 3 patient recall method, we can help guide you through our revolutionary software and do just that.
Step 1: Catch patients before they leave
When your patients attend an appointment, you and your team should be focused on having them start thinking about their next appointment. Pre-appointing your patients ensures they are already thinking about the next time they need to come in before they leave.
Manage your schedule ahead of time
This makes it easier to manage your schedule because scheduled patients are easier to move and adjust than unscheduled patients. Once patients are in your schedule, they’ve already committed to returning and are less likely to cancel for anything other than unavoidable circumstances.
In comparison, booking a future appointment with a patient in person is much easier than contacting them via phone call, email, or text.
Keep patients active
Booking your patients in for another appointment while still in practice also prevents them from getting lost in your practice management system. It also helps fill out your schedule ahead of time to give you a more accurate representation of what your future schedule will look like.
Ensure you’re seeing them regularly
When you get your patient to book their next appointment while they are at the practice, they will generally make an effort to keep it – more so than the effort they will put in to book their next appointment.
Encourage pre-appointments effectively
When your team asks patients to book future appointments, make sure they are using the right language and scripts. Help them communicate with confidence so they can transfer that confidence over to your patients.
Patients are more likely to book when they are aware of their flexibility. Reassure them that any dates are tentative commitments that they can reschedule at any time. You can also mention that your team will reach out to confirm the appointment closer to the time. That is their opportunity to rebook if they need to.
Step 2: Confirm tentative patients
Confirming tentative appointments helps your patients feel acknowledged. Reaching out to confirm appointments also gives your patients a chance to reschedule if something has come up, remind them of their upcoming appointments, and ask any questions they may have before their appointment.
Give them a chance to reschedule
When patients forget about appointments, they are more likely to cancel them last-minute or even no-show, especially when something else comes up. When you confirm their appointment, they will have a chance to reschedule if they need to.
Encourage confirmations
When guiding your staff on how to encourage confirmations, be sure to instruct them to reach out to tentative appointments at least 2 weeks from their appointment date. This way, they’re given a chance to evaluate their schedule and what they might need to shuffle around.
Additionally, be sure to give them the tools to use the right language with patients, so they know the importance of reserved appointments.
Step 3: Due patients before late and overdue
Keeping track of patients who are due for their next appointment helps keep your team on the ball.
Trying to focus on all patients, including late and overdue patients, can become increasingly daunting. If your team becomes overwhelmed, their productivity and efficiency can dwindle. It’s crucial to give them the tools and training they need to succeed.
Due vs. Overdue & Late: How Patient Recall Helps
Due patients are generally more responsive than overdue or late patients. You’re more likely to get a due patient to commit to an appointment, making the follow-up a better use of their time.
Stress the importance of dental care
Additionally, when you try to keep your patients on track, you are simultaneously sending the message that dental checkups are essential. You can also emphasize how preventative dental care, like regular cleanings, can safeguard their oral health and prevent serious problems later on.
Encourage the rebooking of due patients
Be sure to designate time for your team to follow up with due patients. Most practices report only needing a few hours a week.
Once due patients have been contacted, you can then reach out to late and overdue patients. Staying proactive can help your late and overdue patients become due patients, ensuring your schedule is kept full, and their oral health needs are appropriately cared for.
MaxAssist literally guides your team on which patients to interact with and call, and the AI assistance saves so much time. Everything’s trackable, so you know how good your team is doing at it. I didn’t expect to be blown away this much.
Focus on the 90%
90% is a magic number that you and your team should focus on when it comes to dental patient recall. This includes:
- Pre-appointing 90% of patients before they leave.
- Confirming 90% of patients before their appointment date.
- Scheduling 90% of due patients before late and overdue.
Patient recall can be a complex topic, especially if you are balancing a busy office with patient management. Combining the power of MaxAssist’s robust suite of features with the 1, 2, 3 recall method is tried and true and will help your team effectively manage the schedule without overwhelm, allowing them to focus their efforts on what matters most: delivering quality patient care.
Book Your Demo to Experience the Power of Patient Recall Made Easy
We encourage you to book a demo to see how MaxAssist can boost your practice’s patient recall and overall production.
