Mistakes happen and calendars get mixed up but missed appointments cost your clinic, staff, and patients more than just time. For every missed appointment a patient loses valuable recovery gains. Whether it’s from forgetting appointments to poor appointment schedulers, here’s how to cut down on missed appointments.

1) Missed Appointment Fee

Accidents and mistakes happen and no one wants to charge a missed appointment fee but sometimes they are necessary. Missed appointment fees encourage patients to attend their appointments so as to avoid any unnecessary fees. You can make exceptions for things like deaths, accidents, etc. Missed appointment fees just make missed appointments more of a rare occasion and less of a habit.

2) Offer Prepaid Appointments

Prepaid or package appointments can not only keep patients from missing their time slot but also keep your clinic from losing out on that cash. You can offer rewards or discounts for patients who choose to purchase a bulk of appointments at a single time.

3) Offer Group Appointments

As a PT, you know that some treatments don’t require as much one-on-one as others. Knowing this, you can consider offering group appointments. Some people do better in group settings and the extra accountability from a group setting could encourage greater participation and treatment success.

4) Set Automatic Appointment Reminders

Texts, phone calls, emails, and mailers are all great ways to remind patients leading up to their appointment that they have an appointment coming up. Sometimes even the best, most efficient patient gets their days and times mixed up. Automatic appointment reminders are also a great way to keep your clinic and patients staying in touch in between appointments

5) Utilize a Patient Portal for Scheduling

Placing the burden of responsibility on the patients to schedule their own appointments can improve the likelihood that they’ll actually show up. Patients can pick their date and time from the comfort of their own space and are more likely to show up since they are the ones responsible for scheduling a said appointment.