Handling missed appointments

The typical chiropractor in the U.S. and Canada averages 10% in missed appointments. Are you averaging more than that?

If you are, you're probably encountering one or two problems.

One problem might be that you usually make people wait too long. If patients spend more than 15 minutes waiting in your office, you have to start looking at the reasons why.

The other problem, and more likely, is that you don't have the right patient agreements in place. When you find that 20% of your patients are missing their appointments, something is very wrong.

Let's first take a look at patient flow and having patients wait for their treatments.

If you make people wait, they won't feel like they've got to be there for every appointment. "Heck, every time I come here I wait half an hour anyway, so what's the big deal if I miss one or two?" I'm talking especially about waiting time before patients get adjusted. Fifteen minutes is about the maximum you can afford.

Believe it or not, you lose more revenue each year from missed appointments than from anything else. Patient agreements are the key to ending missed appointments.

Here is an example of how I created these agreements with my new patients:

"Mary, we have an agreement in my clinic regarding missed appointments. And that is that you don't miss them. The only exception is an emergency.

"The agreement we have is that if you do miss an appointment due to an emergency, then you have to make it up as quickly as possible, hopefully the same day or at the very least, within seven days. If you don't do that there will be a service charge."

Your patient may reply that this seems a bit harsh, to which I would respond, "The reason we have an agreement like this is so that we can get the results we want. If you miss appointments, you will not get results from your care."

It's important at this point that either you or your C.A. give the patient a visual example, a diagram:

"Your adjustments are like the foundation of a house. Your entire care rests upon this foundation. Your health rests upon this foundation. If you were building a house and you were missing some of the foundation, what would happen to its structure? Would it be weaker? Would you put the house in danger..."

Our service charges were minimal ($3.00). We explained to patients that it was not a missed appointment charge but a service charge because my staff had to then call to reschedule. This created additional administrative steps as well as an empty time slot where another patient could have been treated.

When your C.A. phones the patient who has missed an appointment, what she says is entirely based on this agreement. The best time to call about a missed appointment is five minutes after the scheduled time. The longer you wait, the less chance you have of rescheduling for the same day.

There are many exact procedures for C.A.s when dealing with patients after they have missed appointments which are detailed at my seminars.

Most patients will accept these kinds of agreements, if presented in the proper way, with good two-way communication and ensuring they understand the service charge is really there because you want them to get the best results possible from their care.

What you will get for your efforts in changing your office habits and creating these kinds of patient agreements is a patient base that understands the value and importance of their care.