Your opinion of confirmation calls?

Our office is implementing a new system for %26quot;confirming%26quot; dental hygiene appointments which are generally scheduled 6 months in advance. Which of the following do you think would work the best? We are trying to decrease last minute/day of cancellations.





1) Two days prior......This is Cherie calling from ABC Dental. This is a courtesy call to remind you of your 60 minute appointment with Dr. Tooth for Monday October 7th at 2:30pm. We look forward to seeing you then!





2) 1 week prior...... This is Cherie calling from ABC Dental. I am calling to verify your time commitment with Dr. Tooth on Monday October 7th at 2:30pm. We have reserved 60 minutes for you. Will you be here? (patients says yes) Great! Would you like a courtesy call a few days prior to your appointment?





3) 1 week prior.... same as above but replace %26quot;time commitment%26quot; with %26quot;appointment.%26quot;





****I appreciate your input****

Your opinion of confirmation calls?
I%26#039;ve been a schedule coordinator in the field for about 6 years and have found that a week ahead works well and then a reminder a day before.





1 week prior..This is Lila calling from ABC Dental. I wanted to make sure you have us on your calendar for your cleaning appt. scheduled for this next coming Monday, October 7th at 2:30pm. Great! May I confirm the appt now and would you like a reminder call the day before?





1 day before...This is Lila from ABC Dental calling to reconfirm your cleaning appt for tomorrow, Monday, October 7th at 2:30pm. Should you have any questions or concerns in regards to your appt. please give us a return call at 123-4567. Otherwise, we hope you have a good day and we look forward to seeing you at your appt tomorrow, Monday, October 7th at 2:30pm.





This dialogue has been working well for me..should they cancel when you call a week ahead, you have a whole week to fill the appt.





Hope this helps...
Reply:I would use script 1.


My DDS%26#039;s office call the day before and so does my MD%26#039;s office.
Reply:My dentist%26#039;s office calls me 2 working days prior to remind me (and I appreciate it as usually I have forgotten). She is quite accommodating as I sometimes have to re-schedule. I think that calling twice is using up more of your valuable time. I prefer to have it called an appointment... I have never heard of a %26#039;time commitment%26#039;
Reply:I like to get a call 2-3 days prior. I%26#039;ve usually forgotten the exact time or where, so it%26#039;s nice to get the reminder, but make sure it%26#039;s early enough so if I need to change it we have time to do so.





and appointment is better than time commitment (what an odd phrase!)
Reply:I have managed a dental office for 9 years now %26amp; what we find that works is we send out recall cards 2 weeks prior to the 6 mo appt %26amp; then call the day prior also!
Reply:Sending out reminder cards is good. can be costly but if your no show rate is more then 5% your ROI is well worth it. Is your staff making calls or are you using a computer ( there are several out there that are good. The reports that you get are great for tracking also. You can use the reports to verify if the phone number has changed, If your appts are made 6 months plus in advance people move, start to use cell phones vs a land line. This will give the staff a heads up if they need to make it a point to get a current phone number. I also like the idea of a reserved appt. A more patient friendly word or phrase along this line also might help for those that %26quot;blow off%26quot; the appt. Not realizing that if they do not show you have blocked out 60 minutes. Maybe something along the lines of Dr Tooth will see you at 10 on Monday might reiterate to the patient that if the doctor is expecting them they should make it a point to make the appt. Three days is a good time frame. Gives you a chance to fill the spot. Have a wait list available for those pts that can come in at a moments notice or for those pts that could not get in earlier. They can be called to fill in the cancellations
Reply:I like #1 so they can%26#039;t give you an excuse they forgot. Usually if you confirm a week early they always tend to forget. Also on their appt card you should have a note indicating a 24hr cancellation notice or charge will be applied.


Waived the first cancellation but make sure they are aware they will be charge for any subsequent no show.



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