Decrease No Show Rates to Your Medical Practice

Home » Episodes » Decrease No Show Rates to Your Medical Practice
The rate at which consumers schedule and attend appointments is key to understanding the health and success of your business. This is one of the most important KPIs for your practice, and one you should keep an eye on when you are trying to expand.   When it comes to acquiring patients, you want 70% of new patients who schedule an appointment to show up. If you are not reaching this number, you’ll need to evaluate what is keeping patients from coming in and troubleshoot solutions.
PLAY VIDEO
"For most practices, the biggest obstacle to getting patients to attend their appointment is the number of weeks between when your office speaks with the patient and when their appointment is scheduled."

Fortunately, we’ve done this work for you. Here is what you need to know:

Scheduled to Attended Rate

Goal: 70% New Patient Attendance RateSolutions
Days between lead date and appointment should be less than 10.
  1. Number of Hours Available—Should be  15-20
  2. Overbook by 30%
  3. Cancellation Fee—Require a credit card

Keep Lead Time Short  

For most practices, the biggest obstacle to getting patients to attend their appointment is the number of weeks between when your office speaks with the patient and when their appointment is scheduled. Your goal should be to get patients in for an appointment within two weeks.

After two weeks, the scheduled to attended rate can drop to 50%. You can avoid this potential drop in attendance rate by exploring a few different solutions.

Consider Your Options

Number of Consult Hours Available—Most practices with a 70% conversion rate set aside 15 to 20 hours available for new patient appointments. It’s important to be in that range on several hours and days to maximize your availability for new clients.

Overbook—If you know that approximately 30% of your appointments won’t show up, then it makes sense to overbook for the time period you have available. This will help you maximize your schedule and avoid missing out on potential new clients.

Charge Consultation Fee—If you are booked months in advance and are maximizing the hours available to you, a consultation fee makes sense. However, for a younger practice, you may consider charging a reservation/cancellation fee. Please keep in mind that adding a payment requirement will make the lead to schedule rate lower.

With these tools, you have the knowledge and power to take control of your scheduled to attendance rate so that your practice can experience exponential growth.


Post navigation