You’ve recently logged a patient into your system for an appointment at your clinic. Then, you get a call from that patient a few days later and they ask if they can cancel their appointment. What next?
There are various ways a clinic can handle patient cancellations. To learn about how clinics can choose to approach patient cancellation, what may be considered the best approach to handle these cancellations, and how the right option can help you maximize your profits, keep reading.
What are some of the best ways clinics can approach handling patient cancellations?
- Send extra reminders before the appointment — Most patients find it helpful to receive reminders via phone call or text. These reminders can be sent several days before the appointment. Or, they can be sent 48 hours before the appointment. You may want to ask patients how they would prefer to receive their appointment reminders, such as by email, text or phone call.
- Impose a late fee for all cancellations — One way to handle patient cancellations is to have a firm cancellation policy in place. This policy could include the implementation of a late fee in every instance where a patient chooses to cancel their appointment; no matter how far away from the appointment the cancellation is, patients will be charged for canceling their appointments.
- Impose a late fee for cancellations within 24 hours of the appointment — Another cancellation policy that could be one of the best approaches for handling cancellations is the 24-hour policy. Any patient that cancels their appointment within 24 hours of the day the appointment is scheduled for will be charged a late fee. Fees are one way to incentivize patients to cancel ahead of time or to avoid canceling appointments altogether.
How can a financial consultant help a practice maximize its profit without losing customers?
Hiring a financial consultant can help your practice meet and possibly even exceed its profit goals without losing customers. A financial consultant is an experienced professional who knows which strategies can help you maximize efficiency and profitability while accounting for cancellations at your clinic. It’s important to seek out financial services so that your practice can succeed.
Alliance PTP can help you choose the best approach to handling patient cancellations
Alliance Physical Therapy Partners firmly believes that partnership means creating something that is greater than the sum of its parts. Alliance PTP is proud to bring together physical therapy clinics around the nation to help people get the kind of treatment they’re looking for and then exceed their expectations. Want to learn more about joining Alliance PTP’s growing list of partners? You can read more on our page for practice owners here.
Contact our team today for more information about how we can help your practice or to find out how you can join our partnership in care.