Why you're missing patient appointments - and what to do about it?

What is a patient no-show?

After successfully booking and scheduling patient appointments, sometimes you may find that your patients don’t show up. This can be particularly disheartening for your practice to see, especially when you’ve taken the time and effort to prepare for and organize the assessment of specific individuals. When this happens, it’s easy to chalk it down to the patients’ doing, suggesting that no-shows are simply the result of the patient forgetting. Whilst this is certainly true in some cases, it’s important to consider that your practice may have areas that need improving when it comes to appointment scheduling.

Many healthcare businesses provide online platforms for you to use appointment scheduling software to avoid no-shows, which incorporate appointment reminders and appointment optimization tools. Choosing the right software will mean you can successfully see all of your patients, and that they are more likely to show up on time, avoiding the financial loss of around $80 that occurs every no-show. With appointment scheduling software, you can ensure your resources are receiving maximal use. 

Why are patients missing appointments?

There are various reasons why patients may be missing appointments, most of which are completely understandable. Using the right patient appointment system can help you target these numerous problem areas, and resolve the issue of no-shows. 

They simply forgot! - Sometimes it is as straightforward as the patient not remembering their appointment or the correct time and date. Naturally, we all forget things from time to time, but having patients frequently forget can be costly for your practice, and a waste of time and effort. It can also be difficult to reschedule and find an empty slot for the patient who missed their appointment. Having an appointment system with automated reminders can help avoid this issue. 

Insurance issues - A patient may not show up if there are issues concerning their insurance provider, and whether their appointment will be covered. It is vital that a patient feels assured and confident that their appointment has support if eligible, and that they are aware of any costs before they attend. Uncertainty can deter patients from showing up, and ensuring that this is clarified beforehand can alleviate any financial-related stress.

Bad experiences - Your patients may not be showing up if they’ve had previous bad experiences with your practice, or an alternative one. When it comes to healthcare, having negative feelings can greatly impact your choice in provider. For instance, if I’ve had to wait for ages at a clinic, and then had a brief appointment that I didn’t feel addressed any of my health concerns, then I’m much less likely to turn up for my next appointment. Bad experiences will mean that after your patient hasn’t turned up, they’re very likely to switch healthcare providers.

What is the cost of a patient no-show?

One of the most important aspects of a patient not showing up is the costs inferred for your clinic. Not only is there a disruption in the treatment and care of all clients, with dissatisfied patients on behalf of delayed appointments, having no-shows can also contribute to the overall losses in the healthcare industry. 

In the US, missed appointments have cost more than USD 150 billion per year, and in the UK, 1 billion pounds per year. This equates to roughly around 250,000 pounds per month! Considering how this money could have been used to assess and treat more patients, it is a great loss for the industry to have no-shows.

There are ways to minimize this cost of no-shows, such as providing cancellation fees. In Australia, it is commonplace for doctors to charge $50 for cancellations, and this way, you still have support to pay rent, staff salaries, as well as have time to fit in another patient. Using clinical practice management software, this process can be made even easier, with automated reminders and a scheduling system that optimizes rebooking of appointments for those who don’t show up.  Patient appointments don’t have to be complicated and to avoid incurring large costs, it’s best to consider the use of technology to create the highest quality patient appointment system for your practice. 

How do you handle missed appointments?

To regain control over patients missing appointments, it’s best to consider patient appointment scheduling software. These are designed with your patients in mind and specifically cater towards ensuring that patients are reminded of their appointment, and feel confident with booking systems in general. They work towards reducing no-shows, and can efficiently manage rescheduling. To help, we have provided you with tips on how to work towards providing the highest quality of care when it comes to missed appointments. 

Send reminders - The easiest way to combat missed appointments is by providing reminders to patients that are scheduled in advance. These can be email or text reminders and are sent both months and weeks in advance, as well as within 24hours of the appointment. Feel free to encourage patients to fill out any necessary information in advance too, as this serves as a perfectly good reminder, and will greatly reduce the chances of patients missing appointments. 

Warn them - If one appointment is missed, let them know that this is an inconvenience! You may not need to charge for the first appointment missed, but letting patients know that this costs time and money and that they will be charged next time will also reduce no-shows. You don’t need to word this harshly; it can be as simple as informing the patient that the next time they miss an appointment, it will cost them a specific amount. 

Engage, engage, engage! - Connecting with the patient and responding to their needs, such as scheduling morning appointments for early birds, can increase the quality of care, and the likelihood of them coming in.  This is in addition to situations when your patient doesn’t show - it’s helpful to inquire about why they didn’t come, and if they’re okay. 

Charge - Sometimes if a patient frequently doesn’t turn up, you should start to consider penalties to prevent this from happening. This may mean designing a cancellation policy that charges a late or missed fee, as patients are more likely to turn up if there is a chance that money will be deducted. You could also consider pre-paid appointments that are non-refundable in most cases, as patients are also likely to show more care when it comes to their funds.  

Final thoughts

Missing appointments is a common issue in the healthcare industry, and it can cost billions of dollars per year if not attended to. When aiming to reduce no-shows in your practice, there are various factors to consider, and with the right practical solutions, you can easily curb this common scheduling failure. 

Now knowing the reasons for missed appointments, as well as ways to address it, you may be considering using an online patient appointment booking system. Companies, such as Carepatron, are designed with client needs in mind to provide open communication when it comes to appointments. It’s an easy way to ensure your patients get through the door and allows for easily automated scheduling reminders, as well as an optimized booking system. Patient appointment booking software is becoming more and more common, and implementing these systems provide you with more efficient booking, cancelling and rescheduling options. This will help you avoid cancellation fees and ensures you can provide a high quality of care, with heavily reduced no-shows. 

 Further reading:

• No-shows cost health care system billions 
• How unkept outpatient appointments are a drain on resources?