Aspire2d's Basics Series: Appointment Reminders

In this series we'll offer up practical and effective techniques to improve and develop all the basics involved in the A-Z of a purposeful, productive dental practice focused on creating the ultimate customer service culture.

Appointment reminders are a courtesy service the practice gives patients to remind them of an upcoming appointment. The reminder can be given via sms, email or phone – whichever is more convenient for the patient and it is good practice to ask the patient which they prefer and record this on their file.

Before we go on, one important thing I have to get off my chest...

This is Not a Confirmation!

We Do Not Confirm!

The reminder is not a confirmation call. Patients should be informed that appointments are considered confirmed at the time of scheduling. The golden rule of the reminder service is never to use the word “confirm”.
If we use the word “confirm” during the reminder, we imply to the patient that the appointment is not confirmed until the patient says so – which is at the time of the call or sms or when they reply. It also implies that as the appointment is unconfirmed, the patient is able to cancel, hassle-free.

This is a totally unacceptable scenario.

Reminding Protocol

Appointments should be reminded in line with the Cancellation Policy of the practice. For example, if the practice has a ‘2 working day’ notice period to change an appointment, the reminder should be at least 2 working days prior.

• General appointments should be reminded 2 working days in advance
• For longer appointments (more than 1.5 hours) which are high production appointments, the reminder should be sent 3 days in advance.
• Appointments made in advance by one month or more should also be reminded 3-4 days in advance.
• Appointments such as recalls made 6 – 12 months in advance, should be reminded one month prior and again 2 days before.
Giving ample time when reminding affords the practice time to respond to any possible changes in the schedule. It does not mean we allow changes in the schedule – it means that we can manage the change in line with front desk protocols by successfully motivating the patient to keep their appointment.

Ample notice should allow the patient time to arrange their schedule in order to keep their appointments as they should have done at the outset.
However, if the patient is unable to attend, then the FDC has at least 2 days to work on filling the opening in the schedule.

Procedure for Reminding

• Reminders must be completed first thing in the morning. This allows the most time for patients to respond and for the Front Desk Coordinator (FDC) to manage any changes.

• By the end of the day, follow up with a phone call any patients who have not responded.

• The next morning, follow up again patients who have still not responded – by any appropriate means available.

• Remind Recalls and Hygiene appointments this day in one month.

Verbal script for reminding over the phone

“Hello Mary, this is Grace from Greenhills Dental Care. You have an appointment for this Thursday at 9am with Dr Bird. He will be completing 2 fillings and you will be here for one hour. <wait for patient to respond> Great! See you then”.

This script has been designed to simply inform the patient about the details of the upcoming appointment. It also begins the conversation about the treatment which would be useful if the FDC needs to manage the patient wanting to change the appointment.

It does not mention “reminding”. Why not?

If you chose to say: “Hello Mary, this is Grace from Greenhills Dental Care. I’m calling to remind you about your appointment on Thursday at 9am”, the following might occur:
i. ‘Reminding’ could imply the patient is forgetful and some patients do take offence to that.
ii. It could give the patient the opportunity to cancel. “Oh, lucky you called, I totally forgot! I can’t make it”
iii. It does not instil any value to the appointment in terms of treatment or length of time.

Verbal script for reminding over the phone – leaving a message

“Hello Mary, this is Grace from Greenhills Dental Care. You have an appointment for this Thursday at 9am with Dr Bird. He will be completing 2 fillings and you should be here for one hour. Please let me know you have received this message by calling me on 9821 5533 by 4pm today”

Script for reminding via sms

Automated SMS is convenient but it can be less useful in terms of instilling value into the message as the number of characters is limited. Therefore, a simple message that does not encourage a reply sms to cancel is required.
“Hello Mary, Dr Bird is looking forward to seeing you on Thursday, 18 April at 9am. Please reply YES or call 98215533.”

As with most front desk protocols including verbal skills and scripts, language is very important.  Using positive language and especially not using language that encourages behaviour you don't want is very effective.

Patients need to value their treatment and the service you are providing.  They can only do this if you are actively working to meet their needs, finding out what motivates and concerns them.  Active listening skills and objection handling techniques are key for everyone in the practice, especially the dentist.  Because we all know, cancellations happen in the surgery, not at the front desk.

PS Changes in the schedule will happen and having effective protocols and skills including scripts to assist you to motivate the patient to keep the appointment, is vital.