Reduce No-Shows With a Patient Appointment Reminder System

Estimates suggest that practices lose up to 14% of their annual income due to missed appointments, or “patient no-shows,” every year.  Patients who fail to arrive at their scheduled appointment reduce practice revenues and place an unneeded burden on admin staff.

A patient appointment reminder system can improve no-show rates and increase a practice’s overall profitability and efficiency. In fact, a 2010 study in the American Journal of Medicine found that the no-show rate dropped by 10% when an appointment reminder system was in place. Moreover, studies investigating no-show rates from a patient’s perspective found that many times, they just do not understand the scheduling system. These and other studies underscore the importance of selecting an effective electronic medical record (EMR) that includes evidence-based patient appointment scheduling software.

With such a large percentage of their revenue at stake, healthcare providers need to vigilantly monitor missed appointments, especially those offering services with notoriously high no-show rates including physical therapy, cardiology, chiropractic, and pain management. Choosing an EMR with a fully integrated alert and reminders system enables healthcare providers to improve preventive care efforts, increase practice productivity, provide better patient care, and increase annual revenue.

Why certain specialties may have a greater need for appointment reminder software

Physical therapy centers are well-known for having high frequencies of recurring appointments.  Similarly, providers offering musculoskeletal and rehabilitative services should consider a physical medicine EMR that includes scheduling software and an appointment reminder system in order to reduce this financial risk.

Pain management is another specialty that requires frequent follow-up appointments and faces a high number of no-shows.  Similarly, cardiology clinics tend to require a high number of tests in succession, many of which cannot be performed at the same appointment.  In general, the more appointments a specialty requires of a single patient, the higher profit loss they face due to patient forgetfulness.

Patient no-shows are troubling for chiropractors as well, with some practitioners reporting up to 12 missed appointments per week. Chiropractors should seek out appointment reminder solutions tailored to their specific needs and included in their Chiropractic EMR.

Selecting an effective EMR with built-in appoint scheduling and patient reminder software allows healthcare providers to spending less time worrying about their no-show rates and more time focusing on their patients.  For more information about choosing the best EMR to reduce missed appointments, contact us online or call us at (480) 782-1116.