| Most clinics lose an average of 20% of their revenue | | | | Internet |
| due to missed appointments. Lost revenue may not be | | | | 2. Overbook, use waiting lists |
| the largest problem clinics face due to no-shows. | | | | 3. Fill new openings with walk-ins or patients from |
| Other problems span health damage, patient liability | | | | waiting list |
| risks, reduced accessibility, and impeded resident | | | | Follow up |
| education. Rigorous no-show management methods | | | | 1. Activate a sequence of reminder calls/emails to all |
| utilizing powerful vericle-like technologies, which | | | | patients 10, 2, and 1 day prior to appointment. |
| integrate scheduling and billing data, reduce no-show | | | | 2. Follow up call to find reasons for no-show and |
| rates and improve associated revenues by more than | | | | reschedule |
| 50%. | | | | 3. Follow up with warning letters after one no-show |
| No-Show Frequency Distribution | | | | 4. Dismiss from practice after three no-shows |
| No-show rates average at about 20%, where 10% | | | | Reminder calls or emails prior to appointment remains |
| clinics have less than 10% no-shows, 42% clinics - | | | | the most effective method to prevent missed |
| 10%-20%, 34% clinics - 20-30%, and 14% clinics - more | | | | appointments. Additionally, sending reminders via email |
| than 30% no-shows. Further, the top ten clinics range | | | | and allowing patients confirm online turns an office |
| 3%-9% for no-shows, while the bottom 10 clinics reach | | | | reminder into patient's action item, significantly |
| 33%-57%. | | | | outperforming the impact of a voice message or |
| No-Show Impact to Clinic | | | | postcard. |
| A missed appointment poses five kinds of problems: | | | | Note that outsourcing reminder calls to calling services |
| | | | and using the Internet reduce the cost of reminders. |
| 1. Health damage: Damage to patient's health due to | | | | Therefore reaching all patients prior to appointment |
| interrupted continuity of care or missed an opportunity | | | | makes good business sense. |
| to solve an acute health problem. The doctor also | | | | Three technologies are especially useful in |
| loses an opportunity for a timely review of patient | | | | implementing the no-show management strategy |
| health, treatment progress, etc. | | | | outlined above: |
| 2. Liability risk: A patient that missed an appointment | | | | 1. End-Of-Day Report: End-Of-Day report displays |
| and suffered an injury may have a viable cause for a | | | | New patients, Visits, Cash, Insurance, Free, Insurance |
| lawsuit against the practice. To avoid such risk, the | | | | (Billed, Collected), Cash Collected, Missed |
| doctor must maintain evidence of giving clear directions | | | | Appointments, Recalls, Patient Visit Average. |
| and making reasonable efforts to ensure patient's | | | | End-Of-Day allows the manager to reconcile revenues |
| compliance with care program, including keeping | | | | with patient visits, eliminating no-charge visits and |
| follow-up appointments. | | | | unbillable appointments. |
| 3. Reduced accessibility: Other patients were | | | | 2. Scheduler: |
| postponed and did not get access to care because of | | | | 3. Allow patient access to Internet-based appointment |
| a no-show or cancelled appointment. | | | | scheduler |
| 4. Impedance to resident education: Resident doctor | | | | 4. Update available appointment list due to cancellations |
| missed an opportunity to hone care skills. | | | | 5. Alert about new openings for patients on the waiting |
| 5. Loss of revenue: Clinic is unable to make up | | | | list |
| revenue due to missed appointments. | | | | 6. Alert about appointments with missing authorizations |
| Three-Phase No-Show Management Strategy | | | | 7. Most schedulers allow monthly, weekly, and daily |
| An effective no-show management strategy is based | | | | views. Today view should change color for no-show |
| on tracking, rescheduling, and follow up: | | | | appointments, prompting the front-office person to |
| 1. Track | | | | follow up immediately or at the end of the day |
| 2. Record all no-shows and reconcile with billing on a | | | | Search: Search feature must allow finding all no-shows |
| daily basis | | | | within specific time interval subject to specific patient |
| 3. Record no-show reasons and followup notes in | | | | name, attending physician, CPT and/or ICD-9 code |
| patient records | | | | combinations, or other demographic conditions. Upon |
| 4. Review End-Of-Day report daily | | | | finding specific appointment, drill down should be |
| Reschedule in real time | | | | available for related appointment history or recurring |
| 1. Allow patients request appointments online using | | | | appointment plan. |