At the corporate office we would have staff meetings that just focused on how to stop cancellations but I didn't feel like it was the right way. We were forced to tell sick people to still come to their dental cleanings or we would charge them for short notice cancellation. My supervisor was absolutely controlling. She would print the schedule before I started confirming and would take note of how many people cancelled their appointments. The most dramatic was a patient I called after checking her insurance and noticing that it was inactive. I called her initially to see if she had new insurance. Not only did she not have insurance, but she just found out she had cancer and was extremely sick. She told me that just drinking water made her vomit. Surely you would agree that it would be inhumane to force this patient to come to her appointment, so we rescheduled her.
The next day my supervisor let it rip. She told me that was completely unacceptable and that that patient should have still made it to her appointment. This is absolutely heartless... and not the way to treat patients. It's really important to make a patient feel like they are important, but on the flip side, a patient must understand that the Doctor's and staffs' times are also important. With Covid19, we had to close our office for 2 months to stay at home and practice social distancing. We would have a limited staff go in once a week to see emergencies. I had to reschedule 2 months worth of patients which results in us being way booked out. Patients were used to getting in within a couple weeks for a cleaning. This has changed dramatically and now we are booked out for months. I've been in my current office for 6 months and I've gotten to know patients well as far as how they like to schedule. I know who to call when I have a last minute cancellation and need someone to come in within an hour or two... and I also know the ones that are notorious for cancelling last minute. One girl has cancelled her 2 hour appointment so many times and nothing was getting through to her. I normally give warnings and state that the next time I will charge $50 / hr but I really try not to actual charge someone that amount. This girl wasn't getting it. The next time she cancelled, I send a letter with a $100 charge and stated I would waive it if she showed up to her appointment. I texted her 2 days before instead of the day before to confirm her appointment. I was shocked she replied right away because normally she'd wait to reply the day of her appointment to cancel. I was so happy when she actually made it to her appointment!! She probably has wasted more than 10 hours of Doctor's time due to all her cancelling. So what is my protocol? 1.) 1-2 warnings clearly stating the fee and that it was been written off 2.) Let patient know you'll write it off after they make it to their appointment 3.) Dismissal If your doctor doesn't agree with this kind of protocol then they obviously don't value their own time so why should you value it? Also, don't feel bad for letting a patient know that they should have given more notice especially when so many people are trying to get in. When a patient cancels last minute and wants to reschedule, don't reschedule them for an appointment next week... schedule them out at less a month a let them know you are booked up. If they ask to be put on the short call list let them know you will, but don't let that person be your first option when you're filling cancellations. I honestly try to avoid calling these people. Some of these things might sound extreme but I have been successful with lower our cancellation rate.
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