How To Create Effective Patient Appointment Reminders?

We already know that how no-show appointments will affect the practice revenue. Healthcare practices are searching for the right strategies and tools to combat missed appointments. Out of many, patient appointment reminders are one of the best ways to reduces no-shows and attract your patients online.

The traditional way of reminding patients about their upcoming appointments via phone is still effective, but the advanced combination of phone, text, email, and also appointment reminder software will help you to achieve better outcomes quickly.  In this blog, Vozo listed out the smart 6 tips to effectively create appointment reminders.

6 Smart Tips For Patient Appointment Reminders

1. Reminder Your Patients On Time

Before opting for the method to remind your patients, at first reminding your patients on time gives your effective results. It is very important to remind your patients before their scheduled appointments, so they won’t forget about their upcoming appointments. It is also important how many times you remind your patients, the exact number of reminders may depend on some of the factors including:

• How long it is between patient appointments
• Regardless of whether your patient has selected for text messages
• Regardless of whether you have valid email id’s of your patients
• What the patient’s very own inclinations are for reminders?

Request them to pick into text and email updates, which makes it simpler for you to send numerous interchanges that will not appear to be irritating or overbearing.

2. Send Effective Email Reminders

Out of the primary types of messages, E-mails can contain the most data, which is more advantageous for both patients and staff. For instance, e-mail may incorporate any of the accompanying:

• Extraordinary guidelines required for the upcoming appointment, similar to any lab prerequisites that should be finished preceding the appointment
• Your cancellation policy
• A clickable link or button that directs your patients to your online patient intake forms or patient portal
• Links to your healthcare practice social media accounts
• Your practice location

An email updates two weeks before the meeting with any significant instructions on data they need in advance like a lab test, insurance information, etc.

A second email update the multi-week before the arrangement that emphasizes significant data about what to do or bring the day of the appointment (utilizing an automated system that can change depending on their last response is ideal, so you don’t rehash instructions for something they have effectively done)

3. Take Advantage of Text Messaging

If you need a powerful method to reach payments, you will need to use text messages. Numerous patients overlook calls, especially patients in a younger demographic. Interestingly, text messages are bound to be seen.

Normally, you’ll need to get the authorization of your patients before you begin sending them instant messages. Nonetheless, this is something that a large portion of your patients will readily consent to. When you begin utilizing text message reminders, you’ll see a gradual reduction in missed appointments.

You may likewise give patients the alternative to get a final text reminder closer to their scheduled appointment, like the morning of or an hour prior, if they think they might forget.

4. Personalize The Message You Send

The most important factor in any reminder system is the degree of personalization. So, it’s imperative to have online appointment reminder software or EHR software with appointment scheduling and reminding features that automatically pull updated information from the patient’s chart to give accurate instructions.

For example, a practice needs to have an online reminder system that can pull the accurate date and time for the appointment, along with the instructions like how to reach the clinic. So, creating a message in a personalized way will help you to reduce patient no-show rates easily.

RELATED: Improving Patient Satisfaction Is So Easy With These 8 Tricks

5. Consider Sending Out Different Types of Reminders

The one thing you should keep in mind while sending patient reminders is that a single method won’t help you to reduce any shows. If you send only one type of reminder, the chances are high that it won’t be seen by your patients. For example, sometimes an email reminder may be received under the spam folder so that your patients won’t able to notice it.

The smart way to reach your patients is to send out the remainder of their choice or multiple reminders through different methods. For example, you can send a text message and make an automated phone call. Even if your patient can’t pick up your call, they may see the text message you sent. This reminds them of their future appointments very easily.

6. Get Started With Automated Appointment Reminders

Trying to do all the three primary types of reminders like phone, text, and email will be a very stressful job for your practice staff. So it is better to get started with automated patient appointment reminders. This can automatically schedule cal, send text and emails to your patients on time. Integration with your practice management software and EHR is very important for an effective automated reminder system.

RELATED: Automated Appointment Reminders: Why It Matters In 2021?

How Vozo Helps Your Practice?

Vozo EHR offers advanced appointment scheduling and reminder features with an interactive and easy-to-customize option that strengthens the communication between your practice and your practice. Our appointment reminder feature enables you to securely connect with your patients automatically and helps you to ultimately reduce no-show rates.

To learn more about how you can get started with patient appointment reminders in your practice, schedule a demo with Vozo and see how our software solutions work for your practice.