Do's and don'ts for hygiene growth: Contact overdue patients

Too many practices lose patients because the office fails to reach out to them after missing an appointment. If you wait for patients to call you, you'll be waiting a long time. Instead, make it a priority to reschedule patients who missed an appointment. The sooner you can get them back on the schedule, the more likely they will remain a patient.

Be proactive about managing patients. Even your best patients will cancel occasionally due to an unforeseen event. It's up to the practice to get them back on schedule as quickly as possible. Contact them the next day and follow up for three weeks, preferably by cell phone.

Don't let patients become overdue. When patients call to cancel, try to get them to reconsider. If that doesn't work, reschedule them during that conversation. If they are hesitant to do so, ask for a good time to call them the next day or later in the week. By emphasizing the importance of hygiene appointments, you can keep patients on the schedule and prevent them from becoming inactive.

Roger P. Levin, DDS, is the founder and CEO of Levin Group, the leading dental practice consulting firm in North America. For the complete list of dates and locations where you can attend his latest seminar, visit www.levingroup.com/gpseminars.

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