How to get patients to keep their dental appointments? | #digital #healthcare #marketing

Everyone is strapped for time, including your patients. In today’s fast-paced life, your patients’ dental care often takes a backseat. Work deadlines, social commitments, and family responsibilities may seem more critical in your patients’ lives than a routine dental appointment. Often, patients end up canceling dental appointments.

Missed appointments are detrimental to your dental practice, and your patients suffer by not getting the oral hygiene care they deserve. If you are dealing with cancellations because your dental patients are busy, these tips can help you increase show-up rates while strengthening your relationship with patients.

1. Know your dental patients’ needs: To ensure that your patients keep their dental appointments, it is critical to tell them the importance of your services, why they should visit you regularly, and that you understand their healthcare needs. This will demonstrate that your dental practice provides services that can help patients ensure their dental hygiene.

2. Send appointment reminders: Reminding patients about upcoming dental appointments is one of the most effective strategies to help them keep appointments. Relying on your busy patients to remember their dental appointments might result in a lot of missed visits. Even the most organized patients will appreciate a quick text or call reminding them of their upcoming appointment.

3. Reduce waiting time: One of the key reasons for patient dissatisfaction is the wait time at dental practices. If not addressed, excessive waiting hours can cause you to lose even the most loyal patients. You must remember that your patients’ time is as precious as yours, and you must commit to them precisely the way they have committed to you. As a thumb rule, 10 to 15 minutes is an acceptable wait time. Anything over 20 minutes, and your patients will start getting restless. You will most likely be dealing with angry and upset patients who are not interested in returning to your dental practice.

Want more tips to get dental patients to keep their appointments? Contact our experts!