Automated patient appointment reminders — the data is in

Diana P. Friedman shows the significant impact on no-shows, practice efficiency, and production

In the Internet age, digital communications have extensively replaced face-to-face communication and interaction. Channels for digital communications expanded vastly over the past years.

Considering the fact that existing and prospective patients are online, orthodontic practices have had to identify effective ways to best leverage these new channels of communications to acquire, engage, and retain their patients while maintaining practice efficiency and profitability.

Research has consistently shown patients welcome these innovative ways of communicating. A national research study by Sesame Communications documented that 92% of orthodontic patients stated they find it more convenient to find answers online rather than calling the practice.  The same study found that orthodontic patients prefer SMS text and email reminders over phone reminders 4 to 1.

Automated appointment reminders

Being accessible to patients online not only provides a great convenience and benefit to the patients, it drastically improves efficiencies for the practice as well.  Automated patient reminders enable the practice to confirm scheduled appointments via email, text messages, or automated voice reminders.

Automated appointment reminders dramatically reduce practice no-shows and positively impact production. An added benefit is the fact that automated reminders allow practices to communicate with their patients in the manner they prefer.

Practice production is at the epicenter of a practice’s financial performance. Production not only impacts the cost structure of the practice, it more significantly defines revenue flow — and ultimately, profitability. In an orthodontic practice, it is further important to keep patient treatment on track to minimize costly delays and complications with delivery of orthodontic care. For this reason, appointment no-shows have a devastating impact on practice financial performance and its ability to complete treatment plans on schedule.

Orthodontists clearly recognize this fact. In a 2012 national research study, 20% of orthodontists stated their top need is to reduce no-shows in the practice, and 22% noted improving patient communications was a priority. Improving patient communications generally has positive impacts on compliance with treatment completion and appointment attendance. Automated reminders have the potential to cost-effectively and efficiently address these needs.

Research shows that today almost 70% of orthodontic practices have some form of automated appointment reminder solution. However, until recently there has been very limited research to document the impact these solutions have on no-show rates and practice production. With advanced systems costing $300 per month on average, the return on investment (ROI) justification for this investment has, to date, been a challenge.

The following sections provide detailed findings and analysis of a longitudinal study research tracking orthodontic practice production and efficiency pre- and post- activation of Ortho Sesame automated appointment reminders.

Impact on practice production

Sesame Communications, a leading provider of orthodontic patient portals, announced the results of a breakthrough study measuring the impact of automated patient appointment reminders on practice production. The study spanned 5 years of actual performance data, and tracked the detailed confirmation and patient attendance rates on 19,773,041 scheduled appointments across 427 practices.

The research study tracked no-show appointments documented in the practice management software. Since many practices do not consistently input no-show appointment codes in patient records, the findings of the study are likely to be a conservative baseline of the upside for practices activating automated appointment reminders.

The objective was to analyze how no-shows changed post-implementation of automated appointment reminders. The data spanned 24 months of appointment data prior to the activation of Ortho Sesame automated appointment reminders and 36 months post-activation.

The study found that in the first 36 months of implementing automated appointment reminders, no-shows were reduced by 21.83% in orthodontic practices.

The financial implication of schedule compliance is significant. This research documented $105,322 in incremental production for orthodontic practices due to schedule compliance —  revenue that would otherwise be lost. The benefits of practice production improvements continued throughout the 36-month post-activation period.

Incremental practice production achieved through improved appointment show rates

As the preceding data clearly demonstrates, there is a substantive and significant productivity impact to activating automated patient appointment reminders in the practice.

Evaluation of ROI on automating patient appointment reminders is straightforward. The annual costs of automated appointment reminder software packages range from $600 for very basic limited functionality solution to $3,600 for the most sophisticated packages. Even at the high end of the spectrum, the ROI is astounding, and the practice recovers the entire first-year fees within the first 6 months post-activation.

Impact on practice efficiency

Management of the appointment schedule has pivotal importance on practice production and collection. In most practices, a key component of management is the development and implementation of detailed scheduling systems and confirmation procedures. Implementation of these systems is extremely time-consuming as it requires the execution of an inordinate amount of personal outbound calls.

In the fast-paced environment we all live in, connecting with patients in person to confirm appointments is often challenging and time-consuming. Administrative team members focus significant energy and time on managing patient flow. This is valuable time that may best be leveraged creating relationships with existing patients, market-ing the practice, re-activating patients, following up on incomplete diagnosed treatments, and more.

Evaluation for ROI on automating patient appointment reminders is, once again, straightforward. An average hourly cost of an administrative team varies between¹  $14.28 and $26.08. Even a conservative 20-hour weekly focus on appointment confirmations and last moment appointment cancellation and no-show management placed a weekly burden on the practice of $275.60 to $521.60. This may not seem significant, but at an average 50 weeks of practice operations, the annual costs range between $13,780 and $26,080.

Even at the high end of investment in automated appointment reminders, the savings in administrative costs of the practice allow for a quick recovery of the investment. The impact is not only in cost savings, but also the team’s ability to use the time savings to grow the practice and to increase production and collections.

Conclusion

Automated appointment reminders dramatically reduce practice no-shows and positively impact production. An added benefit is the fact that automated reminders allow practices to communicate with their patients in the manner they prefer. Interestingly, 98% of dental professionals surveyed by Sesame Communications stated that letting patients choose their preferred method of communications not only provides excellent care, but also further supports the practice’s commitment to individualized treatment.

Production and efficient operations of the practice are imperative to achieving growth and profitability. Notwithstanding these core benefits, in a national survey almost 90% of dental professionals agree that automating patient reminders gives them peace of mind that all patients are consistently contacted prior to appointments.

Sophisticated, fully integrated por-tals provide practices with significant functionality far beyond the automated appointment reminders. Most patient and practice portals incorporate other valuable features, such as patient marketing functionality (including education and re-activation tools); patient engagement tools (including newsletters, special event e-cards, and appointment review tools); financial past due e-reminders; patient referral functionality; and the ability to view and share treatment images and animations of treatments to patients’ social media channels. These features generally do not require any incremental investment, yet help drive new patient acquisition, increase treatment plan adoption and completion rates, and increase collections — all critical components in maintaining a healthy, thriving practice.