More than an annoyance, it’s a financial burden when dental practices have broken appointments. The cost could be nearly 25% of a practice’s take-home every year with broken hygiene appointments generally being the greatest economic killer.
In order to help minimize broken appointments, it’s important to understand why they happen. Dr. Charles Blair and David Jones discuss reasons from a patient’s perspective that lead to broken appointments.
- Patients do not have resources to pay for treatment on the day of case acceptance.
- Practices have failed to instill real commitment by not having verbal skills for case presentation and value building.
- Long waiting room times tells the patient you are busy and that you do not need his or her business.
For strategies on how to decrease broken appointments and add perceived value with patients, read the article Broken Appointments: The Sure Path to Poverty.
