Tips to Create the Most Effective Automated Patient Reminders

1. Tips to Create the Most Effective Automated Patient Reminders It’s a well known fact that no show appointments add unnecessary costs to your practice expenses because they leave openings in your schedule that can be almost impossible to fill. These unfilled timeslots result in $150 billion or more in lost revenue for healthcare practices across the U.S. Implementation of a physical therapy scheduling software is one the most practical and effective ways to combat missed appointments. In the past, phone calls were the only way to remind patients of appointment times, but were very time consuming for staff. Today, a combination of automated email, text messaging and phone reminders are much more helpful in reminding patients of their upcoming visit, saving your staff time in the process. It's an important balance between reminding patients to keep their appointments and annoying them until they start to ignore reminders or get to the point they don’t return at all. The number of reminders sent can depend on several factors: - time between appointments - if the patient has opted for text messages - if the patient has a valid email address on file - most importantly, what the patient’s preferences for reminders are You should ask each patient if they would like to opt in for email and text reminders. This allows you to send multiple reminders without appearing overbearing and annoying. A typical reminder schedule may include: - email reminder two weeks before the scheduled appointment that includes any instructions for information they need to bring such as insurance verification, lab results, etc. - a second email reminder one week before the appointment date that restates the information

2. needed as well as anything they need to do before the appointment (ie, fasting etc.) - text message the day before the appointment Customize the Message A generic message is much less helpful to your patients than one that is personalized with important information, such as instructions on how to get to the clinic and where to park. One of the most important aspects of appointment reminder software is the level of personalization it offers the patient, so it’s vital that your software has the capabilities to pull information relevant to the individual, like current information from the patient’s chart, that will provide them with specific instructions about their appointment. Automate Reminders Trying to keep up with manual email, text and phone call reminders only adds unnecessary stress on your staff. It’s best to use an automated patient scheduling software that will schedule the text and email reminders as soon as a specific appointment is scheduled. It’s critical to integrate your practice management software with your scheduling system to achieve an effective automated system. Apollo Practice Management is an SAAS-based Physical Therapy practice management software that keeps your practice on the right path with comprehensive and user friendly applications. Served over the cloud Apollo is secure and HIPAA compliant, allowing access to your account securely from multiple devices at any time. You know exactly where you are with your finances, patient load(s), staff responsibilities and scheduling in one location. This allows you to focus on your practice, improve your efficiency in manageability, and reduces your costs in maintenance.