The NHS is on a campaign to reduce no-shows. The reason why is pretty obvious. According to their recent study, 6.4% or 7.8 million appointments out of the 122 million appointments booked in 2021-2022 were no-shows. Their total cost amounts to a gasping £650,000 a month.
No-shows are not limited to the NHS. They are also frequent in private practice, as you probably have learned the hard way. It is not unreasonable to apply the NHS rate of no-shows to private practice and assume 1 to 2 appointments cancelled last-minute or ending in a no-show.
The impact on your business is significant. This missed session hurts the therapy process. Other patients or prospects that could have benefited from the slot keep waiting. Last but not least, it drains your revenue and your energy. No-shows are the enemy, yet they are ways, tested and approved, to protect yourself.
How to avoid no-shows in private practice
First and foremost, set the boundaries clearly and explicitly. If you own a website or a page, make your no-shows rules visible there. In your first appointment or discovery session, go once more over your rules. It is easier to get your point across when no harm has been done (yet).
In addition, we recommend you to put in place the following:
Send reminders
Actually, do not send reminders: automate reminders via email and/or SMS, depending on what your clients agree to. The more professional, the better it comes across.
💡 this is something you can do in isosconnect.
Decide on the price of a no-show
Evaluate the cost of someone not coming to their session. Share that this amount is due in case of no-show or cancellation e.g. within 24hours before the session.
Make pre-payments available
Clients are much less likely to cancel a session they have already paid for. Thanks to pre-payments, patients can spread the cost over the preceding weeks. It can also save you both from potentially complicated conversations.
We know the importance of pre-payments for private health practitioners. That is why we made this feature available in isosconnect. You have the confidence that the payments are handled safely and that your client’s experience is smooth.
