Managing patient no shows are a big problem, with many clinics facing no-show rates as high as 30%. This has been an even bigger problem during the COVID-19 pandemic. Every missed visit affects the bottom line. Just as important, if not more so, missed appointments don’t affect just the schedule and the revenue—they affect your patient’s health. No-shows and patient-initiated cancellations are both problematic. Cancellations are typically much more common and costly. On a gut-level, no-shows are more annoying. Every no-show costs money with decreased revenue despite continued overhead expenditures. New patients who do not show up not only [...]

Many patients want an earlier appointment. Many offices have cancellations and no-shows. Often offices use a waitlist to try to solve both problems, but waitlists have their share of problems, especially when not optimized. It is possible to address waitlist problems while enhancing the patient experience, however. Managing patient waitlists is an important part of having a successful practice and patient engagement. Common Patient Waitlist Workflows For health systems, there are two types of patient workflows. First, there is the practice-offered waitlist. Second, there is a patient-requested waitlist. Practice-Offered Waitlists With a practice-offered waitlist, schedulers ask the patients if [...]