Here’s a key datum to know if you’re seeing a lot of cancellations: Some people don’t value your appointments enough to schedule their other commitments around them.
Of course, it doesn’t apply to every single cancellation. But when you look at the total number or volume of cancels or no-shows you have, somebody didn’t value their appointments enough to think of it when something else came up.
Don’t Over-Schedule Parents or Families Who Miss Appointments
Our appointments happen every single week, sometimes multiple times a week. Your appointments still have to be so valued that the parents and families schedule them around other events and don’t forget about them. If you see somebody three times a week and they’re only coming in two times a week pretty consistently, three times a week is too much time to tie up on your schedule. Cut them back to two times a week.
You want those appointments valued. You just don’t want a filler for a time slot. You need to find another patient who’s going to value the appointments.
How to Halt Missed No-Shows and Cancellations
To reduce cancellations and no-shows, you have to monitor your percent of patient arrivals (also known as “arrival rate”). You need to understand what increases or decreases this statistic and how you can intentionally affect it. Plus you have to have systems in place to monitor and measure the reasons parents or families cancel. If somebody no-shows, you need to understand why. That means that someone on your staff needs to get on the phone and talk to the parent or family.
Once you or your staff speak to the parent, you need to communicate in a very professional but firm way that makes them understand that it’s not appropriate. Your staff need to be trained up in a way that this conversation decreases the frequency of missed appointments.
How Patient Arrival Rate Relates to Quality of Care
Most of your no-shows are not because there was a fire in the house or because grandma had a heart attack. The caretaker usually just forgot. That’s what you need to handle.
These are the reasons your percent of arrival statistic is important:
- It speaks to quality of care.
- It speaks to how much people value you and your service.
- It speaks to your ability to communicate progress during your treatment sessions that are meeting the goals that the parent wants to meet.
Addressing Family Treatment Goals with Good Communication
Sometimes you get a mom that comes in with a 15-month-old child who is not yet sitting. The mom says, “I really want them to walk.” Well, I’m not going to write a walking goal for a 15-month-old who is not yet sitting. But I need the parent to understand how their child’s treatment plan is structured and why.
- First, the child needs to sit.
- Then they need to transition into and out of a sitting position.
- Then they need to pull themselves up to a standing position.
- Then they need to cruise.
- After that, they need to walk with a walking toy.
- Then I can work with them on walking.
I’m going to work with the family as a team to make this happen. But first they need to understand that there’s a process.
So the first goal I’m going to write is sitting. I’ll write this down for them and show them, “Here’s the process. When we meet these other five goals, then we’re going to address the walking goal. Does that make sense to you?
Importance of Strong Staff Communication Skills
When you give them this treatment plan, the parent is likely to think, “We can do that at home.” You must make sure they understand why you’re not working on their goal right now. You are, but you’ve simply noted the steps that have to come first.
That’s why your staff have to be trained in communication skills sufficient to get this understanding through to the parent. The parents want their child to walk. They don’t understand that I want her to walk too and that I’ve built a plan to help her reach that goal.
Building Communication Skills in Yourself and Your Staff
Whether your therapists can do this effectively with your parents and caretakers can make or break relationships. This applies whether it’s a marriage, a relationship with a significant other, a relationship with teammates or a relationship with parents. You need to have strong communication skills to succeed in all these areas.
You can get help from our Lemonade Library. Get logged in and look for Lemonades on building strong communication skills. This will really help in educating your patient base in why making every appointment is so important.
About Diane Crecelius
Diane Crecelius is a physical therapist and founder of a multi-million-dollar, multi-location practice with well over 3,000 visits per week and 200 staff! In the past several years, Diane has worked tirelessly to support Peds-A-Palooza® Community & Conferences and the success of Private Practice Owners. Diane has presented at nearly every Peds-A-Palooza live and virtual conference since the first sold-out conference in 2018. Her extensive knowledge derives from her decades in practice and from being trained and consulted by Survival Strategies, Inc. She uses this training to help Private Practice Owners learn how to thrive and expand while keeping their stress low.