Unlock Your Pediatric Practice Revenue With a “Flex” Schedule

When you have a patient who consistently misses appointments, you’re prevented from giving them the care they need. Therefore, you need to train your team to maintain really good, strong schedules in your practice. Teach your staff that whenever a child is not coming in, we are not helping them. I don’t care how medically fragile that child is—if they are not coming in, they are not getting help. You need to have this conversation with your team.

As therapists, our hearts are just too big. They are too, too big for us to make any money off our businesses. We would give away therapy if we could because we care for people just so, so much. That’s why I created instructions on how to handle patients you’re having trouble getting in the door–because I want to help you. 

How to Introduce Your Parents to a “Flex” Schedule

If you have trouble with some families who aren’t keeping their appointments, you can introduce them to a “flex” schedule. It’s amazing to have a flex schedule available for your patients. A flex schedule is simply a flexible schedule. You transition parents to a flex schedule when clearly a “same time, same day, same therapist” schedule is not working for this family. 

Here’s what we tell the family: “We’re going to move you to a flex schedule so that when Johnny is healthy, when you are healthy, when your work schedule works out, when you have gas money, when your car is working, when your other kids aren’t sick (or whatever the reason), you call us and say, ‘Tuesday is a great time,’ or ‘This afternoon is a great time, we can make it in. Do you have any cancellations?’”

You’ll also need to ask parents, “Do you prefer same-day calls, same-week calls, within 24 hours, within 48 hours?” Maybe they need a call within 48 hours because of their transportation service. You have to know all the limitations and get to know your families. Then you reach out and ask them, “How’s this week?” You’ll have parents coming in. They’ll come in more often than they did, and that’s all you can ask for.

Implementing a Flex Schedule Helps the Whole Family 

If you have “same day, same time, same therapist” scheduling and they are just canceling one appointment after another, use a flex schedule. You’lll find that you will help these families more by transitioning them to a flex schedule than by making them feel guilty keeping them on (what I call) a “perm schedule.” 

Also, train your team up to value it as better help for these families. Tell them “Johnny needs our help and needs to stay on a schedule, but he’s canceling and no-showing to his current appointments. So we need to put him on a flex schedule.”

I promise it will bring more revenue into your company if you implement a flex schedule in the right way, with the right communication and a written attendance policy. When you talk to a parent, you show them your policy on a flex schedule and tell them, “Here’s what our attendance policy says. If you cancel or no-show more than two times in eight weeks, you go on the flex schedule. We never kick anybody off our schedules. You just go on the flex schedule.” For those people who truly want help and they’re trying to get in, this offers a good solution.

Check Our Lemonade Webinars for More Scheduling Solutions

There are so many solutions to attendance problems so I don’t want you to have to struggle to fill up your book. You’ll find tons of solutions to all kinds of practice problems just by browsing through the videos in our Lemonade Library. You can do this on your own time, any day you choose. Get registered and look for Lemonades that help you manage attendance with ease. 

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.