You already know that no-shows cost your practice a fortune; but before you invest resources into reminder systems, scheduling software, patient portals and staff training, it’s helpful to understand the real cost of a no-show, and what it’s actually worth to prevent one from happening.
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First, there are the direct costs. The lost revenue from an average office visit can vary greatly depending on your specialty and focus, but let’s say it’s $100. Then there is the money you spent on salary/benefits/overhead to prepare for that visit (even though the patient didn’t show). Perhaps that’s $50. So at a bare minimum, you are losing $150 per no-show; but the real cost is actually much higher.
One no-show will frequently snowball into several. Eventually, some patients give up on their therapy when they don’t see results from the hit-and-miss treatments they attend. Others are discharged by practices that see the writing on the wall. All the authorized care you could have provided is now lost revenue for your practice.
Finally, because the patient did not achieve optimum results, you also miss out on the opportunity to gain word-of-mouth traffic or to strengthen the relationship with the referral source that sent you the original patient.
When you add up the total cost of no-shows, you quickly see it’s worth your time to get personally involved, and not simply delegate this critical task to your front desk.
This content was excerpted from “The 10-Step Management Action Plan.”
