As we enter the hectic holiday season, the draw upon our time becomes intense. As a previous blog mentioned, the final month of the year is the busiest time in our dental offices. Patients feel the need to use up the last of this year's insurance benefits and to close out their flex spending accounts. That's a great boost for our businesses - one that needs to be managed properly for us to enjoy a successful end to the year, a year, I might add, that was economically difficult for many.

So, as the schedule fills up and the office becomes hectic with larger cases, our staffs need to be aware that sometimes our patients' thoughts are scattered in many different directions this season. I find that without vigilance in confirming upcoming appointments, our no-show rate skyrockets this time of year. To that end, keeping impeccable records and constantly updating phone numbers is the key to success. If we cannot contact them, then we cannot confirm them.

Something that we started doing is offering the patient an extra phone call the morning of the appointment or at any time they want that day. We always confirm the day, and before and during that call we ask, "Would you like us to call tomorrow to remind you again, and if so at what time?" I was amazed at how many patients said that they would like this. This is especially important for Monday appointments, where the first confirmation is Friday or Saturday.

I was always from the school of thought that hey, we are all adults here, you get confirmed once and that's it. We must remember, however, that the person who is hurt by a no-show is you. Actually, you lose out twice. The first time is at the no-show appointment, and the second time is at the rescheduled appointment when you could have been seeing another patient. Now I do my best to avoid the problem in the first place.

This time of year, I only wait a few minutes after the appointment time to act. The patient is called before five minutes after the appointment has passed. If they cannot be reached, we try again at the 10- minute mark. If they still cannot be reached, we call another patient from our call list. We always ask patients if they would like us to call them for an earlier appointment if we get a cancellation. Many say yes. This generally fills the time.

Let's face it, the holidays are hectic. Work to set up a protocol that works for your office and implement it now. It will keep you working and boost your bottom line.