Many allied health business owners are feeling the impact of high cancellation rates.
Patient illness, positive Covid test results, and the flu, are all contributing to patients cancelling and re-scheduling appointments.
As I say to our Practiceology™ VIP clients – whilst there is not much we can do about illness and COVID test results, we can still take steps to reduce overall client cancellation rates, by controlling the areas of the business which we do have control over.
One of the areas we can control, is what we say to our clients in our consultations, especially when it comes to outlining what we will be doing in the next session.
In a low cancellation environment, therapists take it for granted the client will come back for the following session, but in a high cancellation period, we need to be more deliberate in our explanation of what’s to come.
Good examples include:
“In our session on Friday I will reassess your ankle movement, and if it is where I need it to be, I will give you the OK to play on the weekend”.
“In tomorrow’s session I will show you exercise TWO of the hamstring strain recovery program, which I have used for the past 10 years to get soccer players back on the field in record time“.
“Bring your running shoes in for our consult on Thursday, as I want to give them the once over and make sure they are OK for you to wear when you do your first run on the weekend”.
In each of these examples, the therapist gives a definite and important reason for the client to make attending their next appointment a priority.
Thus reducing the chance of a cancellation.
I encourage all owners to remind your teams about the importance of “setting the stage” of the next consult, so the patient is in no doubt about the value for them attending their next session.
I hope this helps in your health business.