How Top Practices Have Mastered Appointment Scheduling
We’re proud to announce the launch of our third annual Benchmark Report, sharing how the top 10% of dental practices from our collected data stack up against industry averages across key success metrics.
Today, we’re exploring the scheduling strategies used by the top 10% to grow their practices and improve overall patient satisfaction.
|
Key Performance Indicator |
Definition |
Jarvis Average |
Top 10% |
|
Average Appointments per Day |
Average number of appointments scheduled daily. |
36 |
107 |
|
Average Appointment Lead Time (New Patient) |
Displays the average number of days between the date a new patient appointment is scheduled and the date of the actual appointment. |
39 Days |
5.4 Days |
|
Average No Show Rate |
Proportion of patients who fail to attend scheduled appointments without prior notice. |
4% |
1% |
|
Average Confirmation Rate |
Rate of appointments that are confirmed by patients. |
44% |
87% |
|
Average Cancellation Rate |
Rate of scheduled appointments that are canceled by patients. |
12% |
1% |
|
Average Reappointment Rate |
Proportion of completed appointments that result in a scheduled future visit. |
77% |
94% |
|
Average Appointment Lead Time (Emergency) |
Displays the average number of days between the date an emergency appointment is scheduled and the date of the actual appointment. |
6 Days |
< 1 Day |
The top 10% of dental organizations schedule nearly three times the appointments per day compared to the industry average. And when you translate that to revenue gained and practice growth opportunities, the average dental practice is leaving a lot on the table.
Have a clear snapshot of practice capacity and operational health. It doesn’t matter what strategies you put in place to grow your practice if you don’t have the bandwidth to manage your patient load. Your practice should be able to:
- Track the total count of all scheduled appointments, offering insights into patient flow and practice capacity. This helps with forecasting and resource allocation
- Monitor the number of healthcare providers available, which is critical for balancing workloads and ensuring patient care is not compromised
- Review booked hours to assess how effectively appointment slots are being filled and utilized, which is essential for maximizing practice revenue and patient satisfaction
These metrics can also be used to make strategic decisions, such as hiring additional staff, extending office hours, or adjusting scheduling policies to improve operational flow.
Simplify Scheduling. Online scheduling saves your team hours spent on the phone every week and allows patients to schedule an appointment that fits their calendar anytime, anywhere. Data has shown that simplifying the booking process in this way can make an enormous difference. One large DSO saw 430 new patient visits in less than a month with Henry Schein One’s Reserve with Google solution.
Reduce your number of no-shows. New patients have a 50% chance of no showing an appointment when scheduled more than four days out. Ensure your schedule has enough availability for patients and consider automated reminders and appointment confirmations to save staff time spent on the phone and help patients remember their upcoming appointments.
Clarify billing and insurance. Your team’s ability to confidently explain insurance coverage goes a long way to building patient trust. With the right revenue cycle management (RCM) system, you should be able to provide patients with treatment plan estimates down to the dollar amount. Your office should also have a system in place to track who’s coming in the next day, what services they’re receiving, what insurance will cover, and what their co-pay is. It may mean additional work for your team, but by being proactive on the front-end, you’ll spend less time collecting payments on the back end.
Consistently follow up with patients. Your team should be proactive about scheduling follow-up visits, so patients don’t slip through the cracks. If you can’t schedule a patient’s next appointment while they’re in the chair, there should be a reminder system in place to follow up with patients. An annual patient reactivation campaign also helps seek out those patients who haven’t been to your practice in the last 12 months.
View the full 2024 Henry Schein One Industry Report for more insights into the dental industry.