Patients often wonder why we call them on the phone, send them a text message, and often even an email simply to confirm an existing appointment. After all, patients already know that they are seeing the dentist. Why do they need so many reminders?
The reason is that the success of our dental practice depends on patients showing up for their appointments. When you make a dental appointment, you essentially are reserving a spot in one of our dental suites. So if you fail to show up or cancel without giving us enough notice to replace the appointment with another patient, that leaves a hole in that day’s schedule. And too many holes can add up to damage the bottom line.
Dental Practice as a Business
A dental practice is a service but it’s also a business. And like any other business, it needs to be managed so that it is more efficient. We’ve got a budget just like any other business. And in order to meet our budget goals, we need to fill as many appointments as possible.
This has the dual benefit of helping as many people enjoy good dental health while also helping our business stay open and be successful. So we send out a lot of reminders to our patients about the appointments they have made in order to ensure that most of them are showing up when they are supposed to.
Flexibility and Efficiency
Honestly, the reason we send you so many reminders is so you can make an adjustment to your schedule if you need to. We understand that life can be complicated and things can change. The time and date you thought you would be available for a dental appointment can easily get filled with something more pressing.
So we want to give you plenty of time to reschedule. Plus, we also want to have enough time to offer your spot to somebody else so that it doesn’t go vacant.
So forgive us for sending you so many reminders. We simply want to make sure you and your family get the top-quality dental care you need and for our practice to continue to meet its business objectives.
