3 Ways EasyFill Fixes Last Minute Cancellations

Key Takeaways

• Appointment Cancellations Cost Dental Practices: Up to $30,000 annually in lost revenue due to no-shows and last-minute cancellations.
• Doctible's EasyFill Solves This: Automates waitlist management and sends real-time alerts to fill open slots with patients who fit your criteria.
• EasyFill Saves Time & Effort: Eliminate manual phone calls and notify patients on your waitlist via text message.
• Boost Patient Engagement: Offer convenient appointment booking options like first-come, first-served, or maintain control with office approval.
• EasyFill Demonstrates Results: Fills 40% more appointments on average, maximizing practice efficiency and revenue.

Addressing Dental Appointment Cancellation Problems with a Proactive Digital Waitlist

Running a dental practice can be a challenging endeavor, especially when it comes to managing last-minute appointment cancellations. These broken appointments not only disrupt your practice’s daily workflow, but they lose you money and create even more work.  

In fact, in a recent study, 85% of dentists highlight patient cancellations as the leading cause of below-capacity appointment scheduling. For smaller dental practices, the impact of these missing patients is profound:  

One cancellation or no-show per day can result in losses of up to $30,000 annually.  

Now more than ever, it’s essential to utilize innovative tools to optimize your practice’s workflows. This applies to how you handle your no-shows and cancellations.  

But Doctible's EasyFill has a solution to all your cancellation woes. With EasyFill's digital waitlist management and real-time alerts, your practice has a defense against frustrating scheduling interruptions.  

Automation Saves Valuable Practice Time  

The Problem: Last-minute cancellations mean manual work and lots of phone calls  

If cancellations aren’t frustrating enough, the phone calls staff must make to fill them cause even more trouble. Between readying treatment rooms, managing insurance, and much more, they have enough to handle. Phone calls are interruptions that slow your practice down.  

The Solution: Customizable alerts  

With EasyFill, you can select who to automatically alert in the event of cancellations. For example, for empty appointment slots in the upcoming week, you can send a custom EasyFill request to your list of patients to fill the opening.

You can also notify patients scheduled for the same procedure, such as teeth cleaning, fillings, or root canals. This could include patients who require urgent treatment or have been waiting longer for an appointment. Likewise, it's useful for patients who have issues with punctuality and adherence to appointment times.  

With a proactive approach, you eliminate the time-consuming task of manually contacting patients while keeping your schedule full. This way, you can prevent a chaotic schedule and extra work, enabling focus on other essential tasks—like patient care.  

The Convenience of Automation  

The Problem: Cancellations happen without notice  

Being blindsided by last-minute cancellations causes your team to scramble, and filling open appointment slots may seem fruitless. That’s because you’ll be hard-pressed to find patients that actually answer the phone.  

Today, they’re much more likely to respond to texts. This patient engagement platform soared in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, further cementing the value of digital communication. In fact, one study mentions that 98% of patients like engaging with their providers via text messaging. And, notably, nearly 96% feel these exchanges connect them more closely with their providers.  

The Solution: Automated notifications  

EasyFill's immediate detection of cancellations within your PMS/EHR, along with automated notification system alerts, instantly initiate the process of filling open slots. Patients you’ve selected on your customized waitlist are notified right away of new appointment availability via text (or email)—no phone calls or voicemails required.  

If a patient can take the open slot, they simply follow a link and click a button to confirm. This streamlined process conveniently and easily fills gaps in your schedule, allowing you to be more efficient and stay on track.  

Plus, it opens up opportunities for better patient engagement, allowing you to connect more closely with patients. Not to mention, they will appreciate being able to notify your practice of schedule changes more easily. Through Doctible’s patient engagement platform, letting your office know about changes is less of a hassle. With a more efficient approach, patients are more likely to reschedule after canceling appointments.  

Complete Control Over Your Calendar  

The Problem: Manually broadcasting a new opening creates confusion and more work  

A full schedule is essential to your practice’s health, but there are financial consequences if you can't fill its gaps. To the point, surveys note that up to 10% of dental appointments are cancelled. As a result, you could lose thousands of dollars.  

The Solution: First-come, first served appointment booking  

EasyFill allows you to have complete control over your calendar. Along with customized patient filtering—which ensures the likelihood appointments get filled—EasyFill goes a step further. With a first come, first-served basis, you can eliminate gaps in real time since patients can book when they want.  

However, you can still protect your boundaries with office approval. By having the final say in bookings, your dental practice ensures that the right patients are scheduled for the right appointments. It also prevents double bookings and allows you to evaluate factors like patient preferences, provider expertise, and the availability of resources.  

With EasyFill, your practice can have both a consistent and predictable schedule, maximizing its potential and securing a consistent stream of revenue.  

Embrace the Power of Patient Engagement with EasyFill by Doctible  

In today's fast-paced digital world, an effective patient engagement solution is more critical than ever for dental practices. But with a comprehensive digital waitlist like Doctible's EasyFill, your dental practice can handle last minute cancellations and inefficiencies that harm your business:  

• Customized alerts: Tailor alerts to suit your practice's needs, saving time and effort.  

• Automated notifications: Simplify appointment filling by notifying patients of available slots, reducing manual work.  
• Flexible filling options: Choose between first-come, first-served or handpicked patients, catering to your practice's priorities.  
• Office approval: Maintain control over your schedule, ensuring the right patients are scheduled for the right appointments.  
• Enhanced patient experience: Improve patient satisfaction, loyalty, and retention through a streamlined appointment booking process.  

In fact, in a recent 2-month study, EasyFill demonstrated impressive results. On average, dental practices were able to fill 40% more appointments with EasyFill. This data highlights the potential of EasyFill to significantly improve the appointment filling process and optimize your practice's schedule.  

With EasyFill, your dental practice can be the adaptable, responsive, and efficient provider you’ve always envisioned—positively impacting both your patients and your bottom line.