Should Your Dental Practice Be Charging Cancellation Fees?
Posted by Administrator at 6:22 PM on Mar 14, 2016
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Charging a cancellation fee is a really common way for many dental practices to discourage patients from cancelling appointments at the last minute. A question we hear often is “are cancellation fees effective?” The answer is yes, as long as they are accompanied with the proper attitude and phraseology from your staff.
The best thing your staff can do is to avoid making the patient feel guilty or judged. Each cancellation needs to be handled with empathy and professionalism instead of frustration and blame. Do not lecture your patient, but perhaps have your staff say, “Yes, we understand that plans change and things come up, but we’d hate for you to have to pay our $50 cancellation fee! Are you sure you can’t make it?” This way, the patient is reminded of the fee and given the opportunity to make the appointment.
It’s not smart to give out too many free passes to your patients, however there are situations when the cancellation fee would be inappropriate. For example, if a patient you have a solid relationship with, or someone who consistently keeps appointments has a legitimate illness or an emergency, it’s ok to excuse the fee. Things really do come up, some of them beyond your patients’ control.
But when a fee is called for, make sure your staff is letting you know before the patient is billed this fee. If it’s not the first time a patient has incurred such a fee, you may want to consider if you want to keep the patient as part of your practice. Patients who consistently break appointments will end up losing you money in the end.
We know how frustrating last minute cancellations can be for you and your staff. However, by following our advice above, cancellation fees can be utilized to minimize the number of patients who feel comfortable cancelling or not showing up. No one wants to pay for an appointment they didn’t even keep!
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