Patient retention is a clinic’s ability to turn new patients into loyal ones – which is an important metric and strategy for all clinics.
Some strategies to improve patient retention include providing quality care, personalizing the patient’s experience, offering online booking, proactively seeking feedback, and following up with patients who abruptly stop or discontinue treatment.
Most clinics rely on generating callback lists for patients who have not booked any future appointments. Staff then have to individually call each patient and schedule them. This approach is not only time-consuming but also outdated!
We are excited to announce that now you can automate patient retention with email and SMS reminders in Universal Office version 5.0.6.
A new notification was added to eBroadcast called Patient Retention N Days. This notification works by finding the patients that have not rebooked an appointment in the last, say, 7, 14, or 30 days. Universal Office then sends those patients an email or SMS reminding them to book!
You can create one or more Patient Retention notifications to follow up with patients. Once an appointment is booked, these notifications stop until the next time that patient does not attend.
Here are some examples of email and SMS messages that you could use:
Email examples
Hi [Patient Name],
It’s been a while since we’ve last seen you – and we just wanted to check in with you to see how you are doing!
We hope you’re doing well and we want to remind you that we are here for you. We would love to help you get back to feeling great and doing the activities you love!
To schedule an appointment please give us a call at [Clinic Number] or reply to this email, and we will get back to you soon.
Did you know that you can also always book online? Check out our online booking here [Booking Link].
Hope to see you soon,
Your Team Healthcare at [Clinic Name]
Hi [Patient Name],
Your last [Treatment Description] treatment was on [Last Appointment Date] with [Treating Provider Name].
To achieve your health goals consistency is important – and we’re here to help!
To schedule an appointment please give us a call at [Clinic Number], reply to this email, or book online here [Booking Link].
We look forward to seeing you soon,
Your Team Healthcare at [Clinic Name]
SMS Examples
For more on how to add notifications in eBroadcast check out Enable and Configure Notifications.
Let us know what you think about this new notification and what works for you for improving patient retention in the comments below!