Use Dentrix tools to identify and manage patients you have trouble collecting payment from or who frequently no-show for appointments.
We all know that Santa has a list of who has been naughty and who has been nice throughout the year. However, it can sometimes be challenging for your dental practice to keep track of which patients have been good and which ones are in danger of receiving a lump of coal in their stocking. For example, which patients always pay their balance on time and which patients take a long time to pay? Which patients always show up on time for their appointments and which ones are habitually late or don’t show up at all? These naughty patients can cause problems with your cash flow, cause issues with your schedule that result in lost revenue when they don’t show up for appointments. Take steps in Dentrix to identify these patients and manage them accordingly.
I always recommend collecting the patient’s estimated portion at the time of service. But for those patients who you have difficulty collecting a balance from, it becomes even more crucial to collect at the time of service. You can save credit card information securely using Dentrix Pay. That way even if the patient forgets to bring a form of payment to their appointment, you can easily collect at time of service and avoid waiting for a payment which can affect your office’s cashflow.
Patients who are constantly late for appointments or frequently no-show can cause your schedule to run behind and your office to lose revenue. Here are some tips to reduce the number of late patients and no-shows:
- Don’t offer those patients your prime appointment times. For example, don’t give them the option of a Saturday appointment if your office is open on Saturdays, or offer them the first appointment in the morning or last appointment of the day.
- Make a Patient Alert note indicating that this patient is frequently late or habitually no-shows so everyone that schedules appointments in your office is aware of the patient’s negative history.
- Always use the Break Appointment option when the patient no-shows so Dentrix keeps a running total of the patient’s missed appointments.
- Post the missed appointment procedure code D9986 to the patient’s Ledger so they are able to visually see all their missed appointments when you generate a statement. (Be sure to change the procedure code to Do Not Update Patient Visit Dates in the Procedure Code Setup).
- Consider collecting a deposit from these patients to reserve an appointment for them to ensure that they show up for their appointment. You can use the Send Payment Request by Text for a convenient way for patients to pay a deposit.
You can also use Dentrix to identify which patients take a long time to pay (or don’t pay) their balance and take the necessary measures to get them to pay at the time of service. Having credit card information saved on file can ensure that patients pay even if they don’t have a form of payment with them at the time of service. This can help your office to maintain a healthy cashflow.
These Dentrix tips can help address some of your patients’ naughty habits which can negatively affect your schedule and cause your office to lose revenue.
Learn More
For additional information, read the following:
- Saving Credit Cards on File with Dentrix Pay
- Effectively Using Patient Alerts
- Broken Appointments—Dentrix Tracks Them!
- Do Not Update Patient Visit Dates
- Remove Obstacles to Payment Collection with Request to Pay
By Charlotte Skaggs
Certified Dentrix Trainer and The Dentrix Office Manager columnist
Charlotte Skaggs is the founder of Vector Dental Consulting LLC, a practice management firm focused on taking offices to the next level. Charlotte co-owned and managed a successful dental practice with her husband for 17 years. She has a unique approach to consulting based on the perspective of a practice owner. Charlotte has been using Dentrix for over 20 years and is a certified Dentrix trainer. Contact Charlotte at vectordentalconsulting@gmail.com.
