Decrease Your Rate of No Shows in Private Practice
Today we are going to show you how to see less of those oh so dreaded no shows in private practice.
You patiently wait for your 3:00 appointment to arrive…then it’s 3:05, 3:10, 3:15…
So you call your client… it goes to voicemail… you text them… no reply. It’s officially a no show.
No shows in private practice are very frustrating for many reasons.
They waste your time. They cost you money. You also have invested time and effort into the initial screening process and maybe even created a plan on how to help this client. Completely not cool.
If you think you are the only therapist experiencing no shows, you’re not. The average rate of no shows in private practice is somewhere in the 50-60% range.
So you are definitely not the only one experiencing this.
Obviously, the best thing to do is to make sure you have a cancelation policy in place. If you don’t have one yet, I have my blog linked here for you.
1. Schedule clients who are a good fit for you.
Make sure in the initial phone screen process you are picking clients who fit your niche and you feel are sold on the idea of therapy. Failing to do so can cause you a large amount of no shows for your business.
2. Have a no show policy for your private practice.
You should have it listed in your cancellation policies and should cover it when you have that initial phone session and an in-person one.
3. Educate on the importance of therapy.
If your client doesn’t value therapy, it will be hard for them to keep showing up. Be sure to give your clients enough information to consider going to therapy is important.
4. Keep a credit card on file.
That way if they fail to meet the requirements of your policy, you can still charge them whatever your stated amount is for being a no show.
5. Send automated reminders.
An online scheduler can do it for you, this really helps for people who may be missing simply because they forgot. Just be sure that the scheduler is HIPAA compliant.
6. Offer a teletherapy option.
In case something comes up, or maybe it just fits their life better, teletherapy reduces transportation and scheduling friction.
7. Have clear expectations about no shows in your private practice.
Discuss this in the first session very well so there is never any confusion as to what will happen if they do not show.
These are some simple tips we can give you that can severely reduce your rate of no shows in your private practice.
Leave us comments on how much this video helped you have less of these no shows.
