- Why are last-minute appointment slots valuable to practices?Last-minute appointments or cancellations leave open slots that can be wasted or utilized strategically. By occupying them with the appropriate kind of patients, particularly new ones with pressing needs, practices enhance efficiency and retain more patients.
- Should open slots always be provided for existing patients?Not necessarily. Although it might be simple to move up current patients, such a strategy loses a chance. Prioritizing new patients with emergencies increases your patient base, enhances your image, and keeps them from going to a competitor who will see them quicker.
- Who deserves priority for a canceled appointment opening?Prioritize in this three-step order:
- A new patient with an urgent need.
- Other new patients who would value being seen sooner than scheduled.
- An existing patient with an urgent issue.
- How can practices optimize the process of filling same-day appointment vacancies?Practices can either:
- Do it manually with a waiting list and staff follow-up, or
- Automate the process using scheduling software that:
- uses rules
- identifies eligible patients
- sends reminders until the opening is filled
- What advantage do patients derive from this system?Urgent care bookings acquire quicker access to treatment, and new patients are more likely to select and remain faithful. Walk-in appointments, on the other hand, allow patients with immediate concerns to feel appreciated when they're addressed first. Overall, this strategy enhances satisfaction for both repeat and new patients.
Who Should Fill Your Last-Minute ‘Appointment Available’ Slots?
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Summary is AI-generated, Who Should Fill Your Last-Minute ‘Appointment Available’ Slots? -reviewed
The blog addresses the missed opportunity that occurs when appointment slots open up last‐minute and are simply filled by shifting existing non‐urgent patients forward rather than targeting urgent, new patients. It argues that when cancellations happen, the priority should be a new patient with an urgent issue (this helps win loyalty and avoid losing them to competitors), then new patients with less urgent issues, and finally existing patients needing urgent care. The article also explains how to set up a wait list (manual or, better yet, automated) so that when a slot opens the system knows who to offer it to and can quickly notify them (e.g., via text) and reschedule. This helps both the practice and patients (those who need care now) while preserving revenue and avoiding wasted time. It frames last‐minute availability not as a scheduling hassle but as a strategic lever for growth and patient satisfaction.
Patients don’t like waiting. None of us do. But we often have to wait for doctor’s appointments.
Take someone who develops severe ear pain. They want to see an ENT, and they want to see them now. But they’re hard-pressed to find a practice with a last-minute appointment available; more often, they’re scheduling several weeks out.
Acute problems make patients more willing to forego their normal vetting processes (reading patient reviews, checking “best doctor” ratings, etc.) and instead scour the landscape for a provider who can get them in fast.
Herein lies the opportunity for your practice.
The Big Missed Opportunity
All practices experience cancellations and requests to reschedule. It’s a reality of the healthcare world, and the typical response is to fill those vacant calendar spots by moving a “similar type” appointment up in the schedule. By doing this, you often end up moving existing patients to the open slot.
However, this strategy misses a tremendous opportunity, especially for specialty practices.
Moving existing patients up is an easy and guaranteed way to fill empty slots, so it has become the standard practice. But that doesn’t mean it’s the most effective.
Existing patients with non-urgent appointments don’t need you to move them up in your calendar. Instead, those newly vacant appointment slots provide an opportunity to move new patients up on the schedule, getting them in the door before they find another practice that can see them sooner.
By purposely tailoring your appointment filling this way, you help a new patient, earn their loyalty, and consistently win new business.
Of course, you don’t want to lose existing patients experiencing an urgent issue, either. If they can’t get a timely appointment with you, you simply end up trading existing patients for new ones. The point is that filling open slots by moving up existing patients with non-urgent appointments doesn’t do your business any favors.
Three Criteria to Fill Open Slots
The bottom line: When a slot opens in your office schedule, first look to make that last-minute appointment available to a new patient (or secondarily, to an existing one) who’s having an urgent issue.
Follow these three criteria, in this order, when filling vacancies in your schedule:
- Strive first to accommodate a new patient with an urgent need. It gives you an advantage over other local practices to win that person as a regular patient.
- Make an impression on the remaining new patients by seeing them sooner than they expected. They’re more likely to stick with your practice vs. trying a competitor.
- Schedule an existing patient who has an urgent need. You’ll reinforce their loyalty and prevent leakage to other practices.
Setting Up Your Wait List
Practices typically use one of two methods to ensure they assign last-minute appointment slots to patients who meet these criteria:
- Handle it manually: Teams manage a waiting list manually, scheduling patients for distant dates but asking if they’d like to be notified when an earlier slot opens up. If they would, a staff member then reaches out to the first person on that list with an appropriate appointment type when a new spot becomes available.
Automate it: Using the criteria above, practices set rules in an automated scheduling system, such as the “Fill Canceled Appointments” function on the Simple Interact platform. When a last-minute “appointment available” opens up, the system applies your rules and automatically reaches out to the patients who match those criteria.
For example, it might text the top 10 qualifying patients on the list, offering the newly available slot on a first-come, first-served basis. The first patient to respond is immediately notified that the open slot is theirs, and the system automatically reschedules them in the calendar.
Help Patients, Win Business
Following our three criteria to fill a newly opened slot makes good business sense and helps the patients in greatest need.
Simple Interact is happy to demonstrate how our “Fill Canceled Appointments” and other features can make scheduling processes more effective and efficient in your practice. Schedule a chat or demo.
FAQ
Ravi Kalidindi is the Founder and CEO of Simple Interact, a leading Front Office Automation company that helps healthcare facilities across the United States run more efficiently and profitably by boosting staff productivity, reducing provider burnout, and elevating the patient experience. Customers view Ravi as a trusted partner who can quickly comprehend business problems and suggest “keep it simple” solutions that are effective and easier to maintain over time.
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