They say that few things in life are certain, except for death and taxes.
Let’s add one more thing to the list: you know your patient is going to want to keep their wrinkle-free, fresh-faced appearance with regular Botox appointments.
One of the top mistakes we see in cosmetic and aesthetic medical practices is letting your patients slip through the cracks when it comes to scheduling. We know that neurotoxins last approximately three months, and yet, so many practices allow both first-time and loyal patients to walk out of their doors without scheduling their next regular appointment and following up on their treatments. This results in a loss of revenue.
A Mistake Practices Make With Botox Patients
How is there a loss? Let’s do some math:
If the average patient needs their Botox treatment every three months to keep their beautiful results, that makes, on average, 4 Botox appointments each year. If your patient goes four months between treatments, that’s 3 appointments per year. If they go six months between treatments, that’s only 2 appointments per year! More appointments = more money. You want to do all that you can to keep patients coming back for MORE appointments, not less, to increase your revenue.
Let’s show some sample numbers to drive this home:
$480 per treatment (at an average of $12/unit for 40 units) x 4 appointments year = $1,920
$480 per treatment (at an average of $12/unit for 40 units) x 3 appointments year = $1,440
$480 per treatment (at an average of $12/unit for 40 units) x 2 appointments year = $960
Notice how you’ll end up losing nearly $1,000 per patient if they come in for 2 appointments per year instead of 4! By letting your patients go six months between treatments instead of three, you’re missing out on revenue big time!
So, how do you prevent this from happening and how do you ensure patients come back for their regular appointments? We have a few suggestions.
1. Set Follow Up Appointments
When your patient is checking out from their neurotoxin appointment, remind them that the provider would like to see them back in three months. Specify three months! Have your calendar ready, and suggest the next available appointment to them, letting them know that YOU know which daypart they prefer. For example:
- INSTEAD OF: “Did you want to schedule your next appointment today?” which leaves them the option to say, “No” to the “Yes” or “No” question…
- TRY: “I see that (INSERT PROVIDER NAME HERE) wants to see you back in three months for your next appointment. To make things easy, I know you prefer the first appointment in the morning, and I have a 9 a.m. appointment on (INSERT DATE HERE). You’re always welcome to call the week before the appointment if that day or time doesn’t work for you, but we know how important your Botox is so let’s schedule it now!”
2. Follow Up With Your Patients
If the patient truly is unable to commit to a day and time for their appointment, communicate with them one week after the appointment to see how their treatment is doing AND to follow up on scheduling the appointment. The beauty of Weave’s software is that you’re able to seamlessly do this through texting that supports HIPAA compliant communications. If you’re sending out texts using Weave’s online scheduling platform, the key is to include a link for them to easily schedule online.
Ask Weave about Automated Appointment Reminder Texts & Quick Fill tool
“Weave has been critical to managing the office and scheduling patients. I save between 2-3 hours a day confirming appointments, and I’m able to fill more last-minute cancellations.”-Maggie Blackwell, Office Manager.
Schedule Demo3. Send Appointment Reminders
If the patient is coming up to be due for their appointment, we always recommend sending “patient appointment recall” text messages. We’ve noticed that utilizing text message in today’s world yields a great success rate. When sending these text messages, make sure you allow the patient to schedule online as well. Make it extremely easy for them! Be sure to send this text message two weeks prior to their three-month mark and then once it’s been three months since their last neurotoxin treatment. If that doesn’t work, continue to send text messages monthly up to 9 months after their original appointment.
Schedule a demo with Weave to get your patients coming back for botox treatments without missing an appointment.
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