Confirming Preappointment at Checkout

The Importance of Preappointing Patients for Hygiene Visits 🦷

Scheduling every patient for their next hygiene visit before they leave is key to maintaining a high preappointment rate, boosting patient retention, and driving practice growth. While some patients may schedule proactively, many don’t, which is why TeamCare created staff workflows within the "Checkouts" tool to simplify preappointment tracking.

Verifying "Prime Time" Hygiene Preappointments
"Prime time" appointments refer to the most desirable slots—early mornings, evenings, and weekends. Ensuring these slots are filled is crucial for optimal patient show rates and retention.

TeamCare helps practices verify and schedule hygiene visits during prime time hours, increasing preappointment rates in less than a month.

Target Preappointment Rates
Top practices schedule 80% of hygiene visits during prime time hours. New practices should aim for 60% within the first month and work towards 80% by the second month.

For more details, check out Preappointment Tracking and Reporting in TeamCare.

 

How to Schedule Prime Time Hygiene Appointments at Checkout

1. At the top of the TeamCare app homepage, click 'Checkouts' to the right of the search bar to view today's patient visits and +Claim Checkout. Checkouts are listed by day and you can navigate back to previous days, if needed.
   
   Note: Any TeamCare staff user, including Providers, can complete the +Claim Checkouts workflow and confirm patients are preappointed for a follow up hygiene visit.
   
   
   
2. From the Checkout window, click '+New Preappointment' and review the patients hygiene preappointment status
   
   
   • Scenario A: "Preappointment Completed"
     If the patient is scheduled for a hygiene treatment within the next 6 months, the appointment will automatically appear in the Checkout window.
     
     Note: Green light signals prime time hygiene preappointment; red light signals normal hours.
     
     
     
     
   • Scenario B: "No Appointments Present" 
     If the patient is not schedule hygiene appointment scheduled for the patient in the next 6 months, the user will manually:
     
     1. 1. Preappoint the patient for the next hygiene visit (ideally, during prime time)  > refresh TeamCare to verify update
        2. Leave a note explaining why the patient was not preappointed to inform the next follow up call to schedule the next appointment
           

Takeaways

TeamCare Checkouts makes it easy for practices to uphold and monitor patient retention by keeping tabs on daily preappointment. More importantly, TeamCare helps practices open up new prime time hours successfully to cancellations, improve show rates, and sustainably increase gross production over time.  

Additional Resources

• Preappointment Tracking and Reporting in TeamCare

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