Summer School Week Three: Recalls With Real Impact

An important part of running a practice is keeping your patients coming back – and we’ve got you covered. With our extensive recall tools and recommended best practice, you can retain patients, maximise chair-time and reduce reliance on new-patient acquisition which costs you money and time. 

Check out our top tips for optimising your recall practices to see real impact. 

1. Pre-book so you don’t need recalls!

Recalls should be the fallback, not the first step. If patients book while they’re still in the practice, you won't need to follow up – boosting patient retention, ensuring consistent revenue and reducing white space. We recommend aiming for a 70% pre-booking rate. 

Remind patients to prioritise their oral health during their appointment, and be proactive in arranging their next visit – if they book of their own accord, there's no need for reminders! 

2. Let automated recalls do the work 

Need to capture the patients who haven't pre-booked? That’s where automated recall workflows come in. 

Don’t just send reactive recalls when your calendar is looking empty! Follow our recommended recall structure for effective automated workflows that you can leave running in the background, and you’ll see an increase in patients booking and completing appointments. 

Here are some top tips for recall success: 

• Combine multiple contact methods – Every patient is different! Mix it up between SMS, email and letter at different stages of each workflow. Just because they don’t book at first, doesn’t mean they never will! 
• Each workflow can target specific payment plans and assigned practitioners, so the right patients receive the right message at the right time. Plus, duplicate any workflow to make setup quick and easy! 
• Verify and update patients’ contact details regularly, so if you send a recall, they’ll actually receive it. Remind your practitioners to update patients’ recall intervals too, to ensure future recalls run smoothly. 

3. Insightful recall reporting to make an impact  

Once you’ve established a robust recall strategy, it’s essential to know how well it's performing and make tweaks where needed. That’s why we’ve introduced a powerful report to track recall effectiveness. 

• Clear, reliable data in a digestible format, to help you spot trends and make informed decisions. 
• Set your recall goals and monitor at a glance when you’re reaching them. 
• Identify where you can make changes to improve your workflow setup. 

Find out what works best for your practice, using data-driven insight rather than relying on chance! 

So why use automated recalls? 

If you’re new to recalls, we know this might be a lot to take in – but investing some time into your recall strategy will help in the long run. 

Automation allows you to “set and forget”. Once your workflows are active, they’ll keep running in the background, giving you and your team time back to focus on other tasks, safe in the knowledge that patients are receiving reminders. 

Implementing our recommended recall practices is proven to lead to an increase in patients coming back. Keep your existing patients, and you’ll spend less time and money on bringing in new ones. 

Where do I start? 

Start creating workflows right away, and check out our FAQs for getting started with recalls. Explore our Recalls Hub for guidance, examples and real success stories from other practices like you. And don’t forget, you can reach out to Support or your Customer Success Manager to help you develop a recall strategy that works for you!