In 2012, while Mike and I were at a financial planning course, the speaker tasked us with making a list of all the areas where we were bleeding money and resources.
Having recently stepped out of patient care to help manage our growing practice, I recognized a huge inefficiency in our front office. Cancellations were high, and our schedule utilization was super low. To me it meant that we weren’t helping the number of patients we should have been and as a long-time PT, that was very upsetting.
I decided at that moment that THIS was going to be my focus; improving patient arrivals and schedule utilization by helping my front office team improve their ability to managed patients effectively.
I set a one month goal to have a day where the schedule was completely full before the start of the day, AND then have every single patient show up for their scheduled appointment. This meant we would be 100% efficient AND 100% effective in helping patients see how important it was to show up for care.
I shared this idea with my front office team and they were on board and accepted the challenge. It was ‘game on’!
But, how could we achieve this monumental goal when our arrivals were running between 70-80%?
It seemed like such hefty, impossible goal that we decided to call it a ‘Pink Unicorn Day' because unicorns are rate, mystical creatures and well, the likelihood of having a day where the schedule was completely full and there were no cancellations felt as impossible as seeing a pink unicorn!!
Have you ever felt that way about something?
To help my team achieve their hefty goal, I knew I needed to teach them how take their customer service and patient management skills to the highest possible level. And, that meant taking a long hard look at what it takes to get patients vested in their care and willing to show up as scheduled. It also meant revamping our entire front office training and improving our systems, so we could better manage our patients and stay on top of their care.
I started working with my team on patient-focused customer service and began building better systems for patient management; something we hadn’t seen anywhere else.
It led to front office training and systems like no other and within several weeks, we had achieved our first pink unicorn day, 100% arrivals on top of a totally full schedule! Needless to say, we did a happy dance that Friday afternoon when all 30 spots were filled, and every single patient showed up as scheduled.
Going from a 25-30% cancellation rate to no cancellations was a HUGE win for us!!!
Once our team had their first pink unicorn day, there was no stopping them. We went from an average 75-80% arrival rate to a consistent 95%, week after week. As the practice has grown from 30 visits per day to well over 80 visits per day, my training program has been used to train and retrain our front office team. And now that I’m working with other practices, I’m finding it works for any size practice!
Want to have a ‘Pink Unicorn Day’ like Panetta Physical Therapy?
If so, keep reading!!
Let’s take a look at Panetta Physical Therapy. As I've worked work them over the past 8 weeks, they've really taken to my one-of-a-kind cancellation prevention program and patient management systems.
Like many PT practices, Panetta never had a cancellation program that they felt comfortable implementing with every patient across their 4 clinics. That is, UNTIL NOW.
Their investment is training their front office teams has been well worth the time and effort. Their team now has the skills needed to prevent same-day cancellations and effectively handle those patients that do cancel. They now have scripts and training to get a new hire on board quickly and they can even use this for retraining and staff compliance year to year.
In just 2 weeks of implementing my cancellation prevention program, Panetta PT saw one of their clinics jump from 70% arrivals to 93% FOR THE WEEK!
And last week, their Roslyn office had their very first Pink Unicorn Day! In fact, it’s game-on for the entire Panetta PT team and I’m quite certain that before we’re done, every single one of their clinics will achieve 93% arrivals and have had at least one pink unicorn day!
My Basic Patient Care Coordinator Program isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for practices that
Want to excel and are ready to take it to the next level,
Who see how important it is to have a well-trained front office team who can and will help their patients get the care they need,
Those whose purpose is PEOPLE HELPED
And, practices that are willing to invest the time and do what it takes to implement proven training and systems.
This program isn’t just about customer service, it’s about providing your front office team with the skills necessary to help more patients get the care they need, to get patients scheduled and keep them on the schedule – not because you want a full schedule but because your true goal is helping more people get the results they’re looking for. Let’s face it, most patients don’t understand how physical therapy can help but with my Patient Arrivals Program, your front office team will understand how they help your patients and they’ll be able to help more people through better patient management and front office systems.
Want to learn more? You can schedule a FREE Discovery Call to learn more about my programs and how I can help.
Wishing you the best, today and always!
Dee
I started Front Office GURU with a single goal in mind and that’s to help private practices thrive. Your front office plays an integral role in your success and yet, most practices don’t have set training and systems to ensure that everyone in the front office manages patients the same way.
Don’t wait until the perfect time to get started because there will never be that perfect time, that perfect staff.
As a practice owner, former manager, and the Front Office GURU, I understand the difficulties you face because I've been there. And my programs provide the solution.
Are you struggling to train your front office team? Unsure how to go about establishing a proven training program for your front desk? Not sure where to start or what your options are?
Click here to schedule a FREE Discovery Call to learn more about my programs.
The Front Office GURU Training Academy is an online training platform for you and your front desk! It's great for team building and establishing successful systems and training for your front desk. And the BEST part? YOU don't have to recreate the wheel - it's ALL done for YOU!! Just set up your team and they can get started right away...
Your Patient Care Coordinators will feel welcome and supported as the training is ALL about them. And even MORE is coming soon! Click HERE for more info and get started right away!
Comments