Any therapist knows how frustrating last minute cancellations and no-shows can be. Wasted time from last minute cancellations and no-shows leads to lulls in the day and a lot of money left on the table. Picture this common scenario of any therapy business. You spend quality hours getting to know your patients and preparing for their next appointment weeks or months in advance. On the day of the appointment, you spend time preparing for your patient to come in. Then, with just a few hours of notice, your patient gets cold feet and decides not to come. As a result you feel disheartened and have to fill an appointment slot.

Imagine an even more frustrating scenario. You schedule an appointment months in advance, and your patient doesn’t even call in to let you know he/she won’t make the appointment. Your patient leaves you blind-sided and confused about what caused them to turn away. Any therapist knows that situations like these happen all too regularly.

The good news is that there is a new way to overcome every one of your last-minute cancellations and no-shows. Fortunately, the solution does not involve putting increased pressure on your patients. Sure, you can make a policy that says your patient must commit or pay a huge fee. But doing this can potentially upset your patients and cause them to turn away from you in future.

When a patient cancels at the last minute or doesn’t show up at all, a whole potential appointment is lost for you and your staff (if you have a staff). That time that could be spent helping and working with other patients. If a therapist’s office averages one last minute cancellation or no-show a day, and there are 261 workdays in a year, those last minute cancellations and no-shows could be costing them $25,000-$50,000 a year, and another $25,000-$50,000 in opportunity cost! The countless hours of wasted time for all your staff, lost business, and missed opportunity to satisfy other patients is overwhelming frustrating.

A new tool called Next In Line is specifically designed to help therapists and doctors solve the frustrating and costly problem of last minute cancellations and no shows. Next In Line provides a virtual waitlist for your patients. When an opening in your schedule occurs, patients on the virtual waitlist receive an instant notification about the open appointment. Your patients could save weeks or months of waiting time by getting appointments sooner then they normally would have, while you and your staff no longer wastes time during lulls in the day. This virtual waitlist and notification system leads to an enhanced customer experience, increased staff efficiency, and plenty of recovered revenue.

Dr. Dennis Kurgansky, a Dermatologist based in Bel Air, Maryland says that his patients and staff love the tool and use it regularly. “For years, I’ve struggled with last minute cancellations and no-shows. With Next In Line, I am able to notify my patients when an opening comes up and they can instantly fill it. My patients and staff love it, as it’s so easy and saves them all time!” Perhaps Next In Line is the solution your practice needs to finally overcome last minute cancellations and no shows?

Request a free Next In Line demo to help you overcome last minute cancellations and no-shows.

Written by Matt Rosenblum freelance writer and marketing consultant based in NYC.