Total recall

Optometric Management, Sep 2000 by Hayes, Jerry

This four-step process will ensure an effective recall system.

As a new graduate in 1973, I was lucky enough to purchase a small practice in rural Mississippi. I remember going through the existing patient files with the seller as he explained his rudimentary recall system. I thought I'd be so busy a year later that a recall system would be totally unnecessary. Not only was I extremely naive, I was also dead wrong. A successful recall program is the foundation of a growing practice.

Secret to success

A recall system is more than just a reminder for patients to get their eyes examined again, it's:

an educational tool

a valuable service

a practice builder

an income generator.

The success of your recall system has little to do with eloquently worded letters, beautiful post- cards or aggressive telemarketing. All of these techniques can serve as effective parts of your recall system, but they aren't why patients return to your office for continuing eye care. Patient will keep coming back to your practice if they:

understand the need for regular, preventive eye care

feel comfortable that your practice can provide both value and convenience in terms of serving their eyecare and eyewear needs.

From the start

Recall starts the moment a patient enters your office. Educating patients about the need for regular eyecare visits falls on both the practitioner and the staff. However, if you don't do a good job of promoting recall when the patient's in the office, he isn't going to come back on a timely basis, no matter how well presented or persistent your recall effort is.

In fact, too frequent calls or letters to unresponsive patients will quickly put your office in the same category as other marketing pests. The trick is to take the time to explain the patient's individual eye condition while he's in the office, then stress the importance of follow-up visits in the role of preventive care.

Once a patient has been pre-sold on the idea of regular eye care, the follow-up part of your recall system should be nothing more than an effective reminder.

Four step program

There are four steps in the recall process, each step builds on the previous one:

1. Education. The best approach I've found is talking with the patient while he's still seated in the exam chair and giving him a specific reason to come back.

Make a point of asking your patient for permission to place him in your recall system. Also, inform him when and how your office will contact him for a return visit. If the patient isn't receptive to your explanation while he's sitting in the exam chair then a post card or phone call isn't going to turn him around 12 months later either.

2. Pre-appointment. Like professionals in the dental field, many O.D.s have found pre-appointment an effective method for keeping patients in their practices. You and your staff shouldn't get hung up on the exact time and day. Just tell the patient if he needs to change the time that you'll gladly work with him.

3. Follow-Up. While there's nothing wrong with reminding patients by phone, a visually appealing post card or letter is a nice subtle reminder to send before you call them. Doctors who use systems that rely solely on phone recall risk catching their patients off-guard. An unannounced call can come across as pushy.

4. Monitor your patient return. Your recall assistant should keep a list of all the patients who've received mail notices, then phone those who don't respond within 7 days.

Developing a successful recall system depends totally on educating your patient on the benefits of regular eye health visits. The process should start when a patient walks through your door for the current visit, not when you're mailing them a notice a year later.

Dr. Hayes is director of the Center for Practice Excellence. You can direct practice finance questions to him by fax at (904) 273-1224, or by e-mail at askjerry@ed.com.