A patient recall system is two things joined together: the list of patients who are due for a visit and have no booking, and the automated reminder system that sends them the message and records the reply. Practices usually have one of the two, a list in the chart system that nobody works, or a reminder tool that only reminds people who are already booked. This page says what the joined system has to do for a small medical or dental practice, what the automation should and should not decide, and what it costs against the published prices. The free reminder template on this site sizes the reminder load from your own diary first.
The list comes first
A recall system that starts with the message has nothing to send it to. The list is every patient whose last visit of a given type was more than the practice's interval ago and who has no future booking, sorted by how overdue they are, and it has to be rebuilt every week from the diary because patients book and cancel. Kheirkhah et al. 2016 measured an average cost of $196 per missed appointment in the clinics they studied; the recall list is where a practice replaces that chair time, and a chart system that knows a patient is due but cannot list them is not a recall system.
What the automated reminder system decides, and what it does not
The automation should decide when the message goes out and to whom, from the list and the interval the practice set, and it should record the reply against the patient. It should not decide the wording, which the practice writes once, and it should not decide to stop, which is a person's call after the last message and a phone call. Dantas et al. 2018 found prior no-show history to be one of the two main determinants of a no-show across 105 studies, so the record the automation keeps is what makes the next reminder for that patient better.
What it costs, and what the price buys
The Cochrane 2013 review found mobile text reminders raised attendance from about 67.8% to 78.6%, risk ratio 1.14, and a recall message works on the same channel for the same reason. Acuity Scheduling publishes booking-page plans at $20 a month for one calendar and $34 for up to six, which is the going rate for the diary. Recallvia Pro is $20 a month for the recall list rebuilt from your diary, the messages sent under the practice name at the interval you chose, and the record of who booked, alongside whatever chart or diary the practice already runs.
Questions people ask about patient recall system
What is the difference between a patient recall system and an appointment reminder?
A reminder goes to a patient who is booked; recall goes to a patient who is due and not booked. A full system does both from the same list and the same wording.
How much of recall should be automated?
The list, the sending and the record. The wording and the decision to stop chasing a patient stay with the front desk.
How many recall messages before a phone call?
A text, then an email a few days later, then a call. The free template on this site counts the messages for the sequence you choose so you can see the load before you commit to it.
Does Recallvia work with my chart system?
It keeps the recall list, sends the messages and records the replies beside the chart or diary you already run; nothing moves out of the chart.
Sources
- Kheirkhah et al., Prevalence, predictors and economic consequences of no-shows, BMC Health Services Research 2016
- Dantas et al., No-shows in appointment scheduling, a systematic literature review, Health Policy 2018
- Gurol-Urganci et al., Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013
- Acuity Scheduling, pricing