The ability to keep your schedule full everyday in your eyecare practice can sometimes be a challenge. So what's the best way for bringing back patients you haven't seen in a while?
Patient recall messages.
Recall messages are a great way to help bring back your existing patients to help keep your schedule full. A good system can send out reminders to your patients via text, email, phone, or postcard. Your recalls and reminders can be customized specifically for your practice and your patients. And whether you're sending out an email, or post card, there are dos and don'ts of creating good reminders!
The Do's and Don'ts of Successful Patient Recall
Do Use Instructional and Directional Cues
Make sure that the order of the text you're writing in your recalls is logical. Use appropriate headings along with lines to direct the reader towards your desired call to action. When sorting through mail, or email, most people don't take the time to read an entire message, so make sure you're making your message easy to skim while leading the reader in the right direction.
Don't Overcrowd
We've seen it all on optometry recall cards - clashing images, jokes, puns, flowers, eyes - you name it. Trying to pack in too much on a recall message could be distracting to readers. In this case, less might be more. Don't make your patients work too hard sorting through the fluff to figure out what exactly your recall is trying to tell them.
Do Include a CTA (Call-to-Action)
What's your number one reason for sending out patient recall messages? To schedule more appointments. So make sure that's the number one thing you tell your patients to do in your messaging. You want your patients to take an action from reading your recall. Do you want them to pick up the phone and call you to schedule or confirm their next appointment? Or maybe you want them to visit your website and schedule online? Make it clear. Encapsulate the message, or call it out with color. If your patient only notices one thing on the recall, this should be it.
Don't Forget about Your Brand
Something that can often get lost on a recall card is your practice's brand. If you're sending out an html email or postcard, don't use a custom stock recall card, make it unique to your practice. Things that are important to your brand include your logo, consistent colors and fonts, or perhaps even a photo of your OD. All or some of these things should be recognizable to your patients and you want them to remember who you are when they receive that recall.
Do Remember Contact Info
Your patients need to know how they can reach you. They might prefer to pick up the phone and call you or send you a quick email at their convenience. Phone number, email address, website URL, and social links are all good to include on your recalls. Make sure that you're giving patients all the information they need to reach your office.
Looking for an EHR software that comes with patient recall features? Watch our quick video to see Uprise in action.
