Veterinarians Everywhere Are Making More Money by Using Notifly to Cut-down on No-Shows
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) November 04, 2013 -- Veterinarians across the country are increasing their revenue by using Notifly, an innovative web-based appointment reminder platform designed to minimize or eliminate no-shows.
Missed appointments are a serious problem for many veterinary practices. In fact, in an article on the veterinary blog “The Bark,” no-shows ranked near the top of the list of pet peeves common amongst veterinary practices.
“From our research talking to vets, we found that most of them averaged at least one missed appointment a day,” explains Joshua Otten, managing partner with Notifly. “For a veterinary practice it’s very important to maintain a steady flow of daily appointments and those no-shows can add up quickly. This can really impact an individual practice’s bottom-line.”
Most veterinary procedures cost in the region of $100. However rates for some procedures like neutering or spaying can enter into the $500 dollar range. That means that just one no-show a day can add up to from $500 to $2,500 a week. Even on the low end, that means an income loss of about $2,000 a month and potentially, somewhere in the neighborhood of $25,000 or more in lost income annually.
“No-shows really trash our schedule and make other people wait unnecessarily,” adds Dr. Isabel Simmons, practicing vet and Notifly user. “Like a lot of vets, I average one or more no-shows a day. But being a solo practitioner with only a part-time assistant, it’s just not possible to make follow-up calls to the 30 or 40 clients I see on a given day.”
Dr. Simmons’ situation is all too typical. With most vets seeing from 20 to 50 patients a day, individual telephone reminders are just not an option. Beyond that, many pet owners may be unavailable to receive phone calls during the day. Or they may find such calls intrusive.
“Notifly is the result of considerable research, which reveals a startling figure: 95% of all text messages are read, as opposed to just 23% for emails,” explains Mr. Otten. “Texts also get a higher response rate than calls or emails. And while people won’t always answer the phone at work or when they are in a meeting, they will almost always check or respond to a text.”
That’s why Notifly employs a simple, SMS-based approach to the whole process of confirming appointments. Veterinarians who use the platform free themselves and their staffs from having to call clients to confirm. With Notifly, once an appointment is set, the platform automatically sends out a timely, courteous reminder to the client via SMS.
Clients may then either confirm the appointment by texting “Y” or cancel it by texting “X.” Based on the client’s reply, the Notifly dashboard will then alert the veterinarian as to which clients have confirmed and which will need to be rescheduled. And because Notifly sends out reminders 48 hours in advance, vets who use the platform always have ample time to fill timeslots for clients who do choose to cancel. Messages sent via Notifly can also be configured to include directions, instructions, special offers and other customized content.
Unlike many other SMS reminder platforms, which are frequently just one component in a larger suite of services, and can easily cost hundreds of dollars, Notifly is a standalone application. Notifly offers users a freemium service plan, allowing anyone with a small business to try out the service for free. After that, monthly bulk plans are available starting at just $10 a month.
About Notifly
Notifly is an innovative new web-based SaaS platform designed to help veterinarians and other professionals better manage their appointments with clients. By using Notifly, businesses can increase their revenue by ensuring that clients, patients and customers never miss their scheduled appointments. By fully automating the appointment reminder process, Notifly makes it easier for businesses to decrease their rate of no-shows. Simple, intuitive and easy to use, Notifly frees vets and their staff from the responsibility of having to make follow-up phone calls by sending convenient text message reminders to clients. Notifly was designed to empower veterinary practices to decrease their no-show rates and increase their income.
For more information:
Joshua Otten
Managing Partner at Notifly
Email: josho(at)notif(dot)ly
Phone: 818-920-8297
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Joshua Otten, Notifly, https://notif.ly/, 818-920-8297, [email protected]
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