Patient “No Show” Rate Reduced by Sixty Percent by New SMS Patient Reminder Service

Like many gadget ideas for the medical office setting, the DoctorConnect service was another interesting concept for Dr. Jacelyn.  “We weren’t sure that it would work, we were expecting just to do the trial and not have much interest beyond that.”  The DoctorConnect service places its hook on reducing patient “no shows” by up to forty percent.

Real world results for SMS Text Messaging program are proving to be very effective.  However, DoctorConnect went above and beyond expectations.  By sending patients a SMS text message reminding them of appointments two days and then two hours before appointments, the missed appointment rate dropped dramatically at the practice of Dr. Jacelyn.  Overall, “no shows” are down over sixty percent.

DoctorConnect is offered by AdTel International, a twenty year old automated technology firm based in Dallas, Texas and headed by Bob Manley, CEO and Ross Manley, COO.  The company is known for innovative automated communication services and has worked with Southland/7-Eleven in recruiting efforts and Chevrolet for customer contact campaigns.

DoctorConnect works by using SMS Text Messaging to automate patient schedule reminders.  The service seamlessly connects to the medical practice’s patient scheduling software and automatically reminds patients via text message.

“Two days before my appointment with Dr. Jacelyn, I received a text message which read ‘Dr. Jacelyn wants to remind you of your appointment at 2 PM on 3/13/10 please reply YES to confirm or call us at 214-XXX-2178,” says Michelle Plyler.  “The message reached me between dropping kids off and getting to the bank.  I never would have received a phone message and, in all honesty, I had forgotten the appointment.  I replied YES and received one more reminder two hours before the appointment.”

AdTel can be reached at 1-800-442-38335 (1-800-44-ADTEL) and callers should ask for Cade Wright or Catherine Samples.  More information on AdTel can be found at www.adtel.net while DoctorConnect can be found at www.doctorconnect.net .  The company is currently offering a 30 day trial for services.