How do I handle a patient who can’t make my free exam time slots?
This is a phone skills problem, not a scheduling crisis, and the answer is friendly and firm. The free visit exists at the times you block, period. If those do not work, you tell them you would be happy to schedule at other times, and here is how that works. The other times are paid. Then you take a credit card by phone to lock it in. That one move does two things. It protects the genuinely free slots from getting eaten by people who were never going to commit, and it moves a serious patient onto a paid step where they have skin in the game. Do not apologize for it and do not bend the free block to fit everyone. Train your front desk to say it plainly. Free has rules. Paid has flexibility. Patients who want you will choose.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.