I've had my share of canceled appointments due to bad weather, a sick child, car problems, dog ran away, etc. It made me upset just thinking about how those unexpected cancellations affect my income.

 I can remember times when me and my family were glued to the TV waiting for the school closures to come up on the screen. I was hoping school was on and my son was praying for school to be canceled. Because I knew that if school was canceled that I could expect several patient cancellations that day as well.

Now don’t get me wrong, sure everyone likes the idea of a surprise day off. But when you own a private practice, it means less revenue for that week. And nobody wants that.

Over the years, I have tried various methods to adjust my schedule to accommodate for a sudden cancellation due to bad weather. I tried many things, including offering appointments later on in the week and hoping that the roads would be cleared. And that works sometimes. But when you have patients who come to see you weekly, they are more likely to skip that week’s session and come for their appointment the following week.

So, how can we prevent this from happening? I can’t control mother nature.

I have found a good alternative and that is telehealth. 

I’m sure you’ve heard of how telehealth seems to be a very popular method of offering treatment. And insurance companies see the value in offering these options because many insurance companies reimburse for telehealth services.

I used to think that telehealth was for people who live vast distances away who could not find a provider in their area. But telehealth has expanded to meet the demands of the consumers. And it can be a great option for people who cannot get to the office. 

It has become much easier to have access to telehealth platforms. I use Simple Practice for my EHR and telehealth is offered right through their platform. Thera Link, Doxy, and TheraNest (just to name a few) all provide telehealth services for mental health clinicians.

You might be worried that insurance companies don’t want to pay for telehealth services. You might be surprised to learn that Optum has their own telemental health service called Virtual Visit. This platform has no monthly or licensing fee for Optum credentialed providers. 

I believe that telehealth services will become more popular in the future. The insurance companies certainly think so.

So bad weather, car problems, or sick children don’t have to negatively impact your practice. There are so many options out there to have a full practice. 

So tell me, how do you handle bad weather cancellations? 

If you have any questions or need extra help about how to create an insurance-based private practice, contact me at Robin@DrRobinMyers.com. I offer Coaching and Consulting services.