Patient follow-up playbooks for private practices
Copy-paste texts, emails, and phone scripts, plus follow-up schedules and benchmarks, for independent audiology, ENT, dental, orthodontic, med spa, optometry, and physical therapy practices.
What are no-shows costing your practice?
Enter your monthly appointments, no-show rate, and average visit revenue. The calculator shows what missed visits cost you each month and year, and what cutting no-shows by a quarter or a half would bring back.
The playbooks
Each playbook gives you a timeline, ready-to-send templates, and the numbers worth tracking.
By specialty
Audiology
Audiology patient follow-up: inquiry to recallA complete audiology follow-up system: when to contact new inquiries, untreated patients, new fittings, and annual recalls, with scripts for each.
Audiology
Hearing aid trial follow-up scheduleA day 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 check-in schedule for the hearing aid trial period, with call scripts and texts that catch problems before they become returns.
Dental
Dental recall and patient reactivationA dental hygiene recall system and an overdue-patient reactivation plan, with a timeline, text and email templates, and the numbers to track each month.
Dental
Dental to orthodontic referral follow-upClose the referral loop between general dentists and orthodontists: who contacts the family, what each office reports back, and templates for both sides.
ENT
ENT consult and referral follow-upHow ENT practices should follow up after consults and on referred patients: close the loop with referring offices, book next steps, recover open plans.
Med spa
Med spa consult follow-up and rebookingTurn med spa consults into booked treatments and keep package clients rebooking on time, with a follow-up timeline, discreet templates, and metrics.
Optometry
Optometry recall and eyewear pickup remindersAnnual exam recall and eyewear pickup reminders for optometry practices: a recall timeline, pickup sequence, discreet templates, and the numbers to track.
Orthodontics
Orthodontic consult follow-up: consult to startHow to convert free orthodontic consults into treatment starts: a 60-day follow-up timeline, scripts for pending families, and the numbers to track.
Orthodontics
Orthodontic retention follow-upA retention follow-up plan for orthodontic practices: retainer checks after debond, reminders that keep patients coming back, and overdue-visit scripts.
Physical therapy
Physical therapy plan of care dropoutsHow physical therapy clinics keep patients from dropping out partway through a plan of care: warning signs, a follow-up timeline, and scripts that work.
By situation
- Fill cancellations from a waitlist
How to fill last-minute openings from a patient waitlist: who to put on it, how to offer slots fairly, first-reply-wins texts, and what to track.
- Missed appointment text templates
Missed-appointment texts for audiology, ENT, dental, orthodontic, med spa, optometry, and PT practices, plus a same-day timeline and what to track.
- New patient welcome sequence
A welcome sequence from booking to first visit: confirmation, forms, what to bring, reminders, and day-of details, with variants for each specialty.
- Patient review requests
How to ask patients for reviews after a visit: timing, wording, platform rules on incentives and review gating, HIPAA-safe replies, and what to track.
- Reactivate lapsed patients (18+ months)
How to bring back patients not seen in 18 months or more: clean the list, segment it, and work a short multichannel sequence with specialty variants.
- Speed to lead for private practices
How private practices can answer phone, web form, chat, and social inquiries fast: response targets, after-hours coverage, scripts, and what to track.
- Treatment plan not accepted: follow-up
What to do when a patient does not accept a treatment plan or quote: a 60-day timeline, scripts for cost and timing objections, and what to track.
Benchmarks and compliance
- HIPAA-safe patient messaging
What can and cannot go in patient texts, emails, and voicemails under HIPAA: minimum-necessary wording, preferences, and official HHS guidance.
- No-show rates by specialty
Published no-show rates for audiology, ENT, dental, orthodontics, med spa, eye care, and PT, with sources, dates, settings, and how to measure your own.
- Patient recall rate benchmarks
Published recall and retention benchmarks for private practices, where reliable numbers do not exist, and formulas to measure your own each month.
- SMS consent and TCPA basics
TCPA basics for practices that text patients: consent, opt-outs, quiet hours, reminders vs. marketing, and A2P 10DLC, with official FCC sources.
- Text vs. email vs. phone follow-up
How to choose between text, email, and phone for each patient follow-up situation, based on urgency, content, consent, and patient preference.
Who writes these
Casey DeGroot spent 10 years at Audigy helping audiology and ENT practices grow, served as a regional CIO for GN Group, and now leads Epicasta, a fractional CIO and technology consulting firm. These playbooks come from what we have watched work, and fail, at real front desks.