How do you actually handle patient recall in your shop?
Curious to hear how it works in practice. My brother runs an independent optical (Belgrade, 3,500 patients) and we were comparing his approach to what I've read other shops do.
His current setup: spreadsheet with last exam date, and "I should call them" which translates to almost never.
He estimates ~2,000 patients haven't been back in 2+ years.
I'm curious for those of you running practices:
Do you actively reach out to patients past their 12-month mark? If yes, how often?
What channel works phone, SMS, WhatsApp, email,postcard?
Is recall automated through your PMS / software, or manual?
Roughly what % of patients respond and book?
Anything you've tried that completely failed?
Just trying to understand if the "I never call them" problem is universal or just my brother being undisciplined.
Thanks for any input.