The recall list nobody has time to call
Hundreds of patients are due. The list is worked between patients, and half of it is never reached.
See the missed-appointment pictureCet exemple est en cours de mise à jour. Le texte ci-dessous est encore en anglais.
Example · Dental clinicsRecall and treatment follow-up agent
The recall list, actually worked through
An agent that invites patients due a check-up, books them inside the practice's rules, follows up an unfinished treatment plan, and sends every symptom to a clinician.
Illustrative scenario — not a real client result
Recall list · 17:30
- Answered
38 recalls sent
17:31 · Six months since last check-up, in the practice's name
- Answered
9 appointments booked
17:34 · Two released slots refilled from the list
- Person
“My gum is bleeding”
17:36 · Symptom · with a clinician, same day
Symptoms never wait for the next recall
Recall and treatment follow-up agent · Dental clinics
- Sourced facts
- A clinician decides
- Symptoms go today
01 — A typical day
Three small failures that add up.
What dental clinics owners tell us goes wrong in an ordinary week.
A treatment plan that stops halfway
The crown was quoted in March. Nobody followed up, and the tooth is now an emergency.
See the workflowA symptom message in a booking inbox
“Is this swelling normal?” Lands with whoever answers bookings, and gets a reassuring reply.
See the documented cases01 — A typical day · the evidence
What the numbers actually say.
Each figure opens its source, year, sample and limits. Click a badge to check it.
01
Source
The Angle Orthodontist, reminder method and no-show rates
2018
Method and sample are recorded in the source registry.
Read the source for its scope and limits.
Open the source2.43%
no-show rate at one orthodontic practice
Retrospective study of 1,193 appointments for 261 patients. Phone 3.49%, email 2.68%, SMS 1.90% — no significant difference.
The Angle Orthodontist · 201802
Source
The Angle Orthodontist, reminder method and no-show rates
2018
Method and sample are recorded in the source registry.
Read the source for its scope and limits.
Open the source190.00%
no-show rate for SMS reminders in that study
The lowest of the three reminder methods, and not statistically different from the others.
The Angle Orthodontist · 201803
Source
PeerJ Computer Science, dental no-show rates and prediction
2022
Method and sample are recorded in the source registry.
Read the source for its scope and limits.
Open the source42.68%
of appointments were no-shows in one clinic's records
196,018 appointments at a Riyadh clinic, 2019 data. One clinic in one system — not a benchmark.
PeerJ Computer Science · 202202 — What the helper does
From your records to a decision you own.
The agent works the recall list: who is due, on which interval, and who has already been invited. It sends the invitation in the practice's name with a booking link and a way to reply.
It books the appointment inside the practice's rules, and follows up an unfinished treatment plan once, with the practice's own wording and no clinical claim.
Anything about pain, swelling, bleeding, medication or a course of treatment goes to a clinician the same day. The agent does not assess, reassure or advise.
6 steps · 2 decisions you own
Reads from
- Practice system
- SMS
- Phone notes
Text version of the flow
- 1. Build the recall list — Due, not yet invited. Human checkpoint: You set the recall rules.
- 2. Send the invitation — Practice name, one reason.
- 3. Book inside the rules — Appointment type and length.
- 4. Follow up the plan — Unfinished treatment, once.
- 5. Route symptoms today — Pain, swelling, bleeding. Human checkpoint: A clinician answers symptoms.
- 6. Report the list — Invited, booked, waiting.
02 — What the helper does · a simulated example
One simulated example, step by step.
Use the buttons or the left and right arrow keys. Nothing here is a real customer.
Simulated example
Elmtree Dental, three surgeries
SMS · 17:30
A three-surgery practice working through its recall list. Every message is simulated; no real patient data is used.
This is Elmtree Dental's assistant. I can book your check-up or pass a message to the clinical team. Reply HUMAN for reception.
03 — What you decide
The helper prepares. You decide.
The agent works the list. A clinician owns the mouth.
Symptoms go today
Pain, swelling, bleeding and medication questions reach a clinician the same day, with the record.
Your recall rules
Intervals, exclusions, channels and who needs a call are yours; the agent cannot override a flag.
A clinician takes over
Anything about a diagnosis, a treatment plan or whether work is still needed is theirs to answer.
You can pause it
Stop recalls for a clinician, an interval or the whole practice; the list goes back to reception.
Without your approval · No symptom assessment, no urgency judgement, no treatment advice — and a do-not-contact flag is absolute.
04 — What changes when a safeguard is missing
Documented cases, not scare stories.
Three documented cases with their sources. Each is a reason the recall list, the record and the clinical boundary stay separate.
A recall that found disease late
After serious concerns about care, 135 patients were recalled; the BBC reported that 35 had developed cancer and four died. The General Dental Council later found more than 100 malpractice charges proved, including concerns about patient management and record keeping, and struck the dentist off.
What the helper would do differently
Symptoms are never deferred to the next recall. The agent routes them the same day, and a referral or recall action stays open until a person records that it was completed.
135
patients recalled; 35 had cancer, four died
22,000 patients recalled over infection control
After secret filming, 22,000 patients were recalled over infection-control concerns and 4,526 were tested. A GDC hearing found 55 allegations proved, including failures to change gloves and masks between patients, with witnesses describing pressure to see very high patient volumes.
What the helper would do differently
The agent never fills a diary beyond the capacity the practice sets for a clinician, and it does not shorten an appointment type to fit a slot.
4,526
patients tested for blood-borne viruses
Claims for work that was never done
A dentist made false NHS claims for work not carried out, or for more expensive work than was provided. He admitted false accounting and was jailed in 2013, and was later erased from the register.
What the helper would do differently
A completed appointment is recorded from the clinical record, not from the booking. The agent cannot mark treatment as done, and the practice reconciles claims against what was actually delivered.
Prison
false accounting; later erased from the register
04 — What changes · the evidence
The rest of the evidence.
Every figure resolves to a source with its sample and limits. No figure without one.
2.43%
no-show rate at one orthodontic practice
1,193 appointments, 261 patients, 2015 data published 2018. Patients chose their reminder method.
Source
The Angle Orthodontist, reminder method and no-show rates
2018
Method and sample are recorded in the source registry.
Read the source for its scope and limits.
Open the source190.00%
no-show rate with SMS reminders there
Against 3.49% for phone and 2.68% for email — no statistically significant difference.
Source
The Angle Orthodontist, reminder method and no-show rates
2018
Method and sample are recorded in the source registry.
Read the source for its scope and limits.
Open the source42.68%
of 196,018 appointments were no-shows in one clinic
Riyadh clinic, 2019 records published 2022. A single clinic; the figure shows scale of variation, not a norm.
Source
PeerJ Computer Science, dental no-show rates and prediction
2022
Method and sample are recorded in the source registry.
Read the source for its scope and limits.
Open the source
04 — What changes · your week
The same week, two ways.
Drag the handle, or use the left and right arrow keys when it is focused.
Typical month, beforeTypical month, after
Week 1
The recall list is printed and worked between patients.
Week 2
Half the list is never called; nobody knows which half.
Week 3
A symptom message waits in the booking inbox behind appointments.
Week 4
March's crown quotes are still unbooked and unmentioned.
Week 1
Invitations sent to everyone due, with exclusions respected.
Week 2
Bookings land in the diary; refusals are recorded, not re-sent.
Week 3
Symptom messages are with a clinician the same day.
Week 4
Unfinished plans get one follow-up, then a person decides.
Illustrative example · not a measured result
05 — Your version
Four questions about your own week.
Keep your answers. They are the brief for the first version we would build for you.
How many patients are due a check-up in a normal month, and how do you find them today?
Which bookings may reception make without asking a clinician?
How many unfinished treatment plans are sitting in the diary right now?
Who should hear about a symptom or a change in condition, and how fast?
Next
Put your own figures into the calculator below. It runs in your browser, and nothing is sent or stored.
Put your week into the calculatorBring the four answers to the free one-hour call. We will use them to sketch the first version, and you keep the written plan either way.
Talk about your business05 — Your version · your numbers
Put your own week into it.
An estimate, not a promise. The model and its assumptions are printed below.
Your inputs
From the practice system.
count
Calling, leaving messages, booking.
min
Your own recall conversion, not ours.
%
Reception time.
per hour
Quoted but not booked.
count
Example defaults are typical for a small business. Replace them with yours. Nothing is stored, sent or shared.
Estimated result
IllustrativeReception hours back each month
0–0
- Time released at your rate
- £0–£0
- Recalls sent after hours
- 0–0%
- Time to a booked check-up
- Already immediate
How we calculated this
Routine work handled by the helper: 70% of the share you marked routine.
Time saved per item: 80% of the minutes you entered.
Monthly volume: weekly figures × 4.33; monthly figures used as entered.
Cost: hours saved × your staff cost per hour, in pounds as an illustration.
Reply time: routine items move within the hour while the helper runs. Complex work still waits for a person.
Questions
The things people ask next.
No. Pain, swelling, bleeding and medication questions go to a clinician the same day. The agent does not judge urgency or give advice.
No. A do-not-contact flag is absolute, whether it came from the patient or a clinician.
Once, with the practice's own wording. If there is no reply, a person decides whether to raise it at the next visit.
Only types the practice has opened, at the length it sets. It cannot shorten an appointment to fit a slot.
No. Completion comes from the clinical record. The agent never records that work was done.
It stays in the practice system, is encrypted, and is retained on the practice's schedule. Clinical notes are not read into the agent beyond the recall interval.
Two to three weeks: recall intervals, exclusions, appointment types and a parallel run with reception.
Start here
Show us your recall list.
One hour with a month of recalls and your appointment types. We will show you what the agent would send, what it would book, and what it would never answer.