Did you know that small healthcare practices miss up to 30 percent1 of incoming calls during office hours? For chiropractic clinics, each unanswered caller is more than a missed call. It could be a lost patient, a wasted marketing dollar, and a disruption to your patient journey.
Missed calls represent a hidden cost that undermines your practice’s growth, your team’s efficiency, and your patients’ experience. For example, if your clinic misses just five calls a day, that could amount to thousands of dollars in lost revenue, not to mention missed opportunities to build lasting patient relationships.
The Real Impact of Missed Calls in Chiropractic Clinics
What may appear to be a small operational issue often leads to larger consequences, from lost patient opportunities to increased administrative strain. When left unaddressed, missed calls can quietly erode both revenue and patient trust.
Lost revenue
Every missed call could be a potential new patient attempting to book an appointment. Without timely follow-up, that opportunity disappears.
A breakdown in the patient journey
When the first contact with your clinic is an unanswered call or voicemail, it can leave a negative impression that discourages patients from following through.
Wasted marketing investment
You pay for digital ads, local outreach, and referral incentives. If a prospective patient calls and gets no answer, that investment delivers no return.
Administrative strain
When your front desk staff is overwhelmed by multitasking, call answering suffers, in-person service quality declines, and staff burnout increases.
Why Chiropractic Clinics Miss Calls
It’s easy for chiropractic clinics to miss calls when systems and staffing aren’t designed to keep up with real-world demand. Even the most dedicated front desk teams can struggle to answer every call promptly, especially as patient expectations for responsiveness continue to rise. Without the right support, key moments of connection often fall through the cracks.
Limited office hours
Many clinics are only available during standard business hours. Calls that come in during evenings, weekends, or holidays go unanswered.
High call volume during peak times
Patients tend to call at similar times, creating bottlenecks that your team can’t always manage.
No backup during breaks or after hours
Lunch hours and end-of-day periods are common gaps in coverage when calls are most likely to be missed.
Lack of bilingual support
Without staff who can assist non-English speakers, valuable patient calls may go unreturned or misunderstood.
What Missed Calls Mean for Patients
Patients expect a timely, human connection when they reach out to a healthcare provider. When calls go unanswered, or they cannot speak to a real person, the trust they hope to build starts to fade. From my own experience, I know that the first call is a critical moment, one that can either welcome them in or send them searching for a different provider.
Most patients prefer to speak to a real person
More than 80% of customers say speaking directly to someone improves their satisfaction with care.
Unanswered calls lead to unmet expectations
If patients don’t feel heard from the beginning, they are less likely to follow through with booking or returning to your clinic.
Competitors are just a search away
Patients often move on to another provider within minutes if their call goes unanswered.
Negative experiences reduce loyalty
Long wait times or failed communication reduce satisfaction, which impacts referrals and online reviews.
How to Ensure Every Call Gets Answered
The good news is, it doesn’t have to be this way! There are several accessible strategies that you can implement quickly to help ensure that every patient call is answered, every time.
Implement a 24/7 answering service
Round-the-clock call coverage ensures no inquiry goes unnoticed. This is especially helpful for patients who call after work hours or during weekends, and can be essential for urgent care questions.
Use bilingual answering for inclusive service
Providing multi-lingual helps you build trust with patients from diverse backgrounds, making your clinic more accessible and welcoming to the entire community.
Offer live appointment scheduling
When trained agents can book appointments in real-time, you reduce delays, avoid miscommunication, and help patients commit to care immediately.
Streamline your new patient intake process
Professionally trained call agents can assist with collecting information and completing intake paperwork over the phone. This saves your staff time and improves the patient’s first experience with your practice.
What You Gain When You Stop Missing Calls
Investing in professional call handling is about more than just convenience. It plays a crucial role in boosting your clinic’s revenue by capturing every patient opportunity and reducing costly missed calls. Beyond the financial benefits, it transforms the entire patient experience, ensuring every caller feels heard, valued, and confident in your care from the very first conversation.
Increased patient retention and appointment completion
Prompt responses make patients feel valued and more likely to follow through with care.
More positive reviews and referrals
A smooth, professional first impression builds trust and encourages patients to recommend your clinic.
Reduced staff burnout
When your front desk team is supported, they’re more present and effective with in-office patients.
A consistent, branded experience
Answering services can mirror your clinic’s tone and values, delivering a seamless experience to every caller.
Don’t Let Another Call Go Unanswered
Every missed call is more than just a momentary lapse. It’s a missed opportunity to grow your practice, serve your patients, and make the most of your marketing efforts. By addressing call handling gaps and with the right systems in place, your clinic can stay responsive, efficient, and focused on what matters most: your patients.
Stephanie Maharjan is the Operations Director at WellReceived, a corporate member of the American Chiropractic Association, providing 24/7 medical answering services and other technologies. WellReceived offers solutions to improve operations and elevate the quality of care. Reach out today to see how we can help your chiropractic clinic.
Reference
- “The Marketing Costs of Missed Healthcare Calls in the Healthcare Industry,” Invoca Inc.
