Yes. A pipeline in GoHighLevel holds one card for each unscheduled treatment plan, with stages from Presented to Scheduled or Declined, and a workflow that sends follow ups and creates coordinator tasks at each stage. The bottom line: a large share of diagnosed treatment sits unscheduled, and a pipeline makes each plan visible so someone owns it.
How much treatment goes unscheduled
Sources differ. The 2026 Catalyst Index, reported by Henry Schein One, says the average practice accepts 45 percent of presented plans, while top performers reach 75 percent. Jarvis Analytics, quoted by MouthWatch, puts actual acceptance near 34 percent. DentalBase, a vendor, says 30 to 60 percent of diagnosed treatment sits unscheduled in the practice system at any time and that most of those patients get no follow up. These are industry and vendor figures with different definitions, so measure the practice's own figure: dollars of treatment accepted divided by dollars presented.
The stages
| Stage | Owner | Follow up |
|---|---|---|
| Presented | Dentist and coordinator | Written estimate sent the same day |
| Follow up 1 | Coordinator | 48 hours: text with booking link, and a call task |
| Follow up 2 | Coordinator | 2 weeks: call, with a payment plan option |
| Follow up 3 | Coordinator | 6 weeks: final message, then move to Long term |
| Scheduled | Front desk | Confirmation and reminders |
| Declined or deferred | Coordinator | Note the reason, and revisit at the next recall |
The ADA Health Policy Institute reports that 17 percent of working age adults did not obtain needed dental care because of cost in 2022, so the payment plan option belongs in the second contact.
Build it in GoHighLevel
GoHighLevel's help pages describe pipelines and opportunity triggers, including a Pipeline Stage Changed trigger filterable by opportunity fields, and custom objects for repeating records.
GoHighLevel's help portal says accounts are not HIPAA compliant by default, and that HIPAA Compliance is a paid upgrade, $297 a month as an account wide add on, that must be enabled for the agency and then configured for the sub accounts that need it. Third party guides add that the add on provides a business associate agreement, encryption, audit logging, and multi factor authentication, that the practice also needs its own agreement with the agency, and that GoHighLevel itself recommends avoiding protected health information in SMS and email even with the add on. Whether the AI features are covered by the agreement is a question to put to HighLevel in writing before any patient data reaches them.
- Create a Treatment plans pipeline with the stages in the table.
- Create a card for each unscheduled plan, with fields for Plan value, Presented date, Dentist, and Reason given.
- Build a workflow with the Pipeline Stage Changed trigger for each follow up stage that sends the generic text and creates the coordinator task.
- Add Wait steps to move a card from Presented to Follow up 1 at 48 hours, and so on, if the patient has not booked.
- When a patient books, move the card to Scheduled and stop the sequence.
- Review the pipeline weekly with the dentist, and report acceptance by dollars each month.
Report, task list, and pipeline compared
| Tool | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Unscheduled treatment report in the practice system | Shows every open plan | Does not assign the work or show what was tried |
| A coordinator's task list | Assigns the work | Loses the larger picture of how many plans are open |
| A pipeline with stages and follow ups | Shows the whole picture and assigns the next step | Needs the data fed in and the stages kept current |
Before pipelines, a coordinator printed the unscheduled report and called down it when the schedule allowed. That works for a small practice and breaks as volume grows. The pipeline does not replace the coordinator, it removes the lists she keeps in her head.
Worked example
For example, a practice that presents $200,000 of treatment a month and accepts 45 percent, or $90,000, leaves $110,000 unscheduled (200,000 minus 90,000). If follow ups bring in 5 percent of that, it adds $5,500 a month (110,000 times 0.05). The figures are illustrative.
Mistakes to avoid
- No owner for each plan. Assign the coordinator.
- One follow up only. Use the cadence.
- Quoting vendor acceptance rates as promises. Measure your own.
- Naming the treatment in the text. Keep it generic.
How this was handled before
A coordinator ran an unscheduled treatment report in the practice software and called through it when time allowed. Reports showed the problem but did not assign the work. A pipeline gives each plan a stage and an owner.
What to measure after launch
Track plans presented, plans accepted by dollars, cards in each stage, and plans with no contact in 2 weeks. Report acceptance by dollars monthly.
Check before you switch it on
US text messages sent from a standard 10 digit number need A2P 10DLC registration. The HighLevel support portal says registration is required for texts to US recipients from 10 digit long code numbers and that toll free numbers do not require it. HighLevel's opt in guidelines also say a person cannot be forced to agree to text messages in order to submit a form, so keep the consent box optional. One compliance guide separates informational texts, which need documented consent, from marketing texts, which need prior express written consent. Ask your attorney which category your reminders fall into. Have the dentist approve the follow up approach and the privacy officer approve the messages. This is general information, not legal advice.
Questions people ask
What is the average case acceptance rate?
Sources range from about 34 to 65 percent. The 2026 Catalyst Index puts the average at 45 percent.
When should follow ups happen?
A vendor suggests 48 hours, 2 weeks, and 6 weeks as a starting point.
What stops the follow up?
A booking moves the card to Scheduled, and the workflow ends.
Ready to try it yourself? Start a GoHighLevel account here.
You can also see this in action in our GoHighLevel capabilities demo.