According to a recent study, 51.3% of factors influencing patients' decision-making in the healthcare field are related to convenience and accessibility. Therefore, healthcare professionals need to pay attention to the prioritized factors mentioned in the table when it comes to patient appointment scheduling and follow-up.
In many dental clinics today, scheduling patient appointments still requires making phone calls. This situation can lead to reluctance on the part of patients to schedule their next appointment. Additionally, phone calls can be inefficient, wasting staff time.
Fortunately, now you have Medicasimple to handle your clinic's online appointment scheduling!
Patients typically look for the easiest option. According to a survey, the importance of online appointments, with options for time and date changes or cancellations, increased from 55% in 2016 to 68% in 2019. By offering the option of online appointments, you provide patients with the opportunity to choose the treatment time that suits them best. Some individuals may prefer exclusively booking appointments online, and if you don't offer this option, you might miss potential patients. If your staff struggles to answer calls during busy periods, using an online appointment system can also streamline appointment tracking processes.
Daytime workers may not find time to call and schedule appointments during business hours. An online appointment system allows patients to schedule appointments even when your clinic is closed. The last thing you want is for a patient who found you online to be unable to reach your clinic to make an appointment.
Online appointment scheduling ensures that gaps in your schedule are filled. Patients can easily see available slots due to last-minute cancellations or changes. This is crucial because patients who have to wait for more than a month for an appointment are highly likely to cancel.
If appointment scheduling can only be done by phone, your staff probably spends a significant portion of their time answering calls. Delegating this task to a cloud-based clinic management system allows employees more time to focus on other tasks. For example, when a patient in the waiting room has a question, your staff should have time to assist promptly.
Online appointments can enhance patient satisfaction even before the actual visit. Recently, it was discovered that working hours and being kept waiting while scheduling appointments disappointed 56.1% of patients. A cloud-based system will provide a solution to this issue.
Scheduling appointments should not be a challenge for your patients. Online appointments make it possible for patients to book appointments at their convenience, easing the workload for those who don't have time to call during the day.
For more information about Medicasimple, visit our website. When you transition to online appointments, you will observe an increase in productivity and revenue.
