5 Reasons Why Online Scheduling is a Must at Your Practice

Posted on July 15, 2022 in General

Consumers love and enjoy the convenience of doing almost everything online. They’re used to making restaurant reservations, booking flights, ordering groceries, and completing bank deposits online. Healthcare consumers expect the same level of digital convenience when booking their doctor’s appointments.

If you don’t offer online scheduling, here are 5 compelling reasons why patient self-scheduling is a must-have in your practice.

1. It’s What Patients Want

NRC Health reveals that a majority of patients value ease of access and convenience even more than the quality of care and insurance coverage. Fueled by the use of technology in almost everything from retail shopping to travel and banking, 80 percent of patients say they would look for care elsewhere due to convenience alone. Add to that the growing number of practices now giving patients the ability to self-schedule.

It goes without saying that online scheduling is no longer just an option for practices but a must-have to remain competitive. One way of ensuring you meet patients’ expectations is by offering self-scheduling. Enabling your patients to book appointments online gives them the convenience they demand.

It’s also faster than calling your practice. Patients won’t be sent to voicemail or put on hold. Plus, they’ll be able to schedule appointments from anywhere, at a time that works best for them.

2. Increases Efficiency

Scheduling appointments is key to the success of your practice. However, your front office staff can spend a ton of time booking patients manually. It takes an average of over 8 minutes to schedule a patient on the phone.

On the other hand, patients spend less than 2 minutes self-scheduling. Implementing online appointment booking streamlines operations in your practice and saves your staff valuable time that can be used to focus on patients at the office.

Online scheduling further removes distractions in your practice. Your front office team wears many hats, including clerical work. If they combine that with phone scheduling, they’re prone to make mistakes. And every time the phone rings, your employees are constantly disrupted.

Allowing patients to self-schedule frees staff to concentrate on other important duties. As a result, you have a more efficient team, which improves your office workflows.

3. Enhances Patient Satisfaction

Patients feel the ability to self-schedule is important. It makes sense, considering it takes more than 8 minutes to book over the phone, including time spent playing phone tag or on hold. Not many patients have the patience to wait that long and often prefer to hang up and look for another healthcare provider.

By contrast, digital tools like an online scheduling system align with patients’ expectations and keep patients a priority. So unsurprisingly, practices that provide online scheduling have more satisfied patients, which leads to increased patient loyalty and retention.

4. Attracts New Patients

What better way to stand out from the competition than to offer self-scheduling. It shows patients that your practice is responsive to their preferences. This, in turn, encourages them to leave stellar reviews online.

With the increasing number of prospective patients researching healthcare providers on the internet before choosing them, ensuring your patients are happy with their scheduling experience is vital.

5. Boosts Your Bottom Line

Patient no-shows are a pain point for any practice – they eat into potential revenue. The good news is, that self-scheduling gives your patients the power to make their own decisions, increasing their engagement. When patients can book their own appointments at times that suit their busy schedules, they’re more likely to show up.

Consequently, your practice will have fewer schedule gaps. And if for some reason, patients can’t make it, they’re able to easily reschedule or cancel on their own. This can aid in filling in last-minute cancellations. It may also help your practice avoid missing out on revenue from non-billable hours on the schedule.

Meet Patient Demands and Grow Your Practice with Appointec

It’s never been easier, faster, and more convenient for patients to self-schedule. With Appointec from MDprospects, your patients can book their appointments online –24/7/365, no matter where they are. The sophisticated, HIPAA-compliant, and seamless online scheduling system will drastically reduce no-shows and increase your revenue.

Want to learn more about Appointec and what it can do for your practice? Schedule a demo today.