Online Scheduling Solutions | Patient Communicator

Keep Your Practice Full and Your Waiting Room Empty With These Simple Scheduling Tips

by Meir Goodman | Jan 4, 2016 | Online Scheduling Solutions

Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, a professor and researcher at Harvard Medical School, had scheduled an appointment with his orthopedic surgeon one day for 8 am. Punctual by nature, he arrived on time, only to find that 35 other patients were all scheduled for that same 8 am time slot! You can imagine the mayhem that ensued.

This inspired Dr. Mehrotra to develop a study that measured the value of the time wasted by patients pacing across the waiting room. What he found was that even though the average appointment lasted only about 20 minutes, patients spent an average of 64 minutes waiting to be seen by the doctor. That’s a lot of solitaire. In fact, in a 2014 Bloomberg study that ranked the most efficient countries for health care, the US ranked 44th out of 51 countries!

But there is hope. A 2015 study by the Beryl Institute revealed that over 40% of health care practices make patient experience and satisfaction their top priority. With a little planning and due diligence, you too can optimize your practice’s scheduling policies to improve the patient experience.

The three most common approaches to health care practice scheduling are the Steady Stream, Pure Wave, and Modified Wave methods. In this article we will define each approach, and discuss factors that will help you determine which is the best method for your practice.

Steady Stream

In this approach each patient is assigned a predetermined appointment time and length based on their particular needs. The obvious advantage of such an approach is that appointments are scheduled with the patient’s particular needs in mind, with the focus on giving each patient exactly what they need. In a perfect world, this is the simplest and most patient-centric form of scheduling.

This method will work wonders for practices whose primary care is centered around routine procedures, such as optometric and dental hygiene facilities. It can also work for a diverse practice that has a number of highly specialized providers. The steady stream method will be the easiest and most straightforward way to schedule appointments that are even months in advance.

But when a practice provides a wide variety of treatments to different types of patients, this method could make scheduling, and keeping to that schedule, a true nightmare.

Consider a medical practice that treats patients who range in age from 20 to 65. Virtually every patient being seen on any given day will have a different type of appointment. What’s more, due to the variations in age, even a similar appointment like a routine checkup, could have different time requirements depending on the patient’s age. Scheduling with the steady stream approach would be like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle, as the office manager attempts to fit all the different types appointments into a rigid timetable. This will result in costly empty time slots, and inevitable backlogs in the event that there are any delays.

Pure Wave

Unlike most surfing enthusiasts would assume, this method assigns a group of patient appointments to the top of each hour, or at particular intervals in the day. The assumption is that not everyone will arrive on time, and that patients do expect to wait a little anyway. The popularity of this method is driven by the fact that it ensures optimal productivity for each provider. There is always a patient waiting to be treated, and so no time is ever wasted. That is, except for the patient’s time.

This is the method that led to Dr. Mehrotra to conduct his study, and the one that most likely influenced its results. But to what degree should you consider your patients’ experience at the expense of your staff’s productivity?

A PwC survey of 6,000 people released this year found that 34% of people were willing to switch physicians if offered an ideal experience elsewhere. Yet another PWC study showed that personal experience had almost two times the impact on choices in healthcare than the next closest industry, hotels and hospitality. Evidence even suggests that there is a strong correlation between patient satisfaction and healthcare outcomes.

It’s no wonder that practices aim to maximize the productivity of their valuable medical staff. But, though the short term benefits of this method are clear, the effect it will have on patient satisfaction, and eventually on the practice’s bottom line, have never been clearer.

Modified Wave Approach

This method adopts the principal behind the Pure Wave approach, with a slight modification (hence the name) to make it more patient friendly. Scheduling using the Modified Wave involves double-booking the first appointment of each hour, then scheduling regular appointments after that, while leaving one empty slot at the end of each hour.

On the off chance that both patients scheduled at 9 am will arrive on time, they will only have to wait for the one appointment that is ahead of them. Though there will be some waiting involved, it’s a far cry from the national average of 64 minutes! The empty slots at the end of each hour then give the provider the ability to make up for any delays that may have occurred in the last group of appointments. It allows the practice to account to appointments that may vary slightly in length, without causing too much backlog.

Of course, if your practice has diverse procedure types that differ in length, these procedures will have to be grouped together in order to maintain a flow throughout the day.

Those who’ve worked with the Modified Wave method and are staunch supporters, still warn of a few mistakes to avoid:

Do not fill up the empty time slot at the end of the hour with walk-in appointments. The reasoning for this should be clear, as it undermines the significance of that slot that should be used for catching up, not to create more backlog.

Avoid double-booking new patients at the top of the hours, especially during peak hours. New patients simply take more time, and their first experience should be pleasant, never rushed.

The Next Step

Take the time to do a thorough analysis of your appointment and provider types, and start experimenting with the scheduling method that seems most right for your practice. You may not get it right the first time, but simply focusing on improvement will get you closer to ideal scheduling than you ever thought possible. You’ve worked hard to build your practice, to attract patients, and to provide them with the highest quality care possible. So it goes without saying that the last reason you want to lose your patients is because they lose their patience. Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun.

Whatever your scheduling preferences, Patient Communicator makes everything easier with automated appointment confirmation and reminders, and a real online scheduler. The online scheduler enables your practice to set the available appointment schedule, while your patients can book their appointments online, in real time. Click here to learn more.

Sources:
State of Patient Experience 2015: A global Perspective on the Patient Experience Movement, Jason A. Wolf, Ph.D, President, The Beryl Institute, 2015
Time Spent Obtaining Physician Office Visits, K. Ray, A. Chari, J. Engberg, M. Bertolet, A. Mehrotra, American Journal of Managed Care, 2015
Customer Service Vs. Patient Care, Torpie, Kathy, Patient Experience Journal, 2014
Patient Satisfaction: Why It Matters, Grigsby, J. Eugene, National Health Foundation, 2011

About the author: Meir is the founder and CEO of Patient Communicator, a simple but feature rich platform that helps medical and dental practices of all kinds to better communicate with their patients. Meir is passionate about helping practices grow by enhancing the patient experience and improving practice efficiency. Learn more about Meir and Patient Communicator here.

The Maze of Online Scheduling Solutions: 7 Tips To Help You Through

by Meir Goodman | Nov 19, 2015 | Online Scheduling Solutions

You know your practice needs an online scheduling system.
But do you know which one is best for you?

Did you know?

In 2007, about 35% of patients said they could not get an appointment soon enough — up from 23% in 1997…
By the end of 2019, 66% of US health systems will offer digital self-scheduling and 64% of patients will book appointments digitally.
Non-attendance rates for online appointments were much lower (6.9%) than non-attendance rates at dermatology clinics through traditional means.

The success of your practice depends on scheduling appointments – and on managing them efficiently. That’s why the old “receptionist/pen/appointment book” scheduling method doesn’t quite cut it anymore. But lucky for you, healthcare has recently met digital media – producing a whole range of patient communication tools and appointment scheduling systems to help you improve your office procedures.

Keep in mind though, it’s a relatively new space and there are literally hundreds of software providers out there promising to automate everything from scheduling to coffee making. So how are you supposed to know which online scheduling system offers the right features for your practice? Here are 7 things you should look out for to help you decide:

Know what you want – Break down in detail the specific areas where you want this solution to help your practice. Many of the different solutions have similar features, but nearly all of them specialize in certain areas. Determine which features are absolute must-haves and which are nice-to-haves. Just like with any investment, it’s important to be clear on the goals before you dive in.
Check for reliability – Before you sign on the dotted line, you want to test-drive the system. Therefore, choose a provider that offers a free trial that will give you enough training and time to test the waters. You want to get hands-on experience with the software’s features and functionality and make sure that it delivers consistent performance over time.
Make sure it’s user-friendly – Does your staff need a doctorate in software engineering to use the system? Do your patients need to be tech-savvy? Does the system work with all platforms and get the job done with as few clicks as possible? An appointment scheduling software should be designed for simplicity and ease of use, because if it’s simple, people will use it.
Choose only a Web-based software – If it’s not available online – and accessible to your staff and patients wherever they may be – then it doesn’t serve your intended purpose of having patients schedule their own appointments or your employees processing them efficiently. Nuf said.
Look for security protocols – Appointment scheduling systems may give you convenience, but they also bring into focus privacy and confidentiality issues. Make sure the system is HIPAA compliant, and that it can safely store your patients’ personal information, including financial data if applicable.
Seek calendar manageability – Will the system let you have total control? For example, will you be able to manipulate provider availability and procedure details hassle-free? At the same time, will the calendar be tamper-proof, with features that will mitigate scheduling errors and prevent appointments from falling through the cracks?
Test customer support – Accurate and efficient appointment scheduling is critical to your practice. And investing in a software provider is serious business that demands nothing less than top-of-the-line customer service. Select the provider that can give you high-level technical and other support from software setup to post-sale service.

So do your homework.

If you want a good place to start, check out Patient Communicator’s Online Scheduler and what it can do for your practice – risk-free! Or contact us for a live online demo or to get started on a 30-day free trial.

Patient Communicator provides a first-in-class online scheduling and automated messaging solution especially designed for medical and dental practitioners. A win-win system for both your patients and your practice, its sophisticated features include Automated Confirmations & Reminders, True 2-Way Texting, Online Scheduler, Reviews & Surveys, and Marketing Tools. The solution drastically reduces no-shows, makes it easier for patients to book appointments, and for providers to build stronger relationships with their patients, and grow their practice.

9 Ways Online Scheduling Keeps Your Practice Healthier

by Meir Goodman | Sep 18, 2015 | Online Scheduling Solutions

Has your appointment scheduling system moved to the 21st century yet?

If you haven’t switched to online scheduling, it’s about time!
Take a look at these numbers:

30% – The rise in the proportion of patients booking online in 2014, continuing eight years of uninterrupted growth. Accenture predicts that within four years two-thirds of all medical appointments booked in the United States will be booked online.

986 million – Number of medical appointments online patients will make in the U.S. in 2019, accounting for 38% of all appointments made that year.

$3.2 billion – Amount in savings or added value for U.S. health systems generated by online appointment scheduling by 2019.

A quick look at the benefits of online scheduling makes it clear why everything is headed in that direction. A good online scheduler empowers your patients (both old and new) to schedule their own appointments online, 24/7. Your patients are also used to a lifestyle of booking online – that’s how they reserve their hotel rooms, flights, and movie tickets. And they will love not having to wait on hold for your busy office staff!

And that’s just for your patients. Your office staff will be freed up for more critical tasks and will generally have more time on their hands. Online scheduling streamlines your appointment scheduling process, not to mention the all important bottom line – that better efficiency translates into lower costs. That’s something we can all appreciate.

Manual scheduling could put your practice in bad shape.

Put simply, manual scheduling is just bad business practice. Here’s why:

Drains staff time and budget. Manual scheduling requires setting up appointments over the phone, recording them in an appointment book or electronic calendar, making reminder phone calls, recording cancellations, resetting cancelled appointments, and all the while, scrambling to fill those workday gaps. All of this means lots and lots of your office staff’s time is taken up with scheduling tasks. Goodbye, productivity; hello, increased payroll and operational costs.

Inconveniences patients. No one is interested in picking up the phone just to wait interminable minutes on hold for your staff to pick up. All they want to see a choice of available practitioners and time slots, and schedule an appointment with just a few clicks. Now combine today’s patient preferences with the limited hours of your office staff, and you’ll see why an online appointment scheduler beats the manual version every time.

An online scheduler keeps your practice fit as a fiddle.

Ease your workload. Boost your savings. Engage your patients and make them happier by giving them the convenience of scheduling their own appointments. Here are 9 reasons that make online scheduling software, such as Patient Communicator’s Online Scheduler, it’s just what the doctor ordered:

Increase your savings – Why pay staff to manually schedule and confirm appointments, when you can invest in a solution that will do the work for you?

Make it convenient for your patients – Enable them to schedule their own appointments (and even wait-list themselves for preferred dates) online anytime, anywhere.

Stay in control – You determine all the parameters of the appointments that can be scheduled online.

Block chronic cancellers– Patients who are habitual no-shows will not be able to use the online scheduler, thanks to its Black List feature.

Stay connected – With appointments list online (and not in just your office), you can easily access this information wherever there’s an Internet connection. Review future appointments remotely!

Keep patient data safe and secure – Strong encryption and anti-hacking features stores customer information securely online – better than if it were in an appointment book at your front desk.

Enjoy flexibility – Easily make schedule modifications, such as closing off certain hours or providers, or taking certain days of the week off of the scheduler.

Streamline operations – Freeing up staff from manual scheduling means they can provide better service when your patients arrive, and lend their attention to other critical tasks.

Reduce no-shows – Automated SMS and email reminders advise patients of a pending appointment. This gives them the chance to confirm or reschedule, and gives your staff a heads up regarding any last-minute rescheduling.

Sounds great? Find out what our Online Scheduler can do for your practice – totally risk-free!

Contact us for your 30-day FREE TRIAL.

PatientCommunicator provides state-of-the-art solution designed for medical and dental practitioners. A win-win system for both your patients and your practice, its sophisticated features include Automated Confirmations & Reminders, 2-Way Texting, an Online Scheduler, Reviews & Surveys, and Marketing Tools. The solution makes no-shows a thing of the past, and makes it easier for patients to book appointments. It also enables providers to build stronger relationships with their patients, increase revenues, and grow their practice.