Posted on November 1, 2019 in General

Today, convenience is the epitome ingredient for patients to seek healthcare or medical facility. The level of comfort, however, has reached new heights through online appointments and scheduling. The majority of new patients consider medical care based on an efficient scheduling system.

With the advent of online scheduling systems, new patients can book appointments quicker than ever. People now prefer to schedule appointments even after business hours. It should not come as a surprise to you that the healthcare industry is growing at a faster pace.

As per the Accenture report, online appointments and scheduling is has become a new norm in healthcare and medical facilities. Furthermore, the report predicts that nearly 40% of the healthcare bookings will be scheduled online by the end of 2019.

Moreover, the new technological advancement doesn’t set hurdles for the staff of a medical care facility. Scheduling online, in fact, has paved the way for the entire healthcare industry to perfect the process of booking – which makes it a win-win situation for administrative staff and patients.

Online Scheduling Works

Currently, there is an excellent potential and need to understand how online scheduling systems can transform the healthcare industry more than ever. However, the reason these systems function so well is that they are designed to benefit patients.

Here’s the thing, online scheduling doesn’t just save administrative staff’s time; it provides operational ease and highlights relationships among patients. Besides, appointment forms are a thing of the past and remotely don’t have the same features as live scheduling. Similarly, traditional appointments set faux expectations, mismanaged time, and often booked twice.

It is no wonder that new patients are always ready to make online appoints via mobile devices. And when it comes to the usage of smartphones, it makes even more sense for patients to get medical care online with a single touch.

Why Young Generation Prefers Scheduling Online

For the most part, Millenials and Generation Z demographics prefer to use online scheduling. Furthermore, their preference to book online is comparatively higher than any other demographic. In hindsight, Scheduling online appointments should be considered a significant opportunity for the healthcare service industry to attain new patients.

Significance of Online Scheduling for New Patients

It is true – people are no longer tempted to make constant phone calls for an unknown healthcare facility. And why would they? You can now look for a healthcare professional who has an online scheduling system. It allows new patients to avoid making extraneous calls.

Statistically, new patients conduct the majority (63%) of online appointments and schedules. Generally, it’s rational to adopt such practice that attracts more new patients.

If you, on the other hand, still need more convincing. Here are key advantages associated with the scheduling online:

Availability

In a traditional booking system, a patient is usually required to contact during office hours to book an appointment. With online scheduling systems, patients are free to check the working hours and availability of a medical care facility before booking an appointment.

As a result, patients are not concerned about a medical facility’s after hours or busy schedule to schedule appointments online. Apart from convenience, new patients should be able to book online appointments with more freedom in a healthcare facility.

And when the time factor is not involved, it mitigates stress and pressure among patients to schedule online appointments. Remember, most of the patients book appointments via online scheduling systems even after regular working hours.

Accessibility

To be blunt, the management of new patients is much more comfortable with online scheduling systems. Similarly, several online appointments and scheduling systems can incorporate the entire health history of the patients. The major plus side point for healthcare facilities is that they can save, manage, upgrade, and create specific points of entry to protect patients’ information.

Moreover, when a healthcare facility records, reports, and analysis such information, it mostly works in favor of a new patient’s case history. It is now possible to collectively store patient’s information regularly with further checkups and tests. This data can be utilized to make informed medical decisions about a patient’s medical history.

Flexibility

For patients, one of the exhausting activities is to schedule an appointment after the working hours of a medical facility. For instance, if an unexpected event occurs in the morning, you will have no idea how as to how to seek a specific medical facility the next morning.

And that means you may have to take some time off from work and cross your fingers that medical facility provides medical assistance the next morning. This waiting process to make an appointment is outright irritating for customers. Instead, online scheduling solves this issue quite quickly.

A healthcare facility can input your information on their website and see all available slots in the blink of an eye. Subsequently, you get enough wiggle room to plan your online schedule appointments without having to wait countless hours or days.

Saves Valuable Time

When medical personnel spends less time managing appointments or phone booking, free time can be used to attend more urgent tasks at hand. And when there is no need to call the hospital, patients also get to save a lot of time to book an appointment amidst a busy schedule.

If a large healthcare facility, for instance, has more than 100 appointments a day, and every appointment requires the assistance of support staff to make 3-4 minute phone calls. The healthcare facility can switch to an online scheduling system to save time and as well as attend to other urgent tasks.

Less Stress for Staff

The majority of patients schedule appointments online after the working hours of a facility. And that is because all of the online scheduling systems provide 24/7 service. Simultaneously, the facility can increase its number of appointments and decrease the level of stress of an entire administrative staff.

Reduce Paperwork

Physical is precious when it comes to medical practitioners. And saving paper is one of the significant benefits of online scheduling. Besides, the relevancy to decrease paperwork will have a positive impact on the environment. Similarly, less paperwork means fewer folders, file cabinets, and shelves that need constant maintenance. And fewer file diaries and calendars entries mean better management and tracking of patients’ log. Some medical specialists believe the usage of paper can be significantly cut thanks to online scheduling systems.

Online Scheduling Valuation

By the end of 2019, most of the U.S. health care facilities will provide an online scheduling system to book appointments. It is estimated that 986 million appointments will be made online, and that is worth $3.2 billion for the healthcare industry.

Conclusion

The forward-thinking healthcare faculties are using online scheduling more than ever. It is rare when popularity meets the simplicity of the technology. Patients are now able to visit available doctors and schedule an appointment via your website.

That said, people seem to have a preference for doing essential things through the Internet or mobile apps. Therefore, rationality dictates that the changing needs of new patients require healthcare industries to adopt new online scheduling tech.

To learn more about MDprospects’ online scheduler tool, schedule a demo today, or contact us using the form below.