Having access to care has always mattered, but the speed to which you can access care has changed. 26% of patients say that if their chosen provider isn’t available on the same day, they will go elsewhere, and 50% of parents said they will go somewhere else if same-day availability isn’t available.
While you may not know exactly when patients want care, you can make it easier for patients to find a time that works for them–and encourage them to schedule themselves. Patient scheduling tools improve the patient experience by putting them in the driver’s seat, showing all availability across locations, taking work off your staff’s plate, and more.
Let’s dig into how self-scheduling can impact your business outcomes and keep patients coming through the door.
1. Improving Patient Experience
When patients can easily search for and book appointments, it improves their overall experience. Patients can schedule an appointment from their phone or mobile device. Appointments give patients peace of mind that they will be seen, especially sick patients that may be uncomfortable waiting.
While delivering simple, easy online booking is a goal in and of itself, by doing so you set the stage for fast, convenient care, the reason patients come to you. Start with a great first impression of the kind of care you want to provide. When patients have a pleasant experience from the beginning of their interaction with your clinic, they are more likely to leave reviews. And since 86% of patients say that online reviews influence their choice of provider, more and better reviews are essential to driving new traffic in the future.
2. Streamline Operations
Patients aren’t the only ones who benefit from patient scheduling tools–with the ability to pre-schedule appointments, you save your staff time and paperwork. Rather than spending time on the phone with patients, front desk staff can move on to other tasks. Once appointments are booked online, patients can move seamlessly to digital registration, saving front desk staff anywhere from four to ten minutes per patient.
Self-scheduling also helps with load balancing. By presenting the schedules for multiple locations in one step, patients can see locations with more open availability instead of automatically booking with the closest location, even if they have to wait longer to see a provider. Better load balancing, and faster service– saves time for both staff and patients.
3. Acquiring More Patients
The preference for online scheduling is growing, leading urgent cares are starting to add options in addition to walk-ins. If your clinic offers online self-scheduling, you’ll appeal to those looking for a digital-first practice. Patients who prefer to walk in will continue to do so, but those who value speed and efficiency will be drawn to online tools, and operators that offer these options will attract new patients and increase their overall pool of patients.
For patients in larger communities with more access to care, offering a patient scheduling tool may be the option that differentiates your clinic from other walk-in-only options. And once patients know that they can check a real-time schedule for availability, they will likely return.
With the right tool, you can offer walk-ins and online availability and get real-time insights into your provider availability.
4. Improve Patient Data
Self-scheduling leads to better data accuracy. When patients register digitally, there are fewer manual errors due to illegible handwriting and skipped information. Digital tools help ensure accurate data entry without the involvement of employees.
Better data accuracy isn’t just an issue of saving your staff time–it can reduce claim denials down the line due to countless simple mistakes that halt the claim process.
While many solutions focus on backend billing issues, Solv’s address validation feature can help ensure you have the correct billing information from the start—double-checking an address for missing apartment numbers, switches like avenue for street, or eliminating duplicate records that add time for staff.
Key Takeaways:
- Attract new patients to your clinic by giving them the options they want with patient self-scheduling tools for appointments
- Use digital registration to help load-balancing and save your staff time
- Reduce manual errors and improve data accuracy with digital registration
Creating an exceptional patient experience starts with booking an appointment. If you’re a walk-in-only clinic you’re missing out on patients.
