Archive for March, 2012

Automated Online Doctor Appointment Scheduling – A Smart Move

Lisa West March 31st, 2012

An online appointment scheduler approved by HIPAA can take the level of customer service your medical practice provides to a new level: Indeed, there are many advantages. Providing self-service patient appointment scheduling is convenient for patients and can help to reduce the amount of calls dealt with by the front-desk. This means staff can have more time to deal with more demanding tasks. The smooth running of a medical practice relies upon a myriad of activities. However, appointment scheduling is one of the most crucial.

Open the Doors of Communication
Today office automation is providing extended support to medical practitioners, their staff and their patients: And it is doing it cost-effectively. An online appointment scheduler can provide a 24/7 call center within your practice as well as provide 24/7 self-service patient appointment scheduling online. Advanced online doctor appointment scheduling systems can deal with scheduling tasks for multiple doctors and locations. Doctors, staff and patients can enter the system from any internet connection – A great asset for medical practitioners frequently on the move.

Reducing No-Shows
Automated appointment scheduling can also relieve staff of routine scheduling tasks such as patient reminder calls. While reminder calls have proven to reduce no-shows consistently, they do eat up staff´s time: Time they do not always have, which means those calls do not get made. An online appointment scheduler can make those calls on schedule, every time. Some more advanced systems can also send email and sms text reminders. Ensuring patient appointment reminder calls are made can significantly reduce no-show averages. In this way, automated appointment scheduling can be a highly cost-effective way to deal with them.

Another way to reduce no-shows is to introduce a pre-paid patient appointment scheduling service. Not all the online schedulers are able to provide this feature. However, if your medical practice is losing revenue due to high no-show averages, you may want to ensure the system you choose has this feature – A cost-effective way to boost revenue.

Improving Business
An automated online appointment scheduler can actually help to improve business by improving standards of customer care. Satisfied patients are the best publicity your medical practice could possibly have. An automated system can deal with many tasks simultaneously – Patients do not have to suffer the frustration of waiting for their call to be answered: An automated system can deal with emergency calls 24/7 as well as routine appointment scheduling. Online doctor appointment scheduling is reliable, highly efficient and cost-effective as well as maintenance free – A smart way to improve business….

Is an Online Scheduler a Sound Investment? Read On…

Lisa West March 24th, 2012

Many medical practices have invested in office automation in the form of appointment scheduling software and online appointment scheduling systems. As a result, those businesses have successfully improved workflows and so finances: After all, time is money. An online scheduler is a useful tool for many professionals, not just medical practices. Today, patient appointment scheduling software is successfully used by medical organizations across the US as well as psychologists, holistic practitioners, beauticians, dentists: Indeed, an online scheduler has proven to be a sound financial investment for many professionals.

Getting Ahead Online
An online scheduler can provide your medical practice with the edge over your competitors. In a modern world more and more people are going online to search for the professionals, services and products they need. An online scheduler can be integrated into your website with ease. The simple fact they are able to book an appointment immediately could help to give you the edge concerning new patients.

Time Management
All medical and health professionals rely on patient appointment scheduling to keep their business going. The more accurately and easily those schedules are managed the more efficiently time is managed, which can only be good for business. Overbooking, no-shows and empty time slots cost. An online scheduler can help to reduce all these problems.

Patient Reminder Calls
Reminder calls can help to reduce no-shows. In a busy office or for a sole practitioner who is often out and about, getting those calls made can be easier said than done: There simply is not always time. An online scheduler can make reminder calls by calling the patient, emailing and/or even by SMS text. Patients have the opportunity to confirm, reschedule or cancel the appointment. This can be highly beneficial concerning the reduction of no-shows and so help improve revenue. In this way, an online scheduler can be a very cost-effective patient appointment scheduling solution.

Features
Not all appointment scheduling software and online systems can provide the same features. Nevertheless, here are some of the more fundamental features you can expect to find available when looking for an online scheduler.

- Easy Website Integration
- 24/7 patient scheduling
- Automated Patient Appointment Reminder Calls
- Multiple Languages
- Seamless organization of multiple practitioners in multiple locations

An online scheduler has proven to be a sound, cost-effective solution for large and small businesses: And when it is so easy to integrate the software, there is every reason to believe it can also do the same for you.

Self-Service Patient Appointment Scheduling – Time Management at its Best

Lisa West March 17th, 2012

Today a growing proportion of health organizations have automated their medical appointment scheduling tasks using a reliable and reputable online doctor appointment scheduling system. Providing self-service patient appointment scheduling frees up staff enabling them to dedicate more time to patients and more demanding tasks such as billing. In this way, incorporating automated appointment scheduling systems can help overall medical practice management by streamlining workflows and so lead to an improvement in the standard of care provided. When comparing the advantages and improvements v cost, a majority will find automated appointment scheduling a cost effective option.

No Time to Waste…
In this day and age who has time to waste? Time management is just as important for sole medical practitioners as it is for large health organizations: In some ways, even more so. Online doctor appointment scheduling is far superior to the old pen and paper scheduling – Overbooking and double bookings will become a thing of the past. No-shows are another problem for many medical practices: Costing health organizations millions every year in lost revenue. Many of the online doctor appointment scheduling systems available will carry out reminder calls routinely. Patients are able to re-schedule, confirm or cancel their doctor appointment with ease. Patient appointment reminder calls have proven to reduce no-shows: To which, the recuperation of lost revenue can be offset against the cost of the system. In this way, automated appointment scheduling can be very cost-effective.

HIPPA Compliant?
HIPAA Regulations allow healthcare practitioners across the US to communicate with patients at their home with matters concerning personal health. Reminder calls can be made by telephone call, SMS or email and the guidelines are adhered to. In relation to HIPAA´s Entity Definition Online doctor appointment scheduling systems are not required to comply with HIPAA regulations BY LAW. Nevertheless, respecting the privacy of patients should be paramount to every medical physician – Opting for an online self-service patient appointment scheduling provider committed to respecting HIPAA guidelines is surely the most responsible way forward.

Is This a Cost effective Solution for Your Practice?
Large and small healthcare organizations can benefit from the advantages of using an online, self-service patient appointment scheduling system that is HIPPA compliant. More advanced systems can provide more advanced features; which can include multi-lingual scheduling and reminder calls, medical billing, recurring medical appointments and much (much) more. Giving the system a trial run before making any commitment gives you the chance to assess which features are most crucial and most beneficial for you: Therefore the most cost-effective.

24/7 Medical Appointment Scheduling – Reliable, Convenient and Cost effective

Lisa West March 12th, 2012

More and more medical practices are automating everyday tasks to help streamline patient administration. Office automation is replacing paper and pen by integrating computerized systems giving medical practice staff more time to deal with patients efficiently. Not only will automated appointment scheduling ease the pressure on front desk staff (and so help to improve patient services), it is also a very convenient service for patients.

Reduce No Shows with Automated Appointment Scheduling
We live in a fast-paced world. Therefore, 24/7 patient scheduling is a welcome service for most. Not only can patients book a medical appointment at their convenience, day or night, they can also reschedule or cancel an appointment. Reminder calls have proven to reduce no shows. Missed appointments cost time and money. Most online doctor appointment scheduling systems are able to carry out reminder calls routinely. This is of great benefit to patients, front desk staff and doctors. Staff do not have to allocate time to make reminder calls and so can use this time to deal with other tasks (indeed, in a busy medical practice reminder calls are often neglected). This basic feature alone can make automated appointment scheduling extremely cost-effective.

User Friendly
While the medical appointment scheduling systems available today can be extremely advanced and feature rich, most are “user friendly”. The features available vary and you may not need many of them: On the other hand, you might need all of them! It is a good idea to try out any online doctor appointment scheduling system or software you might be considering to 1) Ensure it has the features you need 2) That it is user friendly for both staff and patients.

Reliability
Online doctor appointment scheduling is generally low maintenance and extremely reliable – Certainly more reliable than paper and pen. No specialist hardware is required as a rule and if it is HIPPA compliant the privacy of your patients is assured (NOTE: A “Free” online appointment scheduler usually comes with a price, and that price is often the privacy of your patients).

Consistency
Consistency is vital with regards to patient appointment scheduling. Even so, sometimes front desk staff simply cannot keep up. Automated appointment scheduling can help staff keep patient services consistent. These systems can be utilized 24/7 or they can be relied on to back up front desk staff during busy periods – Indeed, a medical appointment scheduler provides an extra pair of hands there when you need them most: Cost Effectively.

Web-Based Doctor Appointment Scheduling Systems – Why HIPPA Compliant?

Lisa West March 8th, 2012

There are many web-based doctor appointment scheduling systems available online. In addition, there is a multitude of software options available; both free and paid license. In the US and Canada HIPAA provides the essential guidelines with regards to patient privacy. Therefore, it is definitely appropriate to opt for a HIPAA compliant scheduling software. Even so, it is not just a HIPAA ´requirement´: Few patients would be happy to find their private details was shared with a third party.

What you need most..
The features most useful to your staff will depend upon the size of your medical practice as well as other factors. In comparison to in-house patient appointment software, web-based doctor appointment scheduling systems offer up several advantages. Web-based systems do not usually require updates or specific hardware installations and so is effectively maintenance free. In addition it should be noted that free patient appointment scheduling software often shares information with third parties. While you may need various features ensuring the privacy of your patients is what you probably need most. Ideally, look for a web-based doctor appointment scheduling system that is HIPAA compliant.

The Benefits
An online scheduler – web – based doctor appointment scheduling service – has become an integral service within many of America´s largest, most credible health organizations. These companies realize that keeping vital services such as appointment scheduling in place and costs down is essential: If they want to keep ahead in an increasingly competitive world that is. Today, it has never been more important to ensure the front desk runs smoothly. Web-based doctor appointment scheduling allows patients to make an appointment online. This can help to ease the pressure on the front-desk. It can also deal with patient appointment calls 24/7, or used to support front desk staff during particularly busy periods. In this way an automated patient appointment scheduling system can free up staff and so help to improve workflows.

Testing The Water
A free trial allows you to test the water and ensure the system has the features your really need. Is it user friendly? Is it HIPAA compliant? Can it deal with reminder calls? Emergency calls? Try out the features available to assess whether they would be a cost-effective as well as practical solution for your practice. Without doubt, web based doctor appointment scheduling has provided a cost-effective patient appointment scheduling solution for many health organizations, large and small. Why not you?