Archive for the tag 'appointment reminder software'

Redefining Medical Management with Online Appointment Scheduler

Dr. Maulik January 29th, 2010

There could be many difficulties doctors face while running health care centers. Right from managing patients appointments to answer incoming calls –the tasks are innumerable. In the field of health care management, even a bit of apathy may bring unwanted consequences. To overcome all these problems at a time, there is software available on the market.

The revolution in internet technology has reached its leaps and bounds. Medical management can be made easier with the help of system called as online appointment scheduler. In addition, this system is multipurpose and can be used for other important tasks too.

Online appointment scheduling helps in managing appointments of the patients and added feature of pre-paid appointment ensures checking no-shows patients. In this way, the revenue loss can be saved and the time of appointment can be allotted to genuine customers. Automated office powered by online appointment planner is easier to manage and maintain. Online appointment scheduler can also be used as virtual receptionist that would not miss incoming calls at clinic. In addition, no patient would get a busy tone at any given time due to latest technology used in system.

When your scheduler can be used as virtual front desk receptionist, it can be set into patient reminder service. The system would automatically call patients and inform them about their forthcoming appointments and visits to clinic. This way, they are kept up-to-date and doctors can also set system as per their expertise. The system comes with multilingual option as to tackle foreign patients smoothly.

There are many health care centers in US and Canada using online appointment scheduler, which is accessible 24/7 for better service. For the doctors who travel frequently, online appointment scheduler proves to be the best manager and teller since it synchronizes patients’ appointments with Google calendar and sends it on handheld devices such as iPhone, Smartphone and Blackberry. A doctor, outside his/her clinic or town, can alter or modify the appointment and manage it as per schedule. This saves times and there are less chances of human error.

The system uses no emotion or brain and hence, unlike human medical receptionists, this multipurpose software does not take any decision based on emotion or intention. Depandable, friendly and low business cost are three of the important factors you should look for a system like this for medical office automation.

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Achieve High Level of Client Satisfaction with Doctor Appointment Scheduler Software

Dr. Maulik November 29th, 2009

The best way to survive in any business is keep your clients satisfied by providing the services to best of your abilities. Most of the medical offices are managed by people today and when there are humans involved there is always a chance of an error. Don’t you think it will be a good idea to use some kind of software that will help you manage your medical services and improve your quality of service substantially? Everybody is becoming internet savvy these days and even your clients will want to do most of the communication with you online. If you provide them a platform and let them schedule and books their appointments online it will give you that extra edge over others as well as save you a lot of money in the long run.

Medical Practice is like any other small business in that cost of business directly affect your bottom line.  If you can do better streamlining the appointment scheduling procedure then you will be able to concentrate more on your core area of expertise. It will result in high levels patient satisfaction and ultimately increase your revenues.

Medical software for online appointment schedule has many benefits associated with it such as reducing paperwork, schedules recurring appointments, provide patient reminder services, act as a virtual receptionist 24/7 and many more.

You have to be a little careful in buying an online appointment scheduler for your automated office and make sure that you get all the necessary features that should be present in such software. Typically you should look out for the following features:

  • Most importantly it should be HIPAA compliant to ensure the security of your client’s information
  • It should let you customize itself as per your medical specialty
  • If you are a little tech savvy then you should definitely look up for the feature of synchronizing your appointments with Google Calendar so that they can be accessible from handheld devices such as iPhone, BlackBerry or Smart-phone
  • It should let you check your appointments through SMS commands or text messages
  • Support for most of the important languages like English, Spanish, French and Chinese

If you get all or most of these features in your online doctor appointment scheduler software then you should conclude that you have found the right software that will cater to all your needs.

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My Experiments with Online Scheduler

Dr. Maulik November 4th, 2009

I am a health care provider and know what difficulties we, the doctors, face running our medical clinics! The things may sound easier before they come right in front of you! This is the truth and will remain unless you upgrade your entire setup i.e. automating the office. The automation comes in many ways but one of the most important among all is office automation using online scheduler that helps tackling patients’ flow.

I was invited by my doctor friend who had just installed virtual receptionist i.e. a system that works on a multiple tasks like automated patient reminding, answering patients’ calls and fixing online appointments. I was bit surprised when he said that this is possible and you do not need to pay anything for installing as the installation for online scheduler cum patient reminder service is absolutely free. Furthermore, this 24/7 medical office automated assistant is designed to be HIPPA compliant that come with strict security and privacy protections.

I understood that appointment reminder cum answering system comes with a lot of benefits that is much required for a smooth medical management. Right from appointment reminder to making medical follow up calls to the patients after doctor’s appointment and fixing up appointments online to answering patients’ calls; everything is possible by installing medical software that works as virtual medical assistant.

Unlike human medical assistant, sitting as front office executive, the online scheduler system does not keep your potential customers busy on the call whenever they dial the health care center. The best benefit among all for automated patient reminder service is it works round the clock without any interruption and hence, the customers can contact the health center anytime they want. In this way, the clinic or the center is accessible all the day and this, in turn, may increase the sales and revenue. The good thing is even during after-hours; answering machine takes care of all the calls come.

In this world of cutthroat competition, when the growth is dependent on the availability, quality of service and hospitality, installing medical management software will certainly prove as a wise step.

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Which Medical Appointment Reminder Suits your Practice; the Email Reminder or Telephone Reminder?

Martin Wright July 14th, 2009


When you decided to become a private practitioner you probably started out with a handful of patients. Appointments were easy to keep track of and you probably thought that your medical receptionist was the most efficient front desk receptionist available. You knew each patient down to their dog’s name and so did everyone in the practice.

Your practice has probably grown since then and keeping track of your patients and their appointments is becoming more of a challenge for both your patients and especially for your medical receptionist. You can help ease the burden on your front desk receptionist and the rest of your medical staff by investing in an email reminder or telephone reminder. A telephone or email reminder will remind patients of their appointment either online or via a telephone call according to your preference.

The success of your reminder service will directly affect the success of your practice. Deciding on which type of appointment reminder service will suit you best will be influenced by your practice and your patients. Check your patients’ personal records for their contact information. If most of them have email addresses then an email reminder would be suitable. If most of your patients do not have email addresses then a telephone reminder would be more logical.

You ought to consider the type of practice you are running and the type of people you receive as patients. If majority of your patients are elderly or from poor neighborhoods, an email reminder may not reach as many of your patients as you would like. Even if these patients had email addresses they would not spend much time surfing as they either cannot afford to or do not know how to. An email reminder would be suitable in a practice where the patients have access to the Internet and check their emails regularly.

Doctors should also consider the preference of their patients. Some patients will be irritated by receiving telephone calls reminding them of appointments at regular intervals. Such patients would much rather have an email reminder sent to their email addresses. Others would prefer to be alerted via telephone as they are probably prone to forgetting about their appointments easily. This is especially true for elderly patients.

Both a telephone and email reminder are only 90% effective. No doctor can be assured 100% of the successful delivery of all reminders on either service. A telephone reminder may not be delivered as the patient may not answer the telephone. An email reminder may not be read as the patient may fail to check his or her email in good time.

It is therefore advisable for a doctor to invest in both a telephone and email reminder. It may seem expensive in the beginning but the returns will be well worth it. Both services are inexpensive to maintain and working together will guarantee you a more successful delivery. Your patients can even choose the reminder service they prefer.

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Virtual Receptionist Combines Online Scheduler For chiropractors, massage and spa services

Martin Wright June 9th, 2009


Many people who have come across virtual receptionists and online schedulers mistakenly believe that they can only be used within the doctor’s private practice. After all, the designers and distributors of the all-in-one virtual receptionist and scheduling software mostly target doctors and dentists in private practice. However, such scheduling software is also widely used by healthcare facilities such as chiropractors, massage and spa services.

In fact the all-in-one virtual receptionist and scheduling software were designed with features that serve this healthcare service sector. An example is that in a chiropractor’s office, spa and massage service center, patients or clients who seek treatment in these areas usually require recurrent or multiple follow up treatments. Recurrent appointment feature in the virtual receptionist and online scheduler saves user’s time and is therefore very much appreciated.

Chiropractors, masseuses or spa managers can set their own schedule. The scheduling software allows you to customize your appointments. You will therefore be able to easily define the appointments to your specific service, location, time and son on.

If your business have been plagued by appointment no-shows by clients, the solution is available. The appointment reminder software can be set to remind you of scheduled appointments either online or on your phone. With the inclusion of the Google calendar sync in the online appointment scheduler you are in no danger of forgetting or double booking your appointments. Google sync allows access to Google calendar. You will be able to synchronize your private and professional appointments and set online and mobile phone reminders for them.

Your virtual receptionist can also be your marketing tool. Patients and clients appreciate being called back for follow up appointments or being reminded about appointments for further treatment. The patient appointment reminder will automatically call back your patients and clients and alert them about upcoming appointments or the need to arrange for follow up appointments. Clients who may have forgotten to book appointments or not have made up their minds to book follow up appointments may do so as a result of the reminder.

The virtual receptionist will also be a relief to not only your staff but also your patients. The online appointment scheduler allows for self-service patient appointment scheduling. Your patients will not have to come all the way to your office just to book an appointment. With the self-service patient appointment scheduling service, your patients and clients can book appointments in the comfort of their own living rooms at any time of the day or night. The process is simple and involves no paperwork. Your clients and staff will enjoy a decongested reception and your staff will be able to assist the clients in the reception better. A reduction in paperwork will mean better organization in the practice and more time to deal with emergencies and other matters that may require attention from your staff.

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Turn “uh-oh no-show” into $$$ with automated reminder service

Jon May 21st, 2009


Some doctors insist on letting their own staff to make patient reminder calls instead of using reminder service! They believe such calls make the service more “personal”.

Is it really better, for patient or for medical office, if a reminder call is made by staff (or more “personal”) than automated system?

Let’s face it. We all live busy lives, and none of us have too much extra time for small talk. The last time my doctor’s office called me to remind me of an upcoming appointment the receptionist began with, “Hi, how are you feeling?” It was a very nice sentiment – but one in which my busy day, I don’t have time to be engaged in. I was very nice, but a call that should’ve taken 10 seconds, ended up taking 3 minutes. And, really- who wants to waste anytime let alone speaking to a receptionist at your doctor’s office?

Vice versa, I am pretty sure there are receptionists that get caught into an undesired long conversation by patients bring up issues that are beyond their control. “Can you tell doctor that I still have this pain over…”. “How comes the medicine I took is not working…”.

It got me to thinking – wouldn’t that a receptionist’s time be better served talking to patients in person at the office and not bantering over the phone? And, wouldn’t it make more sense for the receptionist to be doing something more productive for the practice?
And, that’s where the idea of the automated reminder service comes in.

A reminder service automatically calls patients and reminds them of their appointments. With the virtual system in place, the call is made on time and is quick and easy. Patients like it because you’re not taking up their valuable time. And, there is a hidden benefit for the medical practice as well.

The hidden benefit is by using a reminder service – you are actually cutting your cost and increasing revenue. Why? First of all, you are turning potential “no-shows” into returning patients. The more patients you can maintain in your practice, the more your revenue increases. In addition, this frees up your live receptionist to do more important business around the office. For example, because the automatic reminder service is handling reminding patients about their appointments, the receptionist can focus on attracting new patients. Attracting new patients is something an automated system may not do – but reminding current patients of their appointments is absolutely something the virtual service can and will do effectively. And, when no-shows at your medical practice go down and customer satisfaction goes up because of the automated reminders – you have struck gold!

And all of this, without perhaps alienating your patients by unnecessary small talk or – even worse – by being put on hold during the appointment reminder process. The automated reminder cuts down on many different things that could adversely affect the patient’s experience.

And, there is one more thing to keep in mind as well. An automated appointment reminder system can be programmed to do many different things. Calling and reminding patients of their appointments is just one small aspect. Imagine programming the system to speak in the language the patient speaks – automatically! Or, imagine the automated reminder system calling to remind patients about prescription refills or other necessary items that could impact their health? There are many different uses for the virtual reminder system – all of which help bring in more patients and help keep your current patients satisfied. And, when your patients are happy, the practice is happy because chances are those patients are telling their friends what a wonderful office experience they had!

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Online Medical Office Assistant Technology Is a Great Business Solution

Richard E PANTALONY April 19th, 2009


Are you considering using an All-in-One virtual receptionist for your medical practice? Is it a good time now to consider your overall technology needs within your medical practice?  If you feel your own medical office is out of step with technology, what should be done to improve your office efficiency?

Online an All-in-One virtual office assistant offers numerous features that will certainly elevate your practice into the 21st century as far as your telecommunications are concerned; At a fraction of the live agent cost, you can expect an virtual receptionist to performe most of your medical front desk tasks. To name a few; making patient reminder call, dispatch emergency call and believe or not, talking to patients in natural language and set appointment for them. 

There are vendors of software designed specifically for the medical community and as you are upgrading to an online medical office assistant service you should investigate other forms of technology to improve upon office organization and performance. If ever there were a business practice that lived up to the motto “time is money” it would be the medical field. Better use of time through technology means your staff will be operating at peak performance.

There is no better time to take the final step into a computer literate environment for your office then when you are in the process of introducing a virtual receptionist. Your staff will be excited by the new technology and if they are even somewhat literate with computers and certain software applications such as windows OS’s or other basic programs, they will adjust to new software applications you introduce at once with your remote reception service.

Once you start to investigate various technologies for your medical practice, someone within the office should be responsible for keeping up to date with these programs and upgrades. They would act as your in-house IT go to person if there were operation questions, quick fixes required etc. It might even be prudent to send one of your trusted employees or even yourself for classroom training to become current with new technology and Internet based software applications in general.

The thing about computer technology and becoming accomplished with it is it takes a basic understanding of how computers work and some fundamentals of software applications – web based and off the shelf. The more you work with it the more comfortable you will become. Before you know it, your staff will not only be enjoying their lightened workload due to the new virtual medical office assistant online but they will also develop into skilful medical software virtuosos!

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Virtual Receptionist and Appointment Reminder Software: How It Has Helped Medical Practices Through This Recession

Martin Wright January 29th, 2009


After the inauguration of Barrack Obama as the 44th president of the USA, Americans and indeed the whole world has shown renewed optimism and many believe that the new administration will bring some tangible change. The economy is still struggling and massive layoffs continue to hit our headlines. Businesses are looking for ways of remaining afloat. 

One method businesses are using to enhance their survival is through cutting costs by reducing the number of staff requiring insurance cover and other benefits. Apart from downsizing, automation is the other way of cutting costs. Since the deleterious effects of the global economic downturn have affected all manner of businesses medical practices also have had to find ways of surviving. An example is investing in a virtual receptionist.

A medical receptionist has come in handy to help the practices retain and attract new clients. With the services of a medical office front office receptionist patients can call any time of day or night and book an appointment. In addition, they do not have to wait for long for their call to go through. In case of an emergency they can reach the right person without any delays. This endears them to the practice and thus increasing referrals. The number of patient no-shows has declined as the appointment reminder sends reminders to patients with appointments well before the appointment day.

Customer satisfaction more than ever before has become a major ingredient for the success of any business. Use of the virtual answering service has freed the hands of the staff working at medical practices enabling them to dedicate more time to more important tasks like medical billing and ensuring that clients are well served. This has been possible because the mundane tasks can now be done very effectively by the medical office receptionist. This is a sure way of beating the competition that is being witnessed currently in the business world as every body tries to prevent their businesses from going under. It is a sure way of ‘killing’ the proverbial two birds with one stone. Ensuring customer satisfaction while not necessarily hiring more staff and hence spending less in the long run.

As we look forward to a better economy (hoping it happens soon) in the coming days especially with the new economic rescue package by the Obama administration it pays to ensure that your business does not ‘die out’ completely. Use all means possible to ‘hibernate’ your medical practice until when better days come. Automation wherever possible is a sure way of doing that. It will help you cut operating costs to their bare minimum and hence increasing your bottom line. This could be the reason why the neighboring medical practice seems not to be suffering from the effects of the financial slump.

Give your practice all that important new lease of life and see it pull through the recession. It could make the difference between life and death. This cost effective solution will bring you the turn around you have been looking for all along.  Invest in appointment reminder software today and enjoy the benefits!

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