Archive for the tag 'reminder program'

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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Modern medical answering service – take more out of it

Dr. Maulik December 26th, 2009

Medical answering service is usually a call center or a automated system that picks up patients’ calls automatically. The calls should be answered as per health care provider’s instructions and expertise. i.e. contact doctors for emergency, dispatch a patient message, etc…

A modern state of art patient answering systems stands out in its class with multiple modern features and benefits. For instance, a specially designed patient answering system can also be used as patient reminder call system as well as online appointment scheduler.

Automated medical answering service has been made to be much more dependable, friendly and efficient compare to live agents. Because it is equipped with automated appointment reminder function, the system will very effectively slashes the patient no-shows and reverses the revenue loss.

An automated virtual receptionist will serve your patients or customers call 24/7 – there is no weekly off and the automated virtual receptionist never gets sick! The health care center with virtual receptionist is therefore accessible after office-hours. Because a virtual receptionist is designed to handle multiple calls at the same time, your patients will not get busy tone and are never kept on hold when you have automated virtual receptionist.

A modern virtual receptionist system can auto-connect a HIPAA compliant online patient appointment. Reminder calls from the virtual receptionist can be made multilingual (with language optionis such as Chinese, French, Spanish and English), creating very favorable impression of your medical practice if you patients are non-native English speakers. 

If you are often away from your office, you should look for one of those online patient appointment schedulers that  can synchronize patient appointment information to Google Calendar automatically. This feature allows doctors to check their appointments on cell phones using single-word command SMS or text messages.

When two-ways sync with Google Calendar is provided by your modern scheduling system you can manage, reschedule your own appointments from your handhelp device such as Blackberry, iphone and smartphone. 

A state-of-art virtual receptionist and online scheduler system must be flexible to allow customization per doctors expertise and specialty. Also, doctors should be able to feed answering machine in their own way and use it as and when required. Because such system is web-based, you will not need software/hardware (or zero maintenance)  in office. Once your medical office is automated with virtual receptionist that connect online patient appointment scheduler cum automated patient telephone reminder, you can breathe easy and focus your human staff on more important tasks such as patient care and medical billing. By the end of the day, happier patients and more accurate medical billing  will improve your business bottom line.

 

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All-in-one online scheduler with automated virtual receptionist

Dr. Maulik December 16th, 2009

Medical practice has witnesse advancement in medical technologies and that has brought much useful software, systems and office automation that can smoothen the medical practice routine and generate more revenues.

All-in-one online scheduler with virtual receptionist is one of the most sought-after systems that help health care providers to run their clinic or health care center with efficiency. The system makes reminder calls to the patients automatically. It informs patients about their forthcoming appointments, regimens and simple follow-ups. The system can also be used as online patient self service appointment scheduler. Top class of such systems can, in addition, function as your front-desk virtual medical receptionists.

The benefits that come from such a all-in-one system are many. This is 24/7 customer service support that helps patients to access the health care centers at any time they want. In addition,  The automated system is capable of multiple calls at the same time thus will never put your patient on-hold. The reminer system can be set into other international languages such as Spanish, Chinese and French. Which will sure please your non-English speaking patients.

If you are one of those doctors who frequently away from your office and  need to view and reschedule patients appointments, you are now find a online patient appointment scheduler that synchronizes with Google Calendar. With is feature, your appointments will be accessible on handheld devices such as iPhone, Smartphone and Blackberry.

In today’s world of cutthroat competition, every bit of advantages you gain from automation will help you get ahead of your game.  It is worth your efforts to find a great all-in-one system that is both your online scheduler and virtual receptionist, the type with a lot of nice features that help you run the most efficient, friendly medical practice.

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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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Managing Medical Center made easy using Online Appointment System

Dr. Maulik November 10th, 2009

If you are a busy doctor or a health care provider and feel it difficult to tackle all the management at your center, here is a way! You can simply let your health care center go automated, using online appointment scheduler. With all advancement in medical technology, installing the system that can work as virtual receptionist has proven to be a very useful tool to boost the sales and generate revenues.

Medical office assisting system is an automated software plan that can schedule the patients’ appointments with doctors and also call them all for the follow ups. Also, the system can be fed with tailored answers and feedbacks those can be played as and when required. Designed as a 24/7 front desk helpers to the doctors, automated medical receptionist can perform multiple tasks that would never keep patients busy and will run a smooth medical management all day, all night!

Medical answering service helps patients being in touch with medical reception anytime they want. On the other hand, when you are away from the clinic or health care center, you can access all the important information. The medical management automated system can automatically synchronize the appointments information onto the Google Calendar that enables you to manage the schedules from your handheld devices such as iPhone, BlackBerry and SmartPhone. You can also check the appointments on the cellular phones using a single-word-command SMS or text message. All this is possible by installing online medical scheduler.

Telephone appointment reminder can also be used as answering machine that comes with multiple language options (like French, Spanish, and English etc) for a better conversation with your foreign customers, the patients. More and more health care providers are now installing virtual office assistant system that comes with HIPPA compliance that follow very strict security and privacy protection measurements. The system is quite easy to operate and is very useful especially when you have a shared practice (multiple doctor scheduling option).

Medical answering system is proved to be a very helpful tool for health care practitioners who cannot afford more staff for all different tasks. They can save money by installing online appointment scheduler that can also make reminder calls and keeps patients up dated.

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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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Don’t Let “I forgot” ruin your practice. Get Appointment Reminder Service!

Jon June 22nd, 2009


“I forgot”. How many times do you hear from that from your patients (if you’re a doctor) – or other clients if you own or run a small business? It happens all the time. Just think of how many hours your staff puts in simply reminding patients and clients about their appointments. It is dozens of hours a week. That’s hundreds of hours a year. These are hours that the staff could be using to make the practice better, or improve the customer service. Well, fear not, because with your virtual assistant and appointment reminder service – all of these problems are a thing of the past.

Above and beyond patients and clients forgetting about appointments, keep in mind those who call your office and become quickly annoyed. Many times, patients and clients have to be put on hold. Occasionally, whomever answers the phone in your office will be having a bad day, and that translates in tone to patients and clients. Between being put on hold, and dealing with a potentially angry staff member, there’s a risk in annoying your patients and clients! That’s why an appointment reminder service is vital to every medical practice and any small business who deals with appointments.

It is simple, easy, and much cheaper than paying someone to call patients and remind them to come in. With the appointment reminder system, everything is done electronically. Patients and clients will hear a friendly, calm voice telling them about their upcoming appointment. The friendly voice will also direct them to other services and even direct them to an interactive website where they can enter in all of their information. Not only are you getting an self-service online appointment scheduler, but it links in with a round the clock online system. This way patients and clients can go online and enter in insurance information, appointment preferences, and even send a note to the practice! This is personalized, convenient service at its best. And, the patients can do it all in the comfort of their own homes – anytime day or night! Patients like it because the automated patient reminder is fast, efficient, and doesn’t waste anyone’s time. Office staff like it because they don’t have to spend valuable time confirming appointments and you will like it because it will cut down on “no-shows” and help the bottom line!

Keep in mind all of the options you will have as well. The appointment reminder service can be programmed to say whatever you want it to say, in any language you want to say it in! And, clients and patients can log in and set up future appointments 24/7 as well. All of this for a fraction of what you pay office staff to perform these duties. And don’t forget, all of this syncs up through google sync with your handheld device so you will know exactly when you can fit in an extra appointment and exactly what your day looks like at a glance!

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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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