Why You Need An Online Patient Appointment Scheduler At Your Office?

The healthcare industry revolves around the patient it sees. It is the care that is provided for the patients, which is the ultimate motto of the healthcare industry that consists of a wide range of hospitals, nursing homes, physician practices, doctors, nurses, practice managers, medical staff, and more. It is interesting to note that though the patients are not connected directly to the industry, they form an integral part of it on which the sustenance of the industry depends.

The patients are solely dependent on the practices, clinics, and healthcare units for the care that they need. This is the sole reason why they step into one such place. On the other hand, the healthcare system and everyone working in it depends on the patients for their revenues along with dedicating themselves to the service of the society that they should take pride in.

Worth around $8.45 trillion back in 2018, when it grew by over 7.3% CAGR, the global healthcare industry is regarded as one of the biggest and oldest industries of the world. Along with witnessing a heavy growth in its earnings/revenues, the medical industry is also credited for the large scale of occupation it provides around the world. This is because the medical industry currently has a massive 5.76 million health workers who work in a host of specialized departments.

Though the medical industry is always seeing exponential growth ever since it came into being, where the pandemic was in fact another gear towards growth, it also has its own drawbacks.

A Look at the Major Woes to the Healthcare Industry!

Hurdles often come and go and are nothing but constant regardless of the industry one looks into and the healthcare industry is not an exception. Now, if you are wondering about the challenges that the industry is currently facing, then here is a list of some prominent ones:

Multiplying Ailments and Complexities Involving Them -

Human physiology is not only complex but is too vast to understand completely. Besides, our diseases and their kinds are ever-increasing exponentially, which is why every day is a challenge for the industry and all the people who are involved in it. Caring for human lives, understanding their physical and mental diseases, and curing them confidently is stressful and a major challenge all in itself.

Scope for R and D - Research and development lie at the core of the healthcare industry. This is because the industry depends on the practices prevalent, which ultimately are proved efficient by the years of research that are behind them. The scope for R&D for medical studies would never stop.

Hassles involving Patient Appointments - Patient appointments are needed to onboard the patients to a hospital, nursing home, or any other healthcare facility. However, the onboarding is distinguished by the hassles it throws in the patients' way. Appointment delays and other hassles are closely attached to the process of booking patient appointments, which pose a major challenge not only to a majority of the healthcare providers but to the industry in general.

Lack of Patient Management - As patients are central to the industry of healthcare, it is to note that simply onboarding them and caring for them isn't the be-all and end-all of the workflows. The patients approach a healthcare facility to get them treated. This process is usually lengthy and has a whole range of subprocesses within it. This is why they also need to be managed properly along with keeping them engaged in each step during the whole process.

Increasing no-shows - No shows in the medical industry are increasing each day and plaguing the industry in general. Lack of proper onboarding, fallible patient appointments, flaws in the billing processes, lack of experienced doctors, and a reduced patient experience are some of the prominent causes for this increase in no-shows. The healthcare industry is trying hard to reduce these no-shows and bring about positive patient experiences.

Lack of Proper Patient Care - Ensuring proper patient care is important because that is the first thing that patients hope for. However, many healthcare units and practices often take less interest to revamp the process. This often leads to patients being disappointed with the care and eventually reduces the patient experience.

A Severe Drought of the Latest Tools and Technologies - The age is progressing and this progressiveness is ushered in with the help of the latest software and technologies. The medical office software, patient engagement software, and tools are now available today, all of which are offering a huge boost to the industry and its growth.

Lack of Experienced Doctors and Staff - Doctors, nurses, receptionists, medical staff, and other healthcare workers form the core of the industry of medicine but the experience is what matters to help bring in adequate care that the patients require. Compromises in qualified doctors, medical staff, and healthcare professionals are not something easy to deal with.

Why Patient Scheduling is Important for the Medical Offices/Dental Offices of the Healthcare Industry?

Among all the factors represented above that pose numerous challenges to the medical industry, patient scheduling hurdles are something that significantly contributes to the same. The latest innovations of the IT industry and the cutting-edge technologies that are being developed today are also extending a wide range of medical office software, billing software, and patient appointment schedulers that are revolutionizing the medical world. These patient scheduling systems are not only making scheduling of patients a breeze but are also helping the practice or the medical facilities move ahead with a strong and reinforced medical office to form healthy patient experiences.

With the emergence of online booking for doctor appointments, patients are now rapidly moving to the online form of appointment scheduling because of the multiple benefits it provides. It has been recently discovered that 32% of the patients prefer booking their appointments online in 2021, which was around 29% in 2018. Besides, when it comes to the millennials and Gen X, then it is more than half of the total young population who are willing to switch to the digital methods of appointment scheduling. There are numerous reasons why the change in trend is noticed lately. We will be exploring that too but first, let us find out how this new online method of patient appointments is proving advantageous for the medical, healthcare unit, or practice:

Affordable and efficient

Scheduling patient appointments online is a much more affordable option for a medical office than having a receptionist in the very first place and having him/her do all the appointments via phone and physically at the office. Besides, when there is a rush the practice automatically needs to engage more people on the front desk otherwise it doesn't remain that efficient.

Helps in saving time

Saving time is important for practices because it helps them to reduce wait time for the patients and get ahead of the competition as well. A practice may save time and cater to more patients, thereby increasing patient satisfaction, patient retention, and multiplying their revenues.

Requires minimal efforts

Going for a patient appointment scheduler needs less than a thing. By not having to spend time and money on receptionists and other front-desk operators in the phases of their training and employment, a practice may benefit much in terms of revenues. Besides, implementing medical appointment schedulers also lets the practice manager rest assured.

Reduces no-shows significantly

With the modern patient appointment schedulers, it is the patients that book appointments via fast and efficient portals and it is them who are fully authorized to amend or cancel their appointments if they don't feel like turning up. This dramatically reduces the practice no-shows.

Improves workflow

Being one of the first and the most crucial parts of the healthcare sector, patient bookings and appointments heavily influence the workflow of the whole industry. So, it is always important to note that it is the appointment processes from where things need to start to improve in order to boost the overall workflow of the system.

Enhances patient retention

Patients surely come to practices every now and then but very few of the patients come to the same place again if the clinic or practice is not impressive. Here, there are many factors that directly or indirectly influence the patients' behaviors and either retain or fail to do that and a hassle-free patient appointment scheduling process is one of the pros that add to positive patient experiences

Improves patient experience

With the increasing competition in healthcare influencing patient experience or making a mark, in the same way, is not only difficult but challenging indeed. However, embracing the new-age software and tools from GrowPractice to book new patient appointments, manage patients, check them in, online reminders, two-way texting processes, and more can undoubtedly be of great help.

Heavily influence revenues

If the patient appointment scheduling process is easy to do, fast and reliable, then it automatically becomes a boon for the practice. The fast appointment systems and processes are prominently turning the game for the practices that are using them in terms of patient satisfaction, revenues, and more.

Quality Patient Appointment Schedulers are Helping Patients Schedule Online Doctor Appointments Faster

As soon as the practices started embracing online booking for doctor appointments, there has been a rising trend in the patients' adoption of the digital means to book their doctor appointments online, who earlier used to step into clinics or practices and wait, or get stuck in impossible telephonic queues. Research reveals that over 68% of the patients today are more inclined to book their patients' appointments online and have also revealed their wish to choose the medical facilities that consider onboarding patients online. This increase in the drive for the medical practices and practice owners to choose online appointments for patients instead of the earlier physical or telephonic methods is seen due to the numerous benefits that the digital process provides.

Along with bringing speed and efficiency, the medical appointment schedulers are helping the patients in many different ways, which is why more and more patients are choosing quality patient appointment schedulers online. Here we have curated you a bunch of benefits that these patient schedulers provide the patients:

Online doctor appointment scheduling is simple and easy

They save time and effort

They save patients from all the hassles of physical or telephonic booking

The online booking of new patient appointments need fewer charges

They don't require the patients to come to the practice

Medical appointment schedulers are flexible to change

Online patient scheduling systems are available 24*7 for booking

Online booking for doctor appointments can also be changed or canceled

Along with all these benefits that the online doctor appointments bring in for the patients, it also needs to be considered that these digital booking methods significantly improve the practice revenues, which is why most of the practices should implement them.

Online Booking for Doctor Appointments from GrowPractice Help Practices Grow

More and more practices are switching to the medical appointment schedulers for their medical offices for more than one reason but enhancing their revenues is one of the most dominant factors driving this change. However, it is always important to bring in reliable medical office software for online doctor appointment scheduling practices, which GrowPractice does without a doubt. Being a leading manufacturer and distributor of enterprise-grade technology solutions for medical practices, GrowPractice notably brings a whole range of software and systems that are designed to ramp up the practice revenues effortlessly and grow the medical business. Here is a look at some key highlights that GrowPractice provides practices:

It offers facilities for auto-filling appointments, rescheduling, and canceling them effortlessly.

It brings patient information, appointments, test results, and more with the help of more than 65 EHR/PM software.

It helps remove all the hassles for the patients before and during their visits.

It offers a fully customizable workflow.

Online patient appointments are more than easy with GrowPractice

It offers online patient intake forms

It conducts easy online patient check-ins

It brings flexible online payment options

The communication it offers is engaging for the patients and includes two-way texting, which is fully HIPAA compliant.

Here's only a few to mention, check what's more GrowPractice has in store for your practice!