How to Simplify Patient Appointment Scheduling with Self-Service

Patients value convenience in many facets of their care. While we see this in the rise of telehealth visits, it’s also important to think about convenience in the way patients schedule appointments — whether these visits happen in person or over a device.

How Tech-Savvy Patients Prefer to Make Appointment Requests

Traditionally, clinics have asked patients to call their office to set up an appointment. There will always be portions of the population that prefer this conventional route, but there is a considerable, and growing, number of patients who want the option to book appointments online (whether it be same-day appointments or those booked out for the future).

In a 2022 report from Experian Health and PYMNTS, it was noted that 1 in 5 patients opted to book their healthcare appointments via digital channels. These channels include appointment requests via a patient portal, the clinic’s website, or text message.

Why the Push Toward Online Patient Appointment Scheduling?

Consider the case where a patient calls to make their first appointment at a behavioral health clinic. In an ideal scenario, front office staff is readily available to answer the call and get the new patient’s appointment on the schedule.

But more often than not, there’s a wait — especially in these times of staffing shortages. Patients can be placed on hold for a chunk of time while clinic administrators handle patients in-office as well as other phone calls in the queue. Sometimes, patients may be frustrated by this wait time or they might simply not have the time to spare and instead hang up.

There’s also the possibility that patient calls will go right to voicemail. This could be a matter of admin staff not having the bandwidth to answer the call or the fact that the call is coming in outside the clinic’s business hours. Patients may decide to leave a voicemail, make the effort to call back the next day, or abandon ship altogether out of frustration.

The Value of a Patient Self-Scheduling Software

Patients are used to self-service appointment capabilities in other facets of their life: car service, haircuts, pet grooming (and the list goes on). So it only makes sense that they would appreciate the same level of convenience in scheduling healthcare appointments.

With a patient self-scheduling tool, patients can schedule appointments from their computer or mobile device any time of day and without having to speak with staff. Connected to the clinic’s calendar, patients can see where there are openings in the clinic schedule and choose a date/time slot that works for them.

An added selling point of these self-service tools is they help in reducing no-shows. That’s because many of these online scheduling systems are equipped with automated appointment reminders that notify patients of their upcoming appointments via a phone call or text. Patients can then easily confirm, cancel, or reschedule their appointment.

The automated capabilities within the self-scheduling system enable clinics to improve their productivity without adding staff. Your administrators will save time not having to manage every appointment, while still ensuring that patients get the service and communications they need.

As a clinic’s operations become more efficient, they can increase the volume of patients they’re able to see on a given day. From these higher volumes come increased profits.

Patient Online Scheduling Is Built Into ClinicTracker

With the goal of serving behavioral health clinics and patients alike, ClinicTracker allows patients to schedule visits directly from the Patient Portal. Instead of having to call the office, patients can simply look at your clinic’s calendar and select an appointment time based on a provider’s availability. While the appointment scheduling software reduces appointment booking errors, automated appointment reminders ensure patients remember to attend or reschedule their visit.

Patient self-scheduling is just one of the many ways that ClinicTracker improves your behavioral health clinic operations, enhances patient satisfaction, and helps grow your practice. Learn more about how our comprehensive EHR solution supports your everyday needs.