Automated Appointment Scheduling - Speaking In Forked Tongues
At some point most of us have encountered an automated appointment scheduling or answering service.
Unquestionably not all of these services are equal and in the 'old days' they were little more than a glorified answering machine - Boasting an electronic voice speaking in 'forked tongues' and even a little background hissing to put you in the mood! Nevertheless, patient appointment scheduling systems can be an extremely practical asset that is very cost effective- Plus, they have moved on leaps and bounds in recent years.
Patient Reminders Not only are automated appointment scheduling systems convenient for patients - allowing them to make an appointment out of hours - One of the most notable plus sides of these systems is their ability to make patient appointment reminder calls.
Patient reminder calls have proven to reduce no-shows: And as all medical practitioners know, no-shows cost.
Even so, it also 'costs' the time of your receptionist to make those calls: Time they could be using to deal with other more demanding tasks - And indeed this does happen which means the reminder calls are not made.
An automated system can make those calls at a scheduled time in a fraction of the time your receptionist would take.
Flexible & Easy To Use Without question patient appointment scheduling systems have advanced - And this may lead you to believe using one requires advanced knowledge of computer systems.
Not so! Web based patient appointment systems require no onsite hardware and are very easy to manage.
They are also very flexible and can be customised to suit a specific medical practice.
Some are multi lingual too and can make reminder calls to the patient's home as well as send them an email and SMS text to their mobile phone.
Patients are able to confirm their appointment, cancel or reschedule - And it is very easy for them to do.
Implement Caution While automated patient appointment and reminders have proven to be a cost effective solution for medical practitioners all over the US and Canada - Indeed they are successfully in use by some of the largest medical organisations around - One should still approach with caution.
That is by making any long term commitment.
These systems differ greatly and some are better than others - In addition, what suits one medical practitioner may not suit another.
So shop around..
..
Unquestionably not all of these services are equal and in the 'old days' they were little more than a glorified answering machine - Boasting an electronic voice speaking in 'forked tongues' and even a little background hissing to put you in the mood! Nevertheless, patient appointment scheduling systems can be an extremely practical asset that is very cost effective- Plus, they have moved on leaps and bounds in recent years.
Patient Reminders Not only are automated appointment scheduling systems convenient for patients - allowing them to make an appointment out of hours - One of the most notable plus sides of these systems is their ability to make patient appointment reminder calls.
Patient reminder calls have proven to reduce no-shows: And as all medical practitioners know, no-shows cost.
Even so, it also 'costs' the time of your receptionist to make those calls: Time they could be using to deal with other more demanding tasks - And indeed this does happen which means the reminder calls are not made.
An automated system can make those calls at a scheduled time in a fraction of the time your receptionist would take.
Flexible & Easy To Use Without question patient appointment scheduling systems have advanced - And this may lead you to believe using one requires advanced knowledge of computer systems.
Not so! Web based patient appointment systems require no onsite hardware and are very easy to manage.
They are also very flexible and can be customised to suit a specific medical practice.
Some are multi lingual too and can make reminder calls to the patient's home as well as send them an email and SMS text to their mobile phone.
Patients are able to confirm their appointment, cancel or reschedule - And it is very easy for them to do.
Implement Caution While automated patient appointment and reminders have proven to be a cost effective solution for medical practitioners all over the US and Canada - Indeed they are successfully in use by some of the largest medical organisations around - One should still approach with caution.
That is by making any long term commitment.
These systems differ greatly and some are better than others - In addition, what suits one medical practitioner may not suit another.
So shop around..
..
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