Previous year, a multi-specialty practice in Amherst, Mass. Valley Medical Group adopted automated appointment programs. And the 86-physician practice confirms that it has surely made some difference.
Automated Appointment Programs: How It Benefitted Valley Medical Group
1. Valley Medical Group started using a schedule automation program to help fill last-minute cancellations.
Want to publish your own articles on DistilINFO Publications?
Send us an email, we will get in touch with you.
2. After a year the practice says it has enough data to support the fact that the program has filled an average of more than 60 cancellations in a month.
3. The practice says it has also saved around 16 administrative days of work. This was mainly because reception coordinators are not spending time tracking down patients to fill the schedule.
4. Average appointment times for patients who use this automated program has also reduced by two weeks.
Martha Mastroberti, Healthcare Informatics Manager at Valley Medical Group Said:
“Your patients are going to really like it,”
Biggest Improvements From Automated Appointment Programs
Easy Cancellation And Filling Of Appointments
Earlier the patients were required to call in and cancel appointments. Sometimes they made cancellation for the same day and sometimes for the coming week. This made the task of the reception coordinators tough. But with automated systems cancellation of appointments becomes much easier for the patients. The reception coordinators no longer need to monitor the appointment schedule, or go back to the patients waiting list to fill the opening when a patient cancels an appointment. The automated system looks for patients scheduled for a future appointment and sends automated text message. The first who responds first to the message is moved to the open appointment.
Encouraging Patients To Schedule Follow-Up Tests
Automated appointment programs are also allowing providers to encourage the patients to schedule follow-up tests. With such systems healthcare practices can uses automated phone notification system to get patients to schedule test or screenings. Some practices also use automated daily emails to guide patients from surgery prep to recovery.
On being asked what is the biggest improvement automated appointment programs made? Martha Mastroberti, Healthcare Informatics Manager at Valley Medical Group Said:
“The efficiency of a patient cancelling. Nobody has to look at it, nobody has to be aware of it, and nobody has to think. The system is aware of it and goes out and fills those slots with patients. We have a lot of very busy providers— if you want your physical next week and I tell you I’m booking into June— but we have this system where you could potentially get called in early [and it] keeps patients engaged.”
Date: 30 May, 2017