A recent study found that most Americans were dissatisfied with the US healthcare system to some degree. When asked how the system was failing them, the number one complaint was that “it takes too long to get an appointment.” In a world of automation and AI-powered appointment software, this just should not be the case.
If you’re running a practice of any size, you can already outcompete most of the market by getting automated appointment-setting software. Read about how this software can bring three crucial benefits to your practice.
1. The Public Selects for Convenience
Having appointment scheduling software that’s effective and easy to interact with improves the patient’s healthcare experience before they even get to the hospital. A simple booking process that results in easily accessible appointments increases the chances that the patient will return to your practice because people love convenience.
The effect will be small at first, as a hospital doesn’t market itself as convenient per se. However, word of mouth will slowly let the public know that dealing with your hospital is far easier than normal.
In a few months, your call rate will increase. By then, you’ll need scheduling software to take the burden off your admin staff.
2. Staff Admin is Simplified
Doctors, pharmacists, and nurses train primarily to see to people’s health and not really to deal with paperwork. Every shred of admin work one of these types of professionals does detracts from the real value they add to your practice. However, the admin is still important.
By automating healthcare processes ancillary to the main task of providing care, you get more accurate records and reports. Your staff can spend more time on patient care without worrying about heavy admin. Sophisticated software can even balance their schedules so that their time between patients is also used more efficiently.
3. Decrease in Missed Appointments
Some automated healthcare systems have built-in reminder and rescheduling functions. With AI, these programs can even interact with patients on a limited basis.
You can use these functions to send reminders to patients and take queries. This way, you can drastically decrease the rate at which patients miss appointments.
If you reschedule a patient for an urgent reason, the software notifies them automatically. If the patient reschedules or cancels, the software records it. It can also re-shuffle the remaining appointments to make better use of staff time.
Is the Problem Bigger Than Appointment-Setting Mishaps?
Automating healthcare processes has a wide range of benefits for society. As technology develops, it becomes easier to render services to the public without a drop in quality. Machines also make it much cheaper.
Automating your booking process can help free up your doctors and nurses for more patient care. Modern appointment-setting systems can also improve your reputation for convenience and decrease the rate at which people miss appointments.
These aren’t the only barriers in medicine. Declining medical staff and skyrocketing prices are also mounting problems. Learn how your hospital can get around these on our tech and business blogs.
