Allowing patients to schedule appointments online for your medical practice, no matter what time of day, isn’t just a luxury anymore. It’s a necessity. Websites are the front door to your business, and patients expect their doctors to offer online appointment booking. When implemented effectively, online appointment booking can also increase office efficiency while making your patients happy. Here are tips for choosing and implementing that software.
The importance online appointment booking software
In case there’s any question about the importance of online appointment booking software for your medical practice, the research is overwhelming. Sure there will always be patients who would rather pick up the phone and call your office, but there are plenty of others who would like to do it without making a call and potentially being put on hold.
A survey published in Zippia says 34% of appointments scheduled online are booked after business hours, and 67% of patients prefer online appointment booking. You can read all the survey results here.
Pick the right online appointment booking software
With all Software as a Service (SaaS) products, picking the right online appointment booking software for your medical practice is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. While it may seem time-consuming, it’s just as important that you take the time with other members of your medical practice to sit through demonstrations and understand how the services work.
Once you’ve seen demonstrations of at least three (sometimes more) solutions, don’t immediately sign a contract. The next step is to reach out to other medical practices that use the online appointment booking software you like best. Most vendors will give you a list of references, and it’s valuable to call a few other practices to ask them for the pros and cons of the software.
This article may be helpful in starting a list of prospective vendors, and most of the software companies listed do offer free trials, which allows your staff to test the product before implementation.
Promote your online appointment booking software
No matter how much time you spend picking and implementing the right online appointment booking software, it won’t help improve your medical practice unless your patients know it’s available and understand how to use it. Here are some tips for promoting your new tool:
- Create a video that is prominent on your website and social media pages. Do a step-by-step tutorial on how to use the online appointment booking software.
- Create and print a simple flyer that shows a screenshot of your new platform and give it to every patient that visits your office. It’s also smart to leave a stack in your waiting room.
- Consider printing enough posters to put on the walls of each examination room in your practice. While your patients are waiting, this will remind them. And you may consider including a QR code to your website.
- Insert a line in all staff email signatures that reminds patients to use your new software. Here’s an example: “Book your appointment online, 24/7, using our new scheduling system.” Make sure to include a link.
- Use your social media pages to boast about the benefits of the new system.
No matter what online appointment booking software you choose for your medical practice, all research suggests that’s the way patients want to schedule visits. Make sure you take your time picking the right software because once you’ve made that choice, it’s hard to change. And once you’ve made the right decision, remember your patients won’t gravitate to that website without some prompting from your office.
