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Tag: appointment reminders

Proactive phoning

A trial of a new telephone system has found that contacting patients by telephone can help to spot early warning signs as well as cut down on unnecessary hospital appointments.  The study into patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease required patients to input answers to a series of questions using their key pads with the results being analysed by doctors.

This regular contact not only alerted doctors to patients who needed urgent attention it also eliminated the need for some three hundred unnecessary hospital appointments, saving both time and money.  Regular contact also resulted in patients being more aware of their condition, enabling them to be more proactive in self-management.

In a way this trial is another step forward in the growth in understanding of how health professionals can use telephone services to improve patient interaction and fill appointment books.  Simple measures such as sending out SMS appointment reminders can not only improve the client attendance rate but will also prompt clients who cannot attend appointments to cancel in good time.  This enables practitioners to re-fill appointment slots and maximise time spent on treatment.

Similarly, taking steps to ensure that calls are answered helps to foster the client relationship.  We all lead busy lives and tend to steal moments from our day to carry out tasks such as making appointments.  If the call is not answered the chances are that the need to phone will slip from our minds for some time or that we will simply telephone elsewhere.  This is where a virtual receptionist service can be so valuable.  With the virtual receptionist ensuring that the call is answered on behalf of the health practitioner there will be no chance that the client will phone elsewhere or that an urgently needed treatment will be postponed.

Whether they be osteopaths or chiropractors, beauticians or physiotherapists, the one thing all health practitioners have in common is the need to maximise time spent with patients.  Interrupting treatments to answer the phone or blocking out diary time to remind patients of impending appointments is simply not a viable option if the practice is to run to its potential.  Calling on the services of a virtual receptionist service means that calls are answered, appointments made and reminders sent without taking up practice time.  And with easy to use diary software which is visible 24/7 the use of a virtual receptionist doesn’t preclude the practice making follow up appointments at the end of a treatment session.

Reducing “no shows”

A recent NHS report revealed that 1 in 10 hospital appointments in 2011 resulted in “no shows”.    This adds up to a staggering 5.5 million missed appointments and costs the NHS £millions each year.  Even if each patient has a genuine reason for missing the appointment, missed appointments have a knock on effect across the NHS.

In announcing the “no show” figures, the then health minister, Simon Burns, said “It is important that people realise that not turning up for their agreed appointments means other patients’ care might be delayed.”  Although the figures were down by 250,000 on the previous year they still have a significant impact on NHS services.

Hospitals are starting to employ a variety of methods in a bid to reduce the number of those who fail to turn up for appointments.   One project in Bedfordshire cut missed appointments by 30% simply by asking patients themselves to write down the appointment time and repeat it back to the receptionist.  Other health providers have started sending reminders to patients by text or e-mail whilst Newham University Hospital doctors now check up on their diabetes patients via Skype.

The problem of missed appointments also affects those in the private healthcare sector.  However with many services such as osteopathy and physiotherapy operating as via comparatively small practices, health practitioners can be torn between the options of treating patients or spending time in administration.  This means that inevitably patient appointment reminders are not sent, raising the chance of missed appointments.

Whilst some private health practices have a policy of charging patients for missed appointments these fees can prove hard to collect and may endanger the patient/practitioner relationship.   There is no point in trying to collect a missed appointment fee if that means missing several other fees in the future.

This is where a virtual receptionist service comes into its own.  Answering the phone, making appointments and sending reminders via text or email, the virtual receptionist service takes the appointment strain, leaving the clinician free to maximise patient time.  Interestingly a study in 2008 showed that those in the 20-24 age group are the most likely to miss appointments followed by the 25-29 and 15-19 age groups. The most tech savvy groups are therefore the worst offenders and a reminder system which takes advantage of text or e-mail could therefore have a significant effect.

Maximising business through texts

The UK’s love affair with texting continues.  A recent Ofcom report revealed that for the first time ever the volume of mobile calls has declined, whilst on the other side of the equation the average consumer now sends over fifty texts every week.

Admittedly many of these texts are sent by the 16-24 year age group.  Interestingly this group say they prefer talking face to face.  However, with 90% texting family and friends on a daily basis compared with only 63% talking face to face it is clear that sending texts has become a way of life.  Luckily for businesses, this love affair with texts presents a fresh marketing opportunity.

Perhaps because text messages have taken their place as an intrinsic part of our daily lives, we are far more likely to open text messages from businesses than mail or e-mails.  Surveys show that we read over 90% of text messages from businesses.  This percentage increases still further when the text is from a known and trusted business source.

This means that businesses which want to attract the attention of their clients can use texting with a fairly high certainty that the text will be read.  For businesses in the health or beauty sector which need to minimise “no-shows” the use of text reminders can prove invaluable.

The Clinic Appointments Diary Management service includes a text service.  This means that we can send appointment reminders by text, or e-mail, as well as send out marketing SMS text messages.  Reminding clients of their appointments not only increases attendance rates, if for some reason clients are unable to make the appointment the text message prompts them to cancel, giving the business time to re-book the appointment slot.

Using texts to send out marketing messages is also an effective way of attracting clients’ attention.  So, you can quickly and simply let your clients know if a new treatment is available or a new product has arrived.  Add an invitation to book with the text alert and your client can call you via the Clinic Appointments Diary service and book their appointment on the spot.  Better still, while they are booking via Clinic Appointments, you can concentrate on maximising your time with patients.

Yes, texting has arrived as a force in our lives.  Using texts as appointment reminders or as marketing channels means that the text savvy business can make texting a force for their business good as well as providing an enhanced service to clients.

Contact us today to discover how Clinic Appointments can help your clinic. Book your free demo call now to learn more.