More health, less stress

How online medical appointment scheduling further decreases wait times and patient stress.

The medical pathway for a patient to consult a physiciandoctor sToo often, the process is long and tedious: calling the secretariat to make an appointment, finding that there is no availability for several days, weeks or months, and waiting at the office on the day of the appointment. Not to mention that this cycle starts again if the patient has to consult a new specialist afterwards. Innovative solutions are proposed to improve theexps experience and reduce waiting times.tions.

Waiting for an appointment and worrying about your health are real stressors. This is why more and more sites (Doctena/Europe, Hotdoc/Australia, Zocdoc/USA, etc.) allow everyone to easily make an appointment online with a doctor, whatever the specialty. The principle is simple: the patient makes an appointment online 24/7 in a few clicks with the doctor of his choice, at the available time that suits him; once booked, the consultation is automatically displayed in the doctor’s diary; the patient receives an SMS reminder the day before the appointment. The medical team can spend more time with patients without being systematically interrupted by calls during an examination – 60% of patients find this annoying.
In addition to this free service, some leaders in online medical booking are now offering innovative solutions to accompany patients throughout their medical journey. The goal is to always improve the patient’s life by decreasing the waiting time and the associated stress.

Just be warned

Internet bookings now account for 30 to 50% of all appointments made by doctors who use acloud agenda. Patients automatically receive an SMS reminder the day before the appointment. In addition, medical practices can now rely on the expertise of medical booking platforms to send these SMS reminders to all of their patients, whether they have booked online, by phone or directly at the practice.

Get an appointment faster

Physicians experience a high rate of last-minute cancellations. These vacant slots can be fully utilized by other patients who are scheduled for consultation in several weeks or months. Via online platforms, patients can now register on a waiting list specific to their physicians. They will be automatically notified if a slot becomes available at an earlier date to reserve it and save precious time. This is a completely free service that makes life easier for patients.

More relaxed in the waiting room

The waiting room of a doctor’s office is never a pleasant place to be: “When will I be called?”; “What are the patients sitting next to me suffering from?”; “How many people will go before me?”; “If I move, will I lose my place?”; … For these reasons, online booking services offer patients the possibility to check in upon arrival, to be informed about the order of passage and the estimated time remaining before the consultation. People can go out for a coffee, go out to make a call to their relatives without losing their place, etc. The doctor is informed in real time of the number of people waiting in his office.

Accelerating the health pathway

The meeting with a general practitioner may lead the patient to subsequently consult a specialist for an opinion. This means that the patient has to start the appointment and waiting cycle all over again. An online solution is proposed to reduce these delays. At the end of the consultation, the online diary allows the GP to directly make an appointment for his patient with a colleague by adding a note of information, by accessing a choice of time slots dedicated to short term consultations. And this with the patient’s consent. The patient leaves the GP’s office with the next appointment in hand and a limited wait. This service allows doctors to ensure that their patients will see the right specialist.

Online medical appointments are a response to the new uses of society. Parallel services are being developed for the well-being of all. The cloud agenda ensures a more pleasant experience for the patient and shorter delays. Practitioners who use these services improve their working conditions and can focus on their vocation: care.