Does your clinic appointment book need some TLC?

Managing appointments for your clinic can be a trial. Especially if you’re the one trying to make sure that patients a) know when their appointment is, and b) are actually going to attend.

A friend told us the story of a clinic that seemed to have trouble getting it right. ‘I never got a reminder,’ he told us. ‘And when I did ring up to check my next appointment, they could never find my name in the book!’

As it happened he was getting excellent treatment there, so he gritted his teeth and carried on. And then, one day, everything changed.

‘It was great!’ he said. ‘I was getting email and text reminders (and yes, I had asked for both). When I needed to check or change an appointment they could find my details almost at once.’  Initially, he said, the receptionists grumbled about the new system, but within a few weeks the whole team had got to grips with it.

And there was an additional benefit. ‘I couldn’t help noticing how much busier they were, too.’

Getting rid of the frustration

An unreliable appointment system helps no one – not the patients, not the receptionists, and least of all the clinicians. Frustrated patients have every reason to be irritable and impatient when, for example, they have to wait longer than expected for their treatment.

For a smaller clinic, in particular, this can be a serious issue. And if you run your own specialist clinic it can make or break your business. So you may be relieved to know that it’s one job you can safely outsource. (Which could save you the cost and hassle of hiring a receptionist – unless and until you actually need one.)

There’s a wide choice of appointment and booking systems which you can simply add to your website. They’ll ensure that your patients get confirmation of their booking. Reminders before they’re due to come in. (Via text, email, or even automated phone calls.) And a simple way to check the date and time when they’ve forgotten it.

Of course, patients may still need to change or cancel an appointment – and that’s where a human being can be rather useful…

Why not let our clinic help yours?

For a small or one-person business, phone calls from anxious patients are tricky to cope with. If you’re actively working with another patient you won’t be able to answer them. If you’re not, they can be distracting. So it makes sense to use a virtual assistant to help. They can take any calls to do with appointments and deal with them. (You simply give them access to your online diary.) If it’s a question about treatment they can take a note of it and send it on to you – so you can answer as soon as you have time to do so.

So if your appointment system is giving you a headache, come to our clinic. We’ll be sure to prescribe the treatment you need.

Give us a call on 01638 741079 and we’ll be happy to discuss your exact requirements.

And if all you need is some good software, we’ll be delighted to recommend the program that will suit you best. Doesn’t that feel better already?