Recent consumer research indicates online appointment scheduling is an influencing factor in provider selection.
Introduction
Consumers have grown accustomed to researching and evaluating options online, and seamlessly making decisions regarding purchases, reservations, and appointments. Not only do consumers expect instant access to information that informs their decision-making, they also expect to access it from their smartphones. The ability to compare and follow through on a purchase or booking has transformed industries such as travel and hospitality, and is poised to transform the healthcare industry. These changes have shifted cost burdens to consumers, delivered benefits to them as well, and made healthcare more efficient.
Online appointment scheduling (OAS) has become increasingly important. According to a recent Stax Inc. study commissioned by Healthgrades, 83% of consumers are familiar with online scheduling, mostly through travel and restaurant websites. For about 35% of consumers, the study suggests, online scheduling is a major deciding factor when choosing among competing options.
In healthcare, technology has not kept up with consumer expectations. Consumers have not seen the robust online-booking solutions found in other industries. As a result, about 85% of consumers still schedule doctor’s appointments by phone.
Complexity, lack of transparency, siloed provider systems, privacy concerns, and lags in technology adoption have contributed to the industry’s tardiness in this area. However, that means there is now an opportunity for healthcare providers. The Healthgrades/Stax study’s findings show the value of offering online scheduling.
Consumer demand: The big opportunity
Online scheduling can be a differentiator that allows practices to capture more patients, and also improves practices’ operational efficiency. In fact, nearly 60% of doctor’s appointments are now booked outside of office hours.1
The study found that about 80% of patients prefer a physician who offers online scheduling, across both primary care and specialist physicians. The patients who most prefer online scheduling book more appointments (for themselves and others) and tend to be younger, more affluent, and higher-educated.
When given a choice between physicians with similar experience, proximity, availability, and patient satisfaction ratings, the vast majority of consumers (81% for PCPs, and 77% for specialists) choose the physician who provides online scheduling.
Win-win: Benefits for patients and practices
Scheduling appointments over the phone takes eight minutes on average, and only one minute online. That said, keep in mind there is a patient base that will always prefer to speak to another human being when making an appointment — so it is important to have a call center in place even when your organization begins to offer online scheduling. Having both a call center and online appointment scheduling helps attract the largest number of patients. In fact, doctors who offer both see a 24% increase in calls when online appointment scheduling is available.2
Online scheduling also makes physicians more competitive. According to the study, consumers will choose to see providers who are farther away but have online scheduling by a 2-to-1 margin over those who are closer and do not.
Online scheduling is often even more important than appointment availability itself. When choosing a specialist, consumers prefer — by a 4-to-1 margin — to see a physician with less availability but who has online scheduling, compared with an identical physician who has greater availability but no online scheduling.
As providers shift to online scheduling, they will need to communicate change, cancellation, and no-show policies to patients. This is another valuable opportunity to engage with the patient base. This additional opportunity for patient engagement has real benefits, in that it can help to reduce no-shows by as much as 25% when text and email reminders are implemented.3
Next steps
As practices and hospital systems continue to improve the patient experience, online appointment scheduling represents a clear opportunity to meet increasing consumer demand. Adding online scheduling to an omnichannel approach helps providers capture demand, improve office efficiency, and remain competitive. The transition will require thoughtful communication with patients and a culture shift for physicians, but offers value to both patients and practices.
Learn more about how Healthgrades can help you expand consumer access through online appointment scheduling.
The new age of data delivers a fresh opportunity for healthcare marketers.
No longer hampered by a lack of data, the challenge now is to obtain and use the right data effectively.
Danah Boyd, Ph.D., principal researcher at Microsoft Research, often speaks about the power and pitfalls of data. She suggests verifying data sources and anything that might skew the data before drawing any conclusions. Having a clear sense of what data is indicating is more important than how much data is available.
Think about a common healthcare scenario from a data perspective – how to build the right patient volume for a service line. Consider a cardiac services program that faces increased competition and an erosion of market share.
Obstacles for such a campaign may include:
No measure of program effectiveness in patient experience, quality and service
Mixed group of employed and independent providers splitting referrals or procedure locations.
Increase in service volume not keeping up with population growth.
The goal of this campaign might be to increase market share and attract the right payor mix. Many would approach this challenge by collecting relevant data to focus efforts, reach the right audience and position the cardiac program in a way that resonates with consumers. Follow Dr. Boyd’s advice and take time to analyze the relevant data for the clearest insights into the market.
Start by gathering important data. This list includes some non-traditional data sources.
Mystery shopping data from the service line
Call Center and website statistics
Volume by procedure and physician
Current penetration into demographic segments
Top referring physicians – independent and employed
HCAHPS scores
Verification of physician and facilities capacity
Market share of programs for a three-year period
Competitive intelligence
Priority consumer preferences
Once the data is gathered, market dynamics will start to emerge.
The next step is to assess resources. With advances in digital marketing tools, targeting effort is easier and more precise than ever before. Here are some things to consider as you assess those resources.
Customer Relationship Management System: Take a look at current CRM systems and assess their:
Overall capabilities
Integration with financial systems to capture down-stream revenue
Demographic targeting capabilities
Patient tracking functionality
Capacity to communicate with targeted customers over an extended period of time
Advertising Campaign Plan: Work with a creative service team to discuss the goals of the campaign and potential strategies.
Determine the mix of media – mass and/or digital.
Target online advertising that matches your message with goals.
Call Center: Ensure the team is informed and consider using them as a feedback loop for more information.
The team should have mechanisms to report issues with scheduling or patient feedback.
Integrate the website with the call center so access is seamless for patients, and appointment setting is trackable.
Website: Incorporate web assets into the consumer experience.
Create a discreet landing page for calls-to-action for better trackability.
Post clear, compelling copy on the landing page, with contact and scheduling information “front and center.” Consider testing multiple messages to see what works best.
This understanding of resources will help to identify strengths and gaps that will aid in planning and executing an effective marketing campaign.
With good data and knowledge of resources, it’s time to communicate to stakeholders. Take the story to internal sponsors for feedback, walking them through a draft readiness-to-market plan.
Partner with those who can help you most.
Finding the right vendor partner to help manage data and execute strategy is key. Healthcare-specific CRM organizations, like Healthgrades, are reimagining how data can be collected, aggregated, stored and utilized for planning, marketing and reporting.
When considering CRM partners, ask about open data integration. This capability allows for real-time, bi-directional conversations that drive engagement, resulting in higher conversion rates and a healthier bottom line. A good CRM partner will help you assess each data source to determine its relevance to strategy and the frequency in which it should be used.
Final Insight
The new age of healthcare marketing utilizes data along the entire process. From identifying and understanding opportunity through strategy development and execution, data should be used to guide a marketing department to the best outcomes. This can be a daunting process if you don’t have the proper skill set and resources. Start by assessing data and internal resources. Then, partner with an experienced, healthcare-specific CRM organization that will help execute strategy without adding headcount. Working with the right data will help you gain valuable insights for better marketing outcomes.