Many businesses have been adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Entire segments of the economy, from tourism and hospitality to retail, have seen dramatic drops in both customer traffic and revenues. Millions of people are out of work and others are being very careful with how they spend their money these days. There is a pall cast over the whole country and the nation’s economic engine is sputtering along too.
During this time one might have expected health services to be immune to the downturn. It would have made sense if consumers were proactive about seeking care for their well-being. Unfortunately, health provider revenues have also suffered during the pandemic. First, with money in short supply, potential patients have curtailed spending. The possibility of being near people who might have the virus has also kept patients away from waiting rooms. As a result many practices have had to shift how they do business and even cut their hours.
Reduce Staff Time Needed to Manage Patient Appointments
Everyone seems to multi-task at work these days, and the staff within a health care practice is no exception. There are seemingly endless demands for staff attention, with patients to greet and check in, medical records to pull and much more. Insurance claims have to be filed, co-pay amounts need to be calculated and payments processed and applied.
When you set up an automated communication system you free up valuable staff time. Instead of playing endless phone tag with patients to let them know it’s almost time for their next visit, the system effortlessly sends out automatic appointment reminders. Your patients receive a professional message that tells them the time of their scheduled visit, and lets them confirm or request a change to the appointment.
Quickly Fill Open Appointment Times
By utilizing an appointment reminder system, you can save a substantial amount of staff time. The real value, though, is how the system helps you maximize revenue. Office no-shows are dramatically reduced when patients are notified ahead of time about upcoming visits. Every time a patient is converted from a no-show to an office visit, your practice brings in much needed revenue.
Another advantage of the system is that staff is promptly notified of patient requests for alternate office visit dates. They can quickly get back to the customer and schedule a new time that works well for them and therefore keeps practice revenue flowing. Your office staff will also be able to schedule new patients or last minute patients into any empty appointment slots, further increasing your profitability and patient count.
Send Out Messages and Targeted Marketing Offers
One of the features in automated communication systems is the ability to broadcast messages. This can be very helpful when you need to let all of your patients quickly know relevant information. For instance, if there are traffic issues due to road construction or wildfires, you can update patients with this news. You can also send out revised office hours or closure notices in the event of snow days.
If your practice is interested in advanced marketing techniques you can create a marketing database of patients and potential customers. By pairing your automated messaging capabilities with a database that keeps track of services that each person might be interested in, you can easily create and send out targeted messages and special offers.
By implementing an automated communication system, you save money by reducing staff time associated with the patient appointment process. You can also increase your practice revenues and profitability by decreasing no-shows, increasing filled appointment slots and doing sophisticated, targeted marketing.