Page 23 - The 4-Step Formula For - Mastering Patient Self-Scheduling

Carefully Plan Patient-Facing Questionnaires

Minimize Questions: Spend time to carefully design patient-facing questionnaires
to strike a balance between gathering essential information and providing a
smooth user experience.

Prioritize Critical Information: Balanced Questionnaires: Ask the most critical
questions upfront to ensure accurate scheduling and defer non-critical questions to
later stages of the interaction. This approach minimizes the burden on patients
while still collecting the necessary data for accurate bookings.

The Callback/Textback Model: For When Things Get Complicated

No matter how hard you work to simplify, sometimes scheduling isn't
straightforward. For the most complex cases that even an AI can’t handle, try

implementing the Callback/Textback Model (text preferred). In this model, the patient
submits information and the data is sent to a queue where a human can handle the
most complicated tasks and validate the information. “Callback” means the human
calls back. The downside of this is that the gains are offset by the ‘game’ of phone
tag. Often preferred is a “Textback” model where your staff sends a tailored link to
the patient for a pre-con gured bot to nish the interview or an online chat. Whether
the interaction is callback or textback, the result is the patient is scheduling these
complicated appointments online with assistance.

You and your staff still boost the accuracy rate and gain many of the advantages of
online scheduling for the organization. This approach reduces the frustration of long
wait times, reinforces online scheduling as a habit, and ensures that most needs are
addressed promptly.

Availability: % of Calendar Online

Maximizing the percentage of your calendar available online is a key component of
the self-scheduling success formula. By ensuring more appointment slots are
accessible for online booking, you can signi cantly enhance patient satisfaction and
operational ef ciency.

The 4-step Formula for Mastering Page | 21
Patient Self-Scheduling