Eyeworld

8 Ophthalmology Business • September 2016 Appointment booking in just a few clicks by Vanessa Caceres Contributing Writer Online scheduling appeals to a small but growing number of patients S etting a doctor's appointment by calling the office still works for many patients. Yet there's a growing segment of the population, usually younger or more tech-savvy, that would rather be able to set their appointments online. Many medical practices, in- cluding ones in ophthalmology, are offering both old and new appoint- ment-setting options. Although these practices say that only a small percentage of patients use online appointment setting, they still see advantages in having it available, such as the ability to help grow the practice. Here are four approaches to online appointment-setting software used by ophthalmologists and phy- sicians in other specialties. Consider these tips as you home in on the right program for you. Using two popular software systems Ophthalmologist Joseph Fishkin, MD, Fishkin Vision, Emerson, New Jersey, uses two appointment-setting systems, Zocdoc (New York) and Demandforce (San Francisco). "My patients tend to be technologically savvy and expressed a desire to be able to schedule their appointments online without having to call the office directly," he said. Before enrolling with the sys- tems, Dr. Fishkin asked them both for references to other physicians already using their system, and he had both companies conduct online demonstrations of their technology. Dr. Fishkin's practice lets Zocdoc know which appointment spots are available. Patients sign in with a username and password, pro- vide basic demographic and insur- ance information, and schedule the visit. Then, a pop-up window appears on the receptionist screen, and the receptionist loads the patient's infor- mation into the schedule. With the click of a button, the patient receives an email to confirm the appointment is scheduled. Demandforce has buttons that were easy to place on the practice's website and Facebook page, Dr. Fishkin said. Once patients click on a button to schedule an appointment, they are asked to give basic demo- graphic information and three pref- erences for appointment scheduling. The practice receives an email about the appointment request, and they schedule it; a staff member clicks a button through the Demandforce portal to confirm it was scheduled. Dr. Fishkin generally favors Demandforce for better integration within the practice management system, yet he still sees potential for improvement within both systems. "There can be an issue when patients request an appointment for a time that is unavailable. This does involve my staff having to email or call the patient to arrange for an available appointment time. I look forward to a system that will have even better integration with my practice software so that only available appointment times are offered to patients," Dr. Fishkin said. One thing Dr. Fishkin likes about his systems is that they post online reviews of his practice, which in- creases his online presence. "A signif- icant percentage of my new patients tell me they chose to come to me because of my online reviews. Over the last 3 years, I've received more than 1,000 online reviews through Demandforce," he said. continued on page 10

• Cover