Online appointment scheduling and other digital aids are often still underrepresented in medical facilities. Seemingly insurmountable obstacles often stand in the way of implementation. But there are other ways. Calenso has selected some very good examples from the medical sector that show that the implementation of online appointment scheduling can be successful.
Clinics
The Asklepios clinics in Germany are probably the absolute showcase model that online appointments are definitely possible in the medical field. They offer online appointments in 28 clinics in various specialist areas such as surgery, neurology, urology and many more, e.g. for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography (CT) or varicose vein consultations (examples from Asklepios MVZ Brandenburg).15. Within the first year, they want to receive 100,000 online bookings and take the first step towards becoming a digital hospital. Initial successes have already been recorded. Important information can be sent when appointments are made, the workload of staff on the phone and in administration has been reduced and there are fewer waiting loops on the phone.16
Another example of a clinic is Magdeburg University Medicine. They allocate 8 out of a possible 36 appointments explicitly to online bookers for the ENT outpatient clinic. They are experiencing less bureaucracy, fewer phone calls, more satisfied patients, a modern image and a reduction in the tedious ping-pong of making appointments.19
Herz Reha in Bad Ischl in Austria also offers online appointments. They rely on simple processing. The customer fills in a free text field for the diagnosis and other information in addition to the contact details. This makes it easy to take appointment requests into account. 24
Booking appointments at hospitals makes particular sense in Germany, as there is a free choice of hospital. Krankenhaus.de offers a practical overview of all hospitals with online appointments and thus provides a "Booking.com for hospitals".20 The Diabetology Digitization and Technology Report (D.U.T.) also showed that 24% of diabetologists offer online appointments.24
Other departments
Vaccinations are another popular area. The Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon offers a chatbot for vaccinations. As a result, waiting times have been reduced and service times extended. An expansion to 15 other areas is already planned.17 The medical microbiology and hygiene department at Saarland University Hospital (UKS) offers travel and tropical medicine consultations, advice, clarifications and vaccinations by online appointment.18 The Viennese population now has the opportunity to conveniently book appointments for vaccinations online. They must arrive 10 minutes in advance, but can benefit from an appointment reminder or cancellation.24
Specialist centers are also expanding their range of services. For example, free HIV texts can be arranged online in advance at the sexual health department of the Düsseldorf health authority. 21 Doctor2Go offers telemedical consultations with a team of 2 trained gynecologists. Patients can book 10 or 20-minute appointments online to ask any questions about gynecology at their leisure.22
DrSmile is a pioneer in the dental sector. They offer aesthetic dentistry in Germany with online appointments. 23
These examples show the successful implementation of online appointment booking in medical facilities. In most cases, practices will continue to offer appointments by telephone in the future. However, patients are much more flexible and can book their appointments outside of opening hours. This is just one more advantage of making appointments online. Check out more here.
If you have any concerns or some things are unclear, we are happy to help. Contact us and ask us your questions to make an appointment online.
