How to Make Medical Scheduling Software

Last updated:

July 16, 2021

9 min read

Industries

Artem Barmin

Technology Evangelist

Contents

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Punctuality is the politeness of kings. And a key to perfect workflows and a strong positive business reputation, especially in the healthcare industry given its specific scheduling features and requirements.

Predicting and anticipating patient needs, quickly filling shifts in the case of no-shows, processing time-off requests, and fair employee workload distribution — all of this requires process automation.

Let us together

define key features of the 24/7 healthcare scheduling software
think about how to enhance your existing medical platform
analyze examples of medical appointment scheduling software

TL;DR

Healthcare scheduling software automates appointment booking and staff scheduling to fix the chaos of manual phone calls and spreadsheets
Why it matters: No-shows are expensive with 42,822 daily no-shows in England alone (2020 data), manual scheduling creates errors/double bookings/lost revenue, and COVID proved automated systems handle emergency spikes better
Key benefits: 24/7 accessibility for patients and staff, automated reminders reduce no-shows significantly, real-time tracking prevents scheduling conflicts, staff can manage their own shifts (happier employees), patients see doctor profiles before booking
Must-have features: Secure login for patients/doctors/staff, physician and patient profiles, online booking system, appointment reminders (SMS, email, push), insurance verification, live chat for pre-appointment questions, calendar sync (Google/Apple), patient reviews
Popular platforms: FollowMyHealth, NurseGrid, CureMD, Theranest, Aimedis, Appointfix
Custom vs Off-the-shelf: Off-the-shelf is fast, affordable, good for basic needs; custom has higher upfront cost but is tailored to exact needs, integrates with existing systems, scales with growth
Bottom line: Automated scheduling is essential for modern healthcare—it reduces no-shows, eliminates errors, keeps staff happy, and lets medical personnel focus on actual patient care instead of calendar Tetris

Urgency scheduling problems in healthcare

Businesses often spend more hours optimizing schedules than they care to admit, especially in lodging reservations, ticket booking, education, or urgent care platforms, where this process is very dynamic.

Let's focus on the healthcare industry to gain a better understanding of how to build or upgrade a medical scheduling app and why it's crucial.

Digitalization has dramatically changed the operating models in all industries, including healthcare. The adoption of electronic health records (EHR), IoT, eSignature, TeleHealth, and automated scheduling software have been on the rise.

The last one is still performed in the old way in many organizations. Patients call the medical clinic reception to make an appointment and then the responsible employee looks through the schedule and suggests free time slots.

Sure, such a situation has several drawbacks, as manual processes in medical care can lead to inefficient time management and income loss.

Let's briefly highlight the major benefits of physician scheduling software:

Handy and accessible

Online platforms can be accessed anytime and anywhere, allowing you to use them 24/7 and track appointment information in real-time. Switching from manual scheduling to medical appointment software significantly helps to streamline processes for both patients and physicians.

Cost-effective

Unused scheduling capacity can cost more than you might expect. Automation of medical scheduling systems is the only way to efficiently manage cancellations and avoid revenue losses.

Emergency response without delay

The COVID-19 outbreak magnified the main management challenges in medical delivery systems, including overworked frontline medical personnel, overcrowded emergency rooms, and long patient wait times. An automated scheduling system proved to be the best solution to address these challenges. Scheduling the appropriate amount of staff to the right place at the right time allows organizations to be always ready for unexpected demand spikes.

Less room for error

Manual appointment scheduling is notoriously prone to mistakes and omissions that can lead to double bookings, cancellations, and lost income. The use of out-of-date medical scheduling methods, such as paper calendars, Excel spreadsheets, and phone calls can result in such errors.

Providing comprehensive information

Doctors require easy access to patient information, while patients want to know as much as possible about medical specialists before booking an appointment. Medical scheduling platforms provide users with physician accounts, where they can check the doctor's competencies, experience, photos, and other relevant data. This is a significant healthcare factor that influences clients' decision-making.

Reduced missed appointments

Patient no-shows can be a real headache for many businesses. They result in significant losses to the healthcare system each year. According to NHS Digital data, in just six months in 2020, there were 7.8 million registered patient no-shows in England, which averages to 42,822 (!) no-shows per day. Appointment scheduling software can easily address this problem. With in-built reminders, push notifications, and SMS, the cases of no-shows can be significantly reduced.

Increased employee engagement

Employee engagement and satisfaction are crucial factors that should not be overlooked. Giving your employees access to suitable software tools to manage their work schedules can have a significant impact. By empowering your team to express their scheduling preferences, you make it easier for them to adjust their schedules as per their needs. This not only boosts their engagement but also relieves managers of the burden of constantly balancing workload with unknown personal schedules.

Basic features of medical scheduling software

Strengthening workflow capabilities enables medical care businesses to quickly achieve performance improvements and meet clients' expectations.

Here is a list of essential features for medical appointment scheduling software that can enhance both employees' and clients' experiences.

Registration & login system

It provides registration options and secure access for patients, doctors, and medical staff, ensuring that only authorized personnel can access data. A well-developed registration and login system minimizes the risk of data breaches and protects patient privacy.

Physician/Patient profiles

Implementing physician profiles enables patients to have easy access to information about medical specialists and make informed decisions when choosing a doctor. In turn, patient profiles can help physicians to provide more personalized care to their patients and easily access important data. Finally, this feature helps build stronger relationships between patients and physicians.

Online appointment system

Efficient online appointment scheduling is a critical feature for both patients and clinics, eliminating long queues and wait times. The system should enable easy input of patient information such as appointment time, date, contact details, personal data, and any other necessary information. By streamlining the appointment booking process, patients can easily schedule appointments, and clinics can optimize their workflow.

Appointment reminders

Appointment reminders sent via push notifications, email, or SMS can significantly reduce the number of no-shows and late arrivals, ultimately helping clinics avoid costly gaps in their schedules.

Insurance eligibility verification

It is necessary to confirm the patient's insurance coverage before their visit. This ensures that your company will be reimbursed for the services provided. By integrating automated insurance verification, medical practices can quickly verify patient insurance information, reducing the risk of errors and streamlining the process.

Live chat

It is an additional option that allows patients to message physicians right on the app and ask questions related to the service before making an appointment. Live chat can help patients access care more easily, particularly in situations where they may have questions or concerns that don't require an in-person visit. With live chat, patients can receive medical advice and care from anywhere, at any time.

Google & Apple calendars synchronization

This option makes it easy to keep track of personal and work appointments in one place and to balance all the meetings and tasks.

Patient reviews

Add a review feature to the scheduling app for gathering feedback and creating ratings to help clients choose the physician. Reviews can create transparency around the quality of care provided. By allowing clients to leave reviews, medical practices can demonstrate their commitment to quality and build trust with potential patients.

Medical appointments software: 2022 practices

To help you set your priorities straight, we've analyzed six healthcare scheduling apps. Check their features, user experience improvements, dashboard designs, and subscription options to adopt them.

Followmyhealth®

FollowMyHealth® lets users access and manage their health information on the go, including the online scheduling system.

You can easily schedule, reschedule, or cancel your appointment through the app. Appointments are divided into the three groups for easily fingering and managing:

Upcoming (all future appointments that the client has scheduled)
Past (all past appointments)
Other (all other appointments, such as canceled appointments or appointments that the client didn't show up for)

Nursegrid scheduling

NurseGrid platform provided by HcT2 Co allows healthcare departments to manage schedules, fill open shifts, and increase staff retention.

NurseGrid hands nurses the reins to:

work schedule management
compare calendars with colleagues for swaps or off-duty plans
track signal availability for additional shifts, swaps, and flex-offs
manage shifts at multiple worksites
sync with calendar apps
send group and private messages to colleagues

Curemd

CureMD, an NYC-based healthcare company, provides integrated services across scheduling, electronic billing, reporting, and workflow management. It connects care delivery organizations clinically, operationally, and financially.

CureMD scheduling management system includes the following facilities:

online appointment system
patient portal
follow-up appointment reminders
Electronic Medical Records (EMR)

Theranest

Theranest provides an all-in-one practice management system, including physician scheduling software for therapists, psychologists, and counselors. It's designed to 'help mental and behavioral health providers grow their practice'.

It offers one calendar for everything, that allows to:

create individual client-, group-, and multi-staff appointments
filter calendar by type of service and staff member
save scheduling time by setting up recurring appointments in the calendar
use client initials instead of full names for anonymity

Aimedis

Aimedis is a blockchain-based, AI-supported multilingual medical platform providing access for patients, doctors, nurses, therapists, practices, pharmacies, and other industry experts. It offers:

online appointments for physical or virtual consultations
patient-centered medical records
telehealth options
eLearning & eTeaching
online prescriptions with a direct connection to pharmacies
online sick certificates
integration of trackers and specialized devices

Appointfix

Appointfix is an online appointment scheduler for fitness and wellness professionals. It offers a basic feature set, including

online appointment scheduling (+recurring and group appointments options)
online booking
calendar
reminders
notes
Google & Apple calendar sync

Premium subscription provides several additional options:

sync across two devices
reports
marketing options
multiple templates for messages
messages without brand signature
priority support

Custom appointment scheduling software vs. off-the-shelf solutions

In this block, we are going to consider two ways how healthcare companies can evolve technologies to improve workforce productivity and meet new demands.

Off-the-shelf physician scheduling software is a ready-made tool provided by a third-party service. You don't need to build a solution from scratch, you just get a completed product in the short term and at an affordable cost.

The customized tool is a bespoke, tailored-up product directed entirely at your company's wants. It's a painkiller for your business processes issues that covers specific needs.

Let's briefly highlight the main pros and cons of both development types.

Depending on the business model and business needs, both of these solutions come with their benefits.

As the custom software product is tailored to your healthcare business and individually crafted by experienced developers, it can be:

integrated with other custom/packaged tools
updated and scaled in the future
used to replace a legacy system

In other words, it's a long-term investment, while ready-made scheduling software is a good option for cost-efficiently and fast-closing tasks.

If you are looking to choose between these two approaches take a short test for a better understanding of which one better suits you.

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Takeaway

Automated scheduling is a must-have for a client-friendly medical practice. It enhances the patient experience, increases medical staff satisfaction, and helps to run the day-to-day workflow activities as efficiently as possible.

With over 8 years of experience in web and mobile development, Freshcode has carried out multiple projects related to medical care and HIPAA-compliant scheduling software in particular.

And we know for sure that the main task is to provide the best-automated workflow process avoiding routine repetitive tasks both for service providers and clients. While the medical personnel can focus on what matters, the patients can receive better service and care they need.

For detailed information please contact us on Linkedin or fill the website form and one of our representatives will contact you within one business day.

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Author

Artem Barmin

Technology Evangelist

15+ years in software development, with a strong functional programming background. CTO and low-code enthusiast focused on building reliable, scalable systems.

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