How a proactive system can inform patients quickly about medical cancellations and don´t lose them

Photo: Erik Mclean

In the world of healthcare, one of the most important things is patient trust and patient relationships. Healthcare providers are working constantly towards building better, more trusting relationships with their patients. A better patient experience and more trusting relationships can be built with timely information. In this article, we are going to take a look at the importance of notifying patients on time about medical cancellations using proactive services and platforms. Let us take a closer look.

The importance of notifying your patients on time about appointment changes

Before we take a closer look at the proactive services used for delivering timely information about medical appointments and cancellations, first, let us take a look at the importance of notifying your patients. To begin with, each patient requires a different kind of information and different service. Furthermore, each patient is different and has different schedules. To get the best possible service and the right appointment, a patient needs to receive timely information about their medical appointments and not lose them.

A patient's treatment and healthcare journey depend greatly on timely information delivery. If an appointment is canceled, a patient needs to be able to receive that information, reply to it, and have an option to reschedule. Otherwise, a patient's satisfaction drops and the trust is no longer there. Medical cancellations can happen due to a great number of different reasons.

Both patients and doctors may sometimes cancel appointments. However, it is important that the patient receives this information on time. Furthermore, a health clinic also benefits from spotting canceled appointments and replacing them. If a health care service provider does not send out information about medical cancellations, the waiting list, as well as the schedule, can get messed up very quickly.

Managing medical cancellations and informing patients through proactive services

So, now that we have explained the importance of informing your patients on time about their medical cancellations, let us take a look at how exactly you can achieve this by using proactive services. For starters, the world of healthcare and technology is now, more than ever, very closely related. Technological tools and digital platforms are constantly evolving.

A proactive service, using digital tools and platforms, that is aimed at notifying patients about their canceled appointments, can greatly improve the patient relationships with their health care service providers. Essentially, this service allows the patient to be quickly notified about the cancellation and it also comes with a suggestion of a rescheduled appointment.

Once the cancellation has been identified and is reported, through different channels such as E-mail, WhatsApp, and SMS, a patient can automatically receive timely information about the canceled appointment. The results are more satisfied patients and better trust being built between patients and the healthcare service providers.

Confirming appointments through digital apps and platforms

Another major way of not only staying in touch with your patients but also delivering them the right information on time is through the usage of proactive services focused on enabling patients to confirm appointments.

The proactive service that allows the patients to confirm appointments also gathers the canceled appointment information as well in case patients do not confirm the appointment but rather cancel or reschedule it. A confirmation service that allows patients to manage and remember appointments and/or shifts, can help reduce unexpected medical cancelations as well as delays and full waiting lists.

Among others, with the usage of proactive services to allow patients to confirm appointments, you can deliver better and more timely information to the patient regarding their medical appointment, exam, and so on. All of this crucially allows for better patient experience, satisfaction, and overall, more enjoyable healthcare journey.

The usage of AI to inform patients about medical cancelations

AI has recently been more and more involved in the world of healthcare. There are various roles an AI software can perform to allow health clinics to deliver better services. However, AI can also be used extensively in contact with patients. Technological advancements allow us to use a more innovative approach in communication and informing patients through the usage of a proprietary natural language processing engine, built 100% to manage health interactions.

AI has the advantage of working constantly, 24/7. Furthermore, it is a constantly expanding software that learns and cannot make previous mistakes. The margin for error, therefore, is far lower. So, AI has the ability to deliver not only timely but also accurate information regarding the patient's medical exam, upcoming changes in schedules as well as appointments.

A proactive system set to remind patients about their medical appointments, allow them to confirm these appointments or reschedule them as well as inform them quickly about medical cancelations can greatly reduce the waiting times, and increase patient satisfaction.

In summary

The importance of notifying patients about canceled appointments is paramount. It builds better trust and stronger relationships. As you can see, with the usage of proactive services, healthcare service providers have the ability to remain in constant communication and inform patients on time.

Medical cancelations happen all the time. However, the way in which we deal with them is important. Working with innovative solutions and proactive services such as managing medical blocks and confirmation of appointments, will notify patients on time about any changes in schedule. Furthermore, they will not lose these notifications as they are on their phones.

Overall, the result is not only better communication with patients but also higher patient satisfaction and greater trust.