RE: Telephone Appointment Reminders

[Guest guest]

What about sending an email to pt with their names in BCC so it stays confidential?

 

Is anyone using a telephone systems in their office that auto dials patientappointment reminders? While I have seen many services that do this for$250+ per month, I feel like it should cost a lot less to buy a system that

runs in the evning on an idle office PC. So far I've only found one companythat sells a standalone system for a one time cost of about $1500.00 Still,it seems like there must be more companies serving this market.

While there seem to be lots of companies selling systems that blast out amessage to parents about school closings or church members about upcomingevents, these aren't quite what a family practice needs. The ideal system

would let me import a CSV file or manually enter the phone numbers (alongwith patient name, appointment date, time, etc) and then get a list ofpatients that confirmed their appointment via a touch tone key press.

Anyone use a product like this or know of anyone else using something alongthis line? Neighbors, MDHuntsville, Alabama

-- M.D.www.elainemd.comOffice: Go in the directions of your dreams and live the life you've imagined.This email transmission may contain protected and privileged, highly confidential medical, Personal and Health Information (PHI) and/or legal information. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above.

If you are not the intended recipient of this material, you may not use, publish, discuss, disseminate or otherwise distribute it. If you are not the intended recipient, or if you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and confidentially destroy the information that email in error.

[Guest guest]

As of today we are sending about 33% of reminders by email along with links to our web site and other resources. Expect to his 75% when it levels out. We started doing this a bit over a month ago. Patients love it. For people that like email that's perfect, for others the phone is still the best way to go. Soon I hope to add a touch screen terminal where patients can review and change their preferred reminder method (email, phone, text, or any combination) at the checkout counter. I'm also thinking of offering an option for calls the day before, two days before and perhaps even one hour before the appointment. Some people get so buried in thought they remember the appointment in the morning but get sidetracked by other thoughts and forget. Done it myself.

Well, to make it work economically, I need an inexpensive device I can plug into an office PC and let it run automatically off of my EMR's appointment schedule. The remotely hosted appointment calling services are not flexible enough to do all I want and besides that the 10 year cost is enough to send my kids to college.

There must be more options in this market niche.

Neighbors, MD

Huntsville, Alabama

-----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ]On Behalf Of Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 5:49 PMTo: Subject: Re: Telephone Appointment Reminders

What about sending an email to pt with their names in BCC so it stays confidential?

On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:31 PM, theneighbors <theneighborsknology (DOT) net> wrote:

Is anyone using a telephone systems in their office that auto dials patientappointment reminders? While I have seen many services that do this for$250+ per month, I feel like it should cost a lot less to buy a system thatruns in the evning on an idle office PC. So far I've only found one companythat sells a standalone system for a one time cost of about $1500.00 Still,it seems like there must be more companies serving this market.While there seem to be lots of companies selling systems that blast out amessage to parents about school closings or church members about upcomingevents, these aren't quite what a family practice needs. The ideal systemwould let me import a CSV file or manually enter the phone numbers (alongwith patient name, appointment date, time, etc) and then get a list ofpatients that confirmed their appointment via a touch tone key press.Anyone use a product like this or know of anyone else using something alongthis line? Neighbors, MDHuntsville, Alabama

-- M.D.www.elainemd.comOffice: Go in the directions of your dreams and live the life you've imagined.This email transmission may contain protected and privileged, highly confidential medical, Personal and Health Information (PHI) and/or legal information. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this material, you may not use, publish, discuss, disseminate or otherwise distribute it. If you are not the intended recipient, or if you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and confidentially destroy the information that email in error.

[Guest guest]

With most IMPs we don't have a huge no. of pts each day--a big day for me is 13-14. It only takes 5-10 minto make those calls. I can;t imagine any system that would be cost effective for a small practice. But maybe I'm wrong.Pts who make appointments on line might would probably be fine with email reminder but then you have to remember which pts did this to start. Just my opinion. Re: Telephone Appointment Reminders

What about sending an email to pt with their names in BCC so it stays confidential?

On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:31 PM, theneighbors <theneighborsknology (DOT) net> wrote:

Is anyone using a telephone systems in their office that auto dials patientappointment reminders? While I have seen many services that do this for$250+ per month, I feel like it should cost a lot less to buy a system that

runs in the evning on an idle office PC. So far I've only found one companythat sells a standalone system for a one time cost of about $1500.00 Still,it seems like there must be more companies serving this market.

While there seem to be lots of companies selling systems that blast out amessage to parents about school closings or church members about upcomingevents, these aren't quite what a family practice needs. The ideal system

would let me import a CSV file or manually enter the phone numbers (alongwith patient name, appointment date, time, etc) and then get a list ofpatients that confirmed their appointment via a touch tone key press.

Anyone use a product like this or know of anyone else using something alongthis line? Neighbors, MDHuntsville, Alabama

-- M.D.www.elainemd.comOffice: Go in the directions of your dreams and live the life you've imagined.This email transmission may contain protected and privileged, highly confidential medical, Personal and Health Information (PHI) and/or legal information. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above.

If you are not the intended recipient of this material, you may not use, publish, discuss, disseminate or otherwise distribute it. If you are not the intended recipient, or if you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and confidentially destroy the information that email in error.

[Guest guest]

My online appointment booker automatically sends an email to the patient 2 days before the appointment.I bet others will do this besides appointmentquest though don't know for sure. Everyone who has an email gets them, not just those who booked on lineTo: From: nellegreen@...Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:14:17 -0400Subject: Re: Telephone Appointment Reminders

With most IMPs we don't have a huge no. of pts each day--a big day for me is 13-14. It only takes 5-10 minto make those calls. I can;t imagine any system that would be cost effective for a small practice. But maybe I'm wrong.Pts who make appointments on line might would probably be fine with email reminder but then you have to remember which pts did this to start. Just my opinion. Re: Telephone Appointment Reminders

What about sending an email to pt with their names in BCC so it stays confidential?

On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:31 PM, theneighbors <theneighborsknology (DOT) net> wrote:

Is anyone using a telephone systems in their office that auto dials patientappointment reminders? While I have seen many services that do this for$250+ per month, I feel like it should cost a lot less to buy a system that

runs in the evning on an idle office PC. So far I've only found one companythat sells a standalone system for a one time cost of about $1500.00 Still,it seems like there must be more companies serving this market.

While there seem to be lots of companies selling systems that blast out amessage to parents about school closings or church members about upcomingevents, these aren't quite what a family practice needs. The ideal system

would let me import a CSV file or manually enter the phone numbers (alongwith patient name, appointment date, time, etc) and then get a list ofpatients that confirmed their appointment via a touch tone key press.

Anyone use a product like this or know of anyone else using something alongthis line? Neighbors, MDHuntsville, Alabama

-- M.D.www.elainemd.comOffice: Go in the directions of your dreams and live the life you've imagined.This email transmission may contain protected and privileged, highly confidential medical, Personal and Health Information (PHI) and/or legal information. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above.

If you are not the intended recipient of this material, you may not use, publish, discuss, disseminate or otherwise distribute it. If you are not the intended recipient, or if you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and confidentially destroy the information that email in error.

Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. Get it now.

[Guest guest]

You can do this for a couple hundred $, and some tech know how.See http://bestof.nerdvittles.com/applications/reminders/

 

Is anyone using a telephone systems in their office that auto dials patient

appointment reminders? While I have seen many services that do this for

$250+ per month, I feel like it should cost a lot less to buy a system that

runs in the evning on an idle office PC. So far I've only found one company

that sells a standalone system for a one time cost of about $1500.00 Still,

it seems like there must be more companies serving this market.

While there seem to be lots of companies selling systems that blast out a

message to parents about school closings or church members about upcoming

events, these aren't quite what a family practice needs. The ideal system

would let me import a CSV file or manually enter the phone numbers (along

with patient name, appointment date, time, etc) and then get a list of

patients that confirmed their appointment via a touch tone key press.

Anyone use a product like this or know of anyone else using something along

this line?

Neighbors, MD

Huntsville, Alabama

-- Graham Chiuhttp://www.synapsedirect.comSynapse - the use from anywhere EMR.

[Guest guest]

That's the impression I get about what the equipment for an outbound phone dialer/appointment reminder device cost.

Let me know where you saw the phone equipment advertised.

Thanks

Neighbors, MD

Huntsville, Alabama

-----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ]On Behalf Of Graham ChiuSent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 9:37 PMTo: Subject: Re: Telephone Appointment Reminders

You can do this for a couple hundred $, and some tech know how.

See http://bestof.nerdvittles.com/applications/reminders/

On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 8:31 AM, theneighbors <theneighborsknology (DOT) net> wrote:

Is anyone using a telephone systems in their office that auto dials patientappointment reminders? While I have seen many services that do this for$250+ per month, I feel like it should cost a lot less to buy a system thatruns in the evning on an idle office PC. So far I've only found one companythat sells a standalone system for a one time cost of about $1500.00 Still,it seems like there must be more companies serving this market.While there seem to be lots of companies selling systems that blast out amessage to parents about school closings or church members about upcomingevents, these aren't quite what a family practice needs. The ideal systemwould let me import a CSV file or manually enter the phone numbers (alongwith patient name, appointment date, time, etc) and then get a list ofpatients that confirmed their appointment via a touch tone key press.Anyone use a product like this or know of anyone else using something alongthis line? Neighbors, MDHuntsville, Alabama

-- Graham Chiuhttp://www.synapsedirect.comSynapse - the use from anywhere EMR.

[Guest guest]

The system you are talking about, sounds expensive. BTW, can you mail me a postcard? Any postcard will do. My 10 yo daughter has a school contest where she needs to collect a PC from every state. Her name is , 466 Foothill Blvd #181, La Canada CA 91011. No worries if you can't. Thx

 

As of today we are sending about 33% of reminders by email along with links to our web site and other resources.  Expect to his 75% when it levels out.  We started doing this a bit over a month ago.  Patients love it.  For people that like email that's perfect, for others the phone is still the best way to go.  Soon I hope to add a touch screen terminal where patients can review and change their preferred reminder method (email, phone, text, or any combination) at the checkout counter.  I'm also thinking of offering an option for calls the day before, two days before and perhaps even one hour before the appointment.  Some people get so buried in thought they remember the appointment in the morning but get sidetracked by  other thoughts and forget. Done it myself.

 

Well, to make it work economically, I need an inexpensive device I can plug into an office PC and let it run automatically off of my EMR's appointment schedule.  The remotely hosted appointment calling services are not flexible enough to do all I want and besides that the 10 year cost is enough to send my kids to college.

 

There must be more options in this market niche.

 

Neighbors, MD

Huntsville, Alabama

 

 

-----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ]On Behalf Of

Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 5:49 PMTo: Subject: Re: Telephone Appointment Reminders

 

What about sending an email to pt with their names in BCC so it stays confidential?

 

Is anyone using a telephone systems in their office that auto dials patientappointment reminders? While I have seen many services that do this for$250+ per month, I feel like it should cost a lot less to buy a system that

runs in the evning on an idle office PC. So far I've only found one companythat sells a standalone system for a one time cost of about $1500.00 Still,it seems like there must be more companies serving this market.

While there seem to be lots of companies selling systems that blast out amessage to parents about school closings or church members about upcomingevents, these aren't quite what a family practice needs. The ideal system

would let me import a CSV file or manually enter the phone numbers (alongwith patient name, appointment date, time, etc) and then get a list ofpatients that confirmed their appointment via a touch tone key press.

Anyone use a product like this or know of anyone else using something alongthis line? Neighbors, MDHuntsville, Alabama

-- M.D.www.elainemd.comOffice: Go in the directions of your dreams and live the life you've imagined.This email transmission may contain protected and privileged, highly confidential medical, Personal and Health Information (PHI) and/or legal information. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above.

If you are not the intended recipient of this material, you may not use, publish, discuss, disseminate or otherwise distribute it. If you are not the intended recipient, or if you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and confidentially destroy the information that email in error.

-- M.D.www.elainemd.comOffice: Go in the directions of your dreams and live the life you've imagined.This email transmission may contain protected and privileged, highly confidential medical, Personal and Health Information (PHI) and/or legal information. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above.

If you are not the intended recipient of this material, you may not use, publish, discuss, disseminate or otherwise distribute it. If you are not the intended recipient, or if you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and confidentially destroy the information that email in error.

[Guest guest]

Sure, glad to send a card.

About the email system we use, well - it's pretty much homespun. We had a guy write a Microsoft Access script that essentially does a daily mail merge and shoots the emails out via Microsoft Outlook using a pop mail account. Almost anyone familiar with Microsoft Office could probably do the same thing for you. The only thing unique in our situation is the Microsoft Access application that pulls daily appointment data from the EMR. Everyone's EMR stores the data a bit difference so just start by asking your EMR vendor for how to get the appointment data out so Outlook can finish the job.

Hope that helps

Neighbors, MD

Huntsville, Alabama

-----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ]On Behalf Of Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 8:44 AMTo: Subject: Re: Telephone Appointment Reminders

The system you are talking about, sounds expensive. BTW, can you mail me a postcard? Any postcard will do. My 10 yo daughter has a school contest where she needs to collect a PC from every state. Her name is , 466 Foothill Blvd #181, La Canada CA 91011. No worries if you can't. Thx

On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 5:05 PM, theneighbors <theneighborsknology (DOT) net> wrote:

As of today we are sending about 33% of reminders by email along with links to our web site and other resources. Expect to his 75% when it levels out. We started doing this a bit over a month ago. Patients love it. For people that like email that's perfect, for others the phone is still the best way to go. Soon I hope to add a touch screen terminal where patients can review and change their preferred reminder method (email, phone, text, or any combination) at the checkout counter. I'm also thinking of offering an option for calls the day before, two days before and perhaps even one hour before the appointment. Some people get so buried in thought they remember the appointment in the morning but get sidetracked by other thoughts and forget. Done it myself.

Well, to make it work economically, I need an inexpensive device I can plug into an office PC and let it run automatically off of my EMR's appointment schedule. The remotely hosted appointment calling services are not flexible enough to do all I want and besides that the 10 year cost is enough to send my kids to college.

There must be more options in this market niche.

Neighbors, MD

Huntsville, Alabama

-----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ]On Behalf Of Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 5:49 PMTo: Subject: Re: Telephone Appointment Reminders

What about sending an email to pt with their names in BCC so it stays confidential?

On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:31 PM, theneighbors <theneighborsknology (DOT) net> wrote:

Is anyone using a telephone systems in their office that auto dials patientappointment reminders? While I have seen many services that do this for$250+ per month, I feel like it should cost a lot less to buy a system thatruns in the evning on an idle office PC. So far I've only found one companythat sells a standalone system for a one time cost of about $1500.00 Still,it seems like there must be more companies serving this market.While there seem to be lots of companies selling systems that blast out amessage to parents about school closings or church members about upcomingevents, these aren't quite what a family practice needs. The ideal systemwould let me import a CSV file or manually enter the phone numbers (alongwith patient name, appointment date, time, etc) and then get a list ofpatients that confirmed their appointment via a touch tone key press.Anyone use a product like this or know of anyone else using something alongthis line? Neighbors, MDHuntsville, Alabama

-- M.D.www.elainemd.comOffice: Go in the directions of your dreams and live the life you've imagined.This email transmission may contain protected and privileged, highly confidential medical, Personal and Health Information (PHI) and/or legal information. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this material, you may not use, publish, discuss, disseminate or otherwise distribute it. If you are not the intended recipient, or if you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and confidentially destroy the information that email in error.

-- M.D.www.elainemd.comOffice: Go in the directions of your dreams and live the life you've imagined.This email transmission may contain protected and privileged, highly confidential medical, Personal and Health Information (PHI) and/or legal information. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this material, you may not use, publish, discuss, disseminate or otherwise distribute it. If you are not the intended recipient, or if you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and confidentially destroy the information that email in error.

[Guest guest]

Appointment Quest has an automated email reminder system that send the reminder email to patients. Course we also have the 24 yr old patient who refuses to provide their emial. This same patient then showed up on the incorrect day for their appointment--probably since they had nothing to verify the time /date of their appointment. Wayne CoghillPractice ManagerMidtown Primary Carewww.doctorcoghill.com

To: Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 11:02:30 AMSubject: RE: Telephone Appointment Reminders

Sure, glad to send a card.

About the email system we use, well - it's pretty much homespun. We had a guy write a Microsoft Access script that essentially does a daily mail merge and shoots the emails out via Microsoft Outlook using a pop mail account. Almost anyone familiar with Microsoft Office could probably do the same thing for you. The only thing unique in our situation is the Microsoft Access application that pulls daily appointment data from the EMR. Everyone's EMR stores the data a bit difference so just start by asking your EMR vendor for how to get the appointment data out so Outlook can finish the job.

Hope that helps

Neighbors, MD

Huntsville, Alabama

Re: [Practiceimprovemen t1] Telephone Appointment Reminders

What about sending an email to pt with their names in BCC so it stays confidential?

On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:31 PM, theneighbors <theneighbors@ knology.net> wrote:

Is anyone using a telephone systems in their office that auto dials patientappointment reminders? While I have seen many services that do this for$250+ per month, I feel like it should cost a lot less to buy a system thatruns in the evning on an idle office PC. So far I've only found one companythat sells a standalone system for a one time cost of about $1500.00 Still,it seems like there must be more companies serving this market.While there seem to be lots of companies selling systems that blast out amessage to parents about school closings or church members about upcomingevents, these aren't quite what a family practice needs. The ideal systemwould let me import a CSV file or manually enter the phone numbers (alongwith patient name, appointment date, time, etc) and then get a list ofpatients that confirmed their appointment via a touch tone key press.Anyone use a product like this or know of

anyone else using something alongthis line? Neighbors, MDHuntsville, Alabama

-- M.D.www.elainemd. comOffice: Go in the directions of your dreams and live the life you've imagined.This email transmission may contain protected and privileged, highly confidential medical, Personal and Health Information (PHI) and/or legal information. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this material, you may not use, publish, discuss, disseminate or otherwise distribute it. If you are not the intended recipient, or if you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and confidentially destroy the information that email in error.

-- M.D.www.elainemd. comOffice: Go in the directions of your dreams and live the life you've imagined.This email transmission may contain protected and privileged, highly confidential medical, Personal and Health Information (PHI) and/or legal information. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this material, you may not use, publish, discuss, disseminate or otherwise distribute it. If you are not the intended recipient, or if you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and confidentially destroy the information that email in error.