How to remind patients of follow up appointments?

[Guest guest]

How to remind patients of follow up appointments?Hi,I have been using Appointment Quest with about 50% patients schedule themselves online. Many forget to schedule their 2m, 4m, or 6m follow ups. Could you please share what effective systems you use to remind patients that they are due to follow up visits? Thank you very much.Helen

[Guest guest]

I have approached this  differently--I negotiate with the patient when they leave as to when they should come back.Joint decision.   Discussed as part of the visit work Then I prescribe enough refills til then Out of refill means a visit is due

Patients  find it simple and patient centered They  have  what they need til they need to come back.

It   would not work if i did not have open access.it also prevents those pharmacy faxes asking  for refillsin fact   at least one pharmacy has just taken my number off the list They can give an emergency supply and they tell the patietn to call to come in becasue that is just what I am gonna say anyway.

This would not work if someone was not on meds A patient who is NOT on meds??? Name three.....appointment  automated systems I am sure are great I do not happen to have one and every program I have  to learn  on a sunday afternoon  or pay 10.00 a month for adds up. For me  anyway this  works   extremely  well

Now I do have a tickler system also and i have a virtual MA who can remind them if they blow itOccasional someone is lost to followup  my system is not perfect Buit  is real good. And I think it moslty fails due to Doctor error and  Doctor laziness.

Not sure if this will be helpful to you ElaineJean

 

How to remind patients of follow up appointments?Hi,I have been using Appointment Quest with about 50% patients schedule themselves online. Many forget to schedule their 2m, 4m, or 6m follow ups.

Could you please share what effective systems you use to remind patients that they are due to follow up visits? Thank you very much.Helen

--      MD          ph    fax impcenter.org

[Guest guest]

I have approached this  differently--I negotiate with the patient when they leave as to when they should come back.Joint decision.   Discussed as part of the visit work Then I prescribe enough refills til then Out of refill means a visit is due

Patients  find it simple and patient centered They  have  what they need til they need to come back.

It   would not work if i did not have open access.it also prevents those pharmacy faxes asking  for refillsin fact   at least one pharmacy has just taken my number off the list They can give an emergency supply and they tell the patietn to call to come in becasue that is just what I am gonna say anyway.

This would not work if someone was not on meds A patient who is NOT on meds??? Name three.....appointment  automated systems I am sure are great I do not happen to have one and every program I have  to learn  on a sunday afternoon  or pay 10.00 a month for adds up. For me  anyway this  works   extremely  well

Now I do have a tickler system also and i have a virtual MA who can remind them if they blow itOccasional someone is lost to followup  my system is not perfect Buit  is real good. And I think it moslty fails due to Doctor error and  Doctor laziness.

Not sure if this will be helpful to you ElaineJean

 

How to remind patients of follow up appointments?Hi,I have been using Appointment Quest with about 50% patients schedule themselves online. Many forget to schedule their 2m, 4m, or 6m follow ups.

Could you please share what effective systems you use to remind patients that they are due to follow up visits? Thank you very much.Helen

--      MD          ph    fax impcenter.org

[Guest guest]

Many EMRs are based on Microsoft SQL which has a function called SQL Mail. SQL Mail can run views of the db and then run an email process on that view. I programmed daily scripts that remind patients of their upcoming surgeries, new pt and f/u visits, spa appointments, etc… The script runs at 5 am for the appointments 3 business days later. 3 days is sort of a magic number has seemed to work the best, but can be adjusted as desired. It can be as granular as you like, instructing patients by appointment type and directing them to forms for their visit etc… The system can also be used to reschedule entire days or blocks if something unexpectedly takes the physician away from the office. If you use a SQL based emr or appointment scheduling module, it can be easily adjusted to take advantage of this feature. Quick ROI as your staff will spend much less time thinking about confirmation and more time evolving your practice, advancing billing issues, marketing, etc. About 60% of our patients confirm this way. We are working on offering text confirmations as well. You can use the same SQL Mail process if you have the cell phone number and the cell carrier for your patient. If you don’t collect patient emails and cell phone numbers currently for contact, reminders or marketing, start now, as you will wish you had this info when you need it. And you will need them as these features will be built-in to most systems… Good luck - I really appreciate that great conversation that happens here. Happy New Year! -- M. McQuaid North Texas VascularOffice of Mark A. McQuaid, MDleading the way in state of the art treatment of vascular disease 1518 Legacy Dr., Ste. 120Frisco, TX 75034 www.friscolegs.com office cell -- empower systems.to get the job done 1518 Legacy Dr., Ste. 120Frisco, TX 75034 eric@... emr . practice management . marketing

[Guest guest]

Many EMRs are based on Microsoft SQL which has a function called SQL Mail. SQL Mail can run views of the db and then run an email process on that view. I programmed daily scripts that remind patients of their upcoming surgeries, new pt and f/u visits, spa appointments, etc… The script runs at 5 am for the appointments 3 business days later. 3 days is sort of a magic number has seemed to work the best, but can be adjusted as desired. It can be as granular as you like, instructing patients by appointment type and directing them to forms for their visit etc… The system can also be used to reschedule entire days or blocks if something unexpectedly takes the physician away from the office. If you use a SQL based emr or appointment scheduling module, it can be easily adjusted to take advantage of this feature. Quick ROI as your staff will spend much less time thinking about confirmation and more time evolving your practice, advancing billing issues, marketing, etc. About 60% of our patients confirm this way. We are working on offering text confirmations as well. You can use the same SQL Mail process if you have the cell phone number and the cell carrier for your patient. If you don’t collect patient emails and cell phone numbers currently for contact, reminders or marketing, start now, as you will wish you had this info when you need it. And you will need them as these features will be built-in to most systems… Good luck - I really appreciate that great conversation that happens here. Happy New Year! -- M. McQuaid North Texas VascularOffice of Mark A. McQuaid, MDleading the way in state of the art treatment of vascular disease 1518 Legacy Dr., Ste. 120Frisco, TX 75034 www.friscolegs.com office cell -- empower systems.to get the job done 1518 Legacy Dr., Ste. 120Frisco, TX 75034 eric@... emr . practice management . marketing