Self-scheduling to be the norm by 2019

Online self-scheduling of physician appointments has the potential to save $3.2 billion, according to a report from Accenture.

The savings are due to eliminating time spent on the phone keeping after patients to schedule, change or cancel appointments. The report predicts that by the end of 2019, two-thirds of U.S. health systems will offer patients the ability to self-schedule appointments online. Those that do will be able to divert 80 percent of their appointment volume, on average, through patient self-scheduling.

The time difference is just under one minute spent online compared with eight minutes on the phone. The patients of 40 percent of the 100 largest health systems booked about half of their appointments online. Only 10 percent of smaller healthcare practices offered online self-scheduling. The report also found that 11 percent of all U.S. health systems allow self-scheduling for appointments and only 2.4 percent of their patients used it.

“Just as consumers use online tools to book restaurant reservations or request a cab, patients want the same experience in self-booking a doctor’s appointment,” said Dipak Patel, managing director of Accenture’s patient access solutions in a release. “Evidence also shows health systems can use self-scheduling tools to boost appointment capacity, reduce costs and/or increase productivity.”

Access the report.