There are several ways to register patients. You can make an appointment by phone, a personal appointment at a clinic, or you can register for an online appointment. The following article will describe the possibility of an appointment for an online visit.
Making an appointment online is a great help for patients and for doctors and medical clinics. Online registration is one way to automate certain aspects of the functioning of a medical facility. Online registration enhances the offer of the medical institution, as well as relieves employees who can devote this time to other tasks.
Patients are not always convinced to register online and choose the traditional method, i.e. a phone call or a personal visit to the facility to schedule a visit. This is often due to problems due to poor organization and functioning of online registration.
Errors and shortcomingsin the functioning of online registration:
– no confirmation of an appointment for an online visit e.g. by e-mail
– manual acceptance of the appointment online by employees
– no appointment reminders set for patients
– inability of the patient to make changes (e.g. reschedule, cancellation of the visit).
Disadvantages:
– additional cost
– difficulty in choosing a specific IT solution for online registration
– the required ability to operate an IT program for online registration.
Advantages:
– automation of the functioning of certain aspects in the medical clinic
In my opinion, it is worth offering your patients the opportunity to make an appointment for a doctor’s appointment online. It is worth preparing well for this, so that online registration automates our activities, and the patient is happy to use this method and can do it intuitively.
Over the past year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, interest in telemedicine has increased significantly. Telemedicine began to be used much more often than it did two years ago. Thanks to telemedicine, patients during the pandemic had the chance to be in contact with the doctor and constantly take care of their health. Telemedicine can also be considered as a marketing tool that will allow the medical institution to be distinguished from the competition.
Website
I recommend that you include information on the telemedical services provided on the website. The type of telemedical services and the rules for providing them should be specified. It is also recommended that you create step-by-step instructions on how the service works, e.g. in the form of animations.
Social media
It is also worth considering creating an information campaign on telemedicine services in a medical institution, which will be published on social media, eg Facebook, Instagram, YouTube.
Medical registration
You should also train and accurately inform the staff working in patient registration, as they are the first contact for the patient. Therefore, they have the best chance of informing patients about important aspects of the functioning of the medical institution, e.g. telemedical services.
Doctor
Doctors enjoy authority among patients, so it is worth itfor doctors to offer their patients (if possible) telemedical services, e.g. teleconsultations to discuss the results of the study. This will allow for greater credibility of telemedical services.
Newsletter
I also encourage patients to collect a mailing database so that they can use it later to inform patients directly about telemedical services or other important information regarding the functioning of the medical facility.
Posters, Leaflets
Another idea is to prepare information posters about the medical services provided, as well as leaflets that patients will take home with them. In this case, the patient will have the chance to read all the important information calmly, to which he will always be able to return if necessary.
Answering machine
The last issue is the recording of a short information about telemedical services in a medical institution, which will be listened to after a short greeting when the patient calls the medical institution. This is a great way to effectively inform patients, as most patients make appointments by phone.
I often say that medical marketing is not a sprint, but a marathon! This involves a lot of patience, but what else? exactly! One of the most important keys to success in medical marketing is the regularity of our activities. Sometimes we will get worse and sometimes better. But the most important thing is that we do not forgive ourselves and act regularly.
Advantages of regular activities in medical marketing:
– we make a habit of regular activities
– the effects will be longlasting
– our market position will be stable
– we invest in the future
– over time we become a stronger player in the market
– regular actions are well seen by algorithms e.g. Googly, YouTube
– regular operation is positively received by the environment.
How to regularly work in medical marketing?
– self-discipline and perseverance
– plan fixed days and times during which we will focus on carrying out marketing activities, e.g. every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Good and reasonable planning allows you to effectively manage marketing in a medical institution. Without planning, it is difficult to maintain effective marketing at a high level. In the following article, I will discuss 5 main reasons why planning in medical marketing is so important: consistency, control, effectiveness, regularity of actions, time.
Consequence
Marketing planning in medicine facilitates the preservation of consequences, as well as self-discipline. Through planning, we can organize and rethink our marketing activities. Thoughtful actions make our medical marketing orderly and consistent. You should always keep in mind what our marketing goal is and where we are going, what we want to achieve.
Control
To have control over marketing, you can’t avoid marketing planning. Control allows you to evaluate the implementation of our plan and introduces discipline and motivation, without which it is difficult to achieve success in marketing and promotional activities.
Effectiveness
I can’t imagine effective marketing and success without a plan! You should always know what you are aiming for and always have an idea. I would advise against spontaneity in my marketing activities in a medical institution if we wanted them to be effective and have the intended effect.
Regularity of activities
Medical marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Medical marketing requires long-term and regular action. Be patient here. Only after a long time we are able to see the results of our work. In order to maintain regularity of activities, it is worth supporting the previously developed plan.
Time
Good medical marketing planning saves a lot of time! Although at first you actually need to spend a lot of time to make a good marketing plan. I think it’s better to spend enough time on marketing analysis and planning at the beginning to save time thinking about your actions later.
In order to facilitate marketing planning in a medical institution, I have specifically created a Marketing Planner for Medical Professions, to which I refer you very warmly here.
I have compiled a list of 20 common medical marketing mistakes below. The list was created based on my experience and observation. In the next posts, I will detail each medical marketing mistake.
1. Lack of faith in success 2. Personnel problems, unfair remuneration 3. Location 4. Multitasking 5. Force-selling of a service / product 6. Using old marketing methods 7. Lack of willingness to bring new ideas 8. Lack of predisposition 9. Lack of will 10. Budget 11. Legal and formal issues (restrictions related to e.g. advertising) 12. Each order / marketing task / campaign / cooperation with another stranger 13. Lack of stability in the team, in the facility 14. After cheapness 15. Lack of certain abilities, skills, eg graphics 16. Lack of vision 17. Lack of plan and strategy 18. Lack of training 19. Communication problems with potential partners (referring from one to the other) 20. Distrust
