Online Scheduling Statistics for PT Clinics - Stay Ahead of the Curve

f you manage or work at a physical therapy practice, successfully booking visits is crucial to your clinic’s cash flow. Even with the best intentions to seek care, your patients’ visits will not book themselves. Keeping patients scheduled for their full plans of care not only generates revenue and growth, but ensures that you deliver the best treatment outcomes possible. And with modern tools like Prompt at your disposal, you can use online scheduling to stay ahead of the curve.

Prompt research shows that:

• 40% of healthcare appointments are booked after business hours
• Sunday from 4:00-8:00 p.m. is the most popular time that patients use online scheduling to book/request visits
• 67% of patients prefer online booking
• 26% of online visits requested are for same-day or next-day appointments

General industry statistics

Online booking can help any business with an appointment model. As a healthcare provider, it makes life easier for your staff and patients alike. It increases revenue by decreasing cancellations that are left unfilled, increases your visits booked per patient, and gives patients tools to book visits how they want and when they have time to. This in turn increases your revenue and boosts your reputation.

• The appointment scheduling software market is expected to grow from $353 million in 2022 to $1.2 billion by 2030
• 75% of Millennials scheduled their last appointment online
• 61% of consumers say ability to schedule appointments online is extremely or very important when selecting a new provider

Patient and consumer statistics

More and more, patients are used to booking online for anything they need. Research is showing that it’s not just a convenience, but becoming a sizable factor in how people decide where to buy from – or in the case of PT, which provider to choose for their treatments. This is paired with the ways that consumers use the internet to find healthcare options, and also build trust with help from reviews and how a practice presents themselves online.

• Over 70% of consumers read patient reviews when searching for a healthcare provider or location (and over 80% of female consumers)
• 80% expect five or more reviews before they deem a provider trustworthy
• 72% will only choose a provider if they have 4-star reviews or higher
• 64% say it is important for doctors to respond publicly to patient reviews
• Over 70% trust and search for reviews on Google over any healthcare provider’s own website

Patient preferences are a huge priority when you are providing services. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the offerings have grown exponentially. Online scheduling is the clear preference for patients:

• 80% of consumers would schedule healthcare online if given the option
• 72% of Millennials and Gen Z prefer to schedule a doctor’s appointment online
• 60% of these demographics research healthcare providers using smartphone or tablet
• Only 36% say they were confident they were matched with a provider that could meet their needs when scheduling an appointment over the phone
• 61% of patients have skipped going to the doctor because it was too much of a hassle to schedule an appointment
• 41% of patients have switched providers due to a poor digital experience
• A resounding 100% of Prompt owners leveraging Prompt online scheduling believe that it contributes to obtaining additional visits and revenue

Prompt’s approach to patient scheduling

With Prompt at your practice, patients can easily find your clinic and schedule their initial evaluation all in one place – without your team requiring an extra platform or account for an online scheduling software. Once visits are approved, visit details seamlessly integrate into your providers’ schedules with complete real-time visibility into your caseload, keeping schedules full and freeing up your front desk staff.

Prompt has a variety of other tools that help keep patients booked out at your clinic, including:

• AI Waitlist & Visit Filler
  • Prompt automatically matches empty appointment slots with under-scheduled patients that want to come to therapy at that time. Again, you have full power to approve the appointment if that’s your preference.
• Plan of Care Compliance Automation
  • Our AI engine analyzes patient plans of care compared to their scheduling, and determines when there are needs for additional visits. You can then automatically notify under-scheduled patients and send them an easy booking link.

Conclusion

Showing up for therapy is already challenging enough for patients. As a rehab provider, any steps you can take to help people go a long way – and this can start even before they come in for an evaluation. Removing friction at the signup and onboarding process makes it easier for them to come see you, and in turn, one step closer to healing. If your clinic doesn’t already offer online scheduling, research tools that can help bridge this gap between patients and the care they’re seeking.

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