PocketHealth Launches Basic
May 1, 2024
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TORONTO, ON, July 27, 2023 – PocketHealth today launched Appointment Reminders, a new product integrated within its image sharing platform that enables healthcare providers to reduce the number of missed appointments through personalized, automated patient-communications. With Appointment Reminders, imaging centers and hospitals can seamlessly send automated, customized prep instructions and scheduling reminders to patients via email or text messages, ensuring continuity of care and operational efficiency throughout the care journey.
Every missed appointment, or no-show, costs approximately $200 and presents financial challenges for healthcare providers. In the US the average no-show rate is 18% while in Canada it is up to 30%. With the implementation of Appointment Reminders, providers can decrease their no-show rate by approximately 30%, optimizing their revenue streams while maintaining uninterrupted care delivery.
In addition to financial implications, missed appointments disrupt the continuity of care, leading to delayed diagnoses and treatments.
“At Clear Medical Imaging, we faced a high number of no-shows which not only led to a loss of valuable time and resources, but also hindered our ability to provide the best possible care to our patients,” said Michael Reinkober, Chief Executive Officer, Clear Medical Imaging. “With Appointment Reminders sent to our patients through SMS, we are saving between 4 – 6 hours each day, streamlining our clerical processes, and reducing cancellations and no-shows significantly. We have been able to improve our overall efficiency and redirect our efforts to providing better care to our patients, improving their experience and helping us improve patient outcomes.”
The launch of Appointment Reminders is another way PocketHealth is enabling a more integrated and connected and informed healthcare experience for patients throughout their care journey.
Through customized, automated email and text reminders providers ensure patients are reminded of and prepared for their appointments and provide access to imaging afterwards, placing the patient at the center of every touchpoint of their healthcare journey. PocketHealth Appointment Reminders delivers modality-specific preparation instructions, directions and parking-related information and facilitates seamless access to medical imaging and reports post-appointments.
Flexibility to tailor communications based on frequency, modality, procedure prep instructions and appointment types, while tracking a patient’s appointment status saves hours of administrative time each day. Furthermore, patients can conveniently confirm or cancel appointments and easily retrieve their medical imaging records with PocketHealth, afterwards.
As the healthcare industry faces increased strain due to lengthened wait times, addressing the issue of no-shows becomes even more critical. By streamlining manual processes and outbound calling, providers can reduce staff bandwidth, save time and redirect resources to focus on quality care delivery. This not only improves operational efficiency and ensures continuity of care, but also enables providers to foster stronger relationships with their patients at a time when patient satisfaction is crucial.
“Missed appointments result in significant health repercussions for the patient,” said Rishi Nayyar, Co-Founder & CEO of PocketHealth. “Appointment Reminders bridges the communication gap between healthcare providers and patients, resulting in reduced no-shows and increased bookings through enhanced patient engagement and retention. Our comprehensive solution caters to all patients, including those without access to patient portals. Given that nearly half of patients do not sign up for portals, alternative communication channels are crucial for effective patient engagement, stronger provider-patient relationships, and improved access to healthcare information. This is precisely where PocketHealth excels.”
PocketHealth is the first patient-centric image sharing platform, empowering patients with fast access, easy sharing and permanent, secure storage of their medical imaging and reports. By eliminating any network image-sharing dependencies, PocketHealth seamlessly integrates into healthcare systems and creates efficiencies and cost savings for providers while putting patients in control of their healthcare journey. PocketHealth is trusted by over 600 hospitals and imaging clinics across North America, and is being used by more than 1.5 million patients. Learn more at pockethealth.com.
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Learn more about Appointment Reminders today.
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