10 online scheduling stats healthcare practices should know

When making healthcare decisions, most patients value convenience and access above even insurance coverage and quality of care, according to NRC Health. In fact, 80 percent of patients said they would switch providers for convenience factors alone.

One of the easiest ways to offer your patients convenience is via online scheduling. With an online scheduling system, patients have transparency into your schedule and can select an available time that works best for them. What’s more, they do not have to wait for regularly scheduled business hours to schedule an appointment.

For healthcare practices, this means less administrative work and less time on the phone for patient scheduling. Keep reading for stats that show how patients use online scheduling and why it’s become an important tool for medical practices today.

Online patient scheduling can increase your appointment requests and free up essential staff time that can be devoted to the patient experience. Paired with appointment confirmations and reminders, a good online scheduling system can also help reduce no-shows.

Interested in learning more about the benefits of online scheduling? Read the blog post “5 reasons your healthcare practice must offer online scheduling.”

Infographic data and sources

1. About 1 in 5 patients say having to wait for a practice to open is their biggest pain point when scheduling appointments. 36.4% say it’s being put on hold. “Online booking options can get you more clients,” GetApp
2. Only half of patients who call for an appointment are able to book over the phone on the first try. 2019 Patient Access Journey Report, Kyruus
3. 52.2% of practices spend at least 10 hours a week scheduling and confirming appointments and returning patient calls and emails. More than 1 in 3 spend at least 30 hours per week. 2019 healthcare providers survey report: online reputation management, PatientPop
4. 32% of patients prefer online appointment booking, up from 27% in 2018. 2019 Patient Access Journey Report, Kyruus
5. 68% of patients say they’re more likely to choose medical providers that offer the ability to book, change, or cancel appointments online. Accenture 2019 Digital Health Consumer Survey, US Results
6. More than half of Millennials and Gen Xers say they would switch providers for the ability to book appointments online. 2019 Patient Access Journey Report, Kyruus
7. The average wait time for a physician appointment for the 15 largest metro markets is 24.1 days. 2017 Survey of Physician Appointment Wait Times and Medicare and Medicaid Acceptance Rates, Merritt Hawkins
8. For PatientPop practices that offer online scheduling, most appointments were between 5 and 8 days from the time of booking. PatientPop data, analysis of live practices, June-August 2019
9. For PatientPop practices, 35% of online appointments are booked outside of normal business hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m). PatientPop data, analysis of live practices, June-August 2019
10. 1 out of 5 providers say letting patients request appointments online is most important to practice success. 2020 practice growth survey report, PatientPop