Denver-area consumers can now book appointments online with selected University of Colorado Hospital physicians in a pilot program designed to improve patient satisfaction and cut down on the region's average 19-day wait to see a specialist.
The program, developed by UCH with DocASAP, a New York-based startup launched in 2009, allows consumers to look up the schedules and profiles of primary care, OB/GYN and other specialty physicians at UCH and make appointments based on the open slots provides by each physician.
Bill Sonn, UCH's senior director of marketing, communications and media relations, said doctors were initially reluctant to open up their already-busy schedules to patient perusal, but have since come to understand that they still have complete control over who they see, and can much better manage patients, cancelled appointment and no-shows through the portal.
"They're embracing it now," he said, noting that 15 percent to 20 percent of open slots are being booked through the DocASAP platform.
Puneet Maheshwari, DocASAP's founder and CEO, said while the mHealth service was designed to help patients schedule more timely doctor visits, the value proposition for doctors was never far away.
"Doctors are protectors of their time – it's one of the most sacrosanct (tenets) of healthcare," he said. "We go in to this knowing that we don't want to take away their control. They can determine what hours are open to scheduling. They can set the rules."
UCH officials said they were aware of patient difficulties in making appointments before collaborating with DocASAP. A recent Merritt Hawkins & Associates study had found that some Denver-area doctors had an average wait time of 19 days for new appointments.
"Reducing wait times is essential to patient engagement," said health economist and management consultant Jane Sarasohn-Kahn in a release supplied by DocASAP. "Consumers are more likely to receive timely care when they have quick and convenient access."
Through the DocASAP site, consumers can look up doctors by specialty and insurance accepted, sort by availability and location, and look at reviews, credentials and office directions. They can then choose available times for an appointment and book online.
Maheshwari said the service offers four benefits for doctors:
- It improves patient engagement and satisfaction rates;
- It improves new patient acquisition rates;
- It reduces no-shows and improves the fill rate for cancellations;
- And it reduces the time and efforts spent by doctors and their staff in managing appointments.
For consumers, meanwhile, the service:
- Allows one to see a doctor more quickly – in less than a week, usually within 24 hours;
- Enables the consumer to book an appointment at any time and any place, rather than during office hours;
- Is much quicker than trying to contact the doctor's office and scheduling an appointment;
- And enables the consumer to research a doctor before deciding whether to book an appointment.
"The last couple of years have been very transformative for healthcare," said Maheshwari. "We're seeing a move to consumer-oriented healthcare, and this sits right at the center of consumerism and healthcare."
Sonn added that the service is designed with patients in mind. Early returns on the pilot, he said, indicate patients are happy with it, and that they're using the service most often during after-office hours to book appointments.
"They're using it at night, and on the weekends, and they're doing all kinds of things that we had hoped they'd do," he said. "It all goes back to one of our goals – to serve the patient more aggressively."
Sonn said the pilot program is confined at the moment to UHC, one hospital in a five-hospital system, and will be evaluated to determine whether it can be expanded. He also pointed out that not all doctors will benefit from DocASAP; it's most beneficial to primary care doctors and those looking to build their practice, while specialists with an already-hectic schedule probably won't see any benefits.
DocASAP's first customer was the University of Pennsylvania Health System; that was followed by Manhattan-based MagnaCare, a network of some 70,000 providers in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. More recently, the company announced a partnership with Vitals, which provides online tools and services to some 150 million people a year through health plans, hospitals and consumer websites. DocASAP's scheduling platform is now being integrated with Vitals' nationwide online physician directory.
