Transform Your Orthopedic Practice: Automate Patient Scheduling

Patient scheduling is a crucial part of healthcare operations, particularly in specialties like orthopedics, where precise and timely care is essential. Yet, manual scheduling often introduces hidden inefficiencies – delaying care, increasing errors, and putting extra pressure on your staff. These challenges can quietly disrupt patient access and satisfaction, affecting both your patients, providers, and organization.

During a recent patient scheduling webinar hosted by Relatient, Cindy Murray, VP of Operations at OrthoTexas, discussed how outdated scheduling processes affect practice efficiency. By understanding these hidden costs of manual scheduling, you can start finding areas for improvement.

The Time Drain of Managing Complex Orthopedic Protocols 

In orthopedic practices, scheduling can be particularly challenging due to detailed physician protocols. Providers often specialize in specific areas – such as treating only hands or elbow down – which adds layers of complexity. Managing these preferences manually takes time, as your staff must follow strict rules for each provider.

As Cindy Murray explained: “Our (provider preferences) are no different. And you know, even down to, I use the example, which isn’t true, but you’ll understand, like I won’t see a right big toe on a Wednesday after 2:00 PM.” Relying on binders and written notes to manage these rules and preferences slows the process and adds stress to your schedulers.

These inefficiencies go beyond just your staff. Patients experience longer wait times on the phone and delays in booking, which can limit access to care. Over time, these hidden issues can negatively affect both your operations and the patient experience.

Increased Patient Scheduling Inaccuracies

Manual scheduling, especially in complex workflows, often leads to unintentional errors despite your best efforts. When providers specialize in different areas, it’s easy to accidentally book a patient with the wrong provider or appointment type. These errors, though unintentional, delay patient care and create frustration.

As Cindy Murray shared: “You know, they weren’t as engaged on that call as they should be, because they’re flipping through a notebook that was 4 inches thick.” Relying on thick binders to manage rules and preferences slows things down and increases the chances of mistakes.

These inefficiencies affect more than just the staff – they directly affect your patients. Incorrect bookings or delays can leave patients feeling dissatisfied and underserved, leading to a drop in patient loyalty over time.

Staff Burnout with Manual Scheduling

Manual scheduling doesn’t just affect operations – it wears down your staff. In orthopedic practices, providers follow complex protocols that make scheduling a stressful and time-consuming process. Training new staff in these rules is a challenge, extending onboarding times.

As Cindy noted: “It’s reduced our training to about two weeks. It used to be between four and six (weeks).” Without automation, staff usually had to memorize and navigate each physician’s detailed scheduling rules, which increases the potential for stress and burnout.

When your team is focused on managing complex scheduling instead of patient care, turnover becomes a real risk. By simplifying these processes, you can improve staff morale, making your team more efficient and productive in the long run.

Missed Opportunities Due to Lack of Data Insights

Manual scheduling systems often don’t provide real-time data you needed to track and improve operations. Without data it’s harder to follow up with patients who abandoned the scheduling process or to adjust operations based on trends. This can lead to missed appointments and lost revenue.

As Cindy explained: “If patients attempt to schedule online and fall out of the process for one reason or another, then they’re on a report that we get, and we do call that patient and say, we see that you attempted to schedule online.” Following up with these patients ensures that you capture appointments that might otherwise be lost.

With data-driven insights, you can better understand patient behaviors, improve scheduling efficiency, and ensure that no opportunities slip through the cracks.

A Path Towards Smarter Scheduling and Greater ROI

Manual scheduling introduces inefficiencies that can quietly disrupt your operations – delayed care, inaccuracies, and staff burnout add up over time. These challenges highlight the need to balance patient access with operational flexibility.

By rethinking your approach to scheduling, you can achieve this balance. Intelligent scheduling systems give patients easier access to appointments while keeping flexibility for providers. The result? Higher patient satisfaction, improved staff morale, and a healthier bottom line. Addressing these inefficiencies leads to stronger financial performance and a smoother, more efficient organization overall.

Improve Access and Enhance Care with Relatient

Dash® by Relatient is a intelligent scheduling and engagement solution designed to enhance healthcare access and improve patient care. Recognized as a Best in KLAS solution, we help streamline patient scheduling, manage complex provider preferences, and improve communication. Our features, including patient self-scheduling, automated waitlist management, and personalized engagement, help healthcare professionals run their practices efficiently and ensure timely patient care.

Let’s connect and improve your patient scheduling and communication.