This blog provides recommendations for utilizing Ottehr's scheduling solution for maximum operational efficiency. With customizable workflows, automated reminders, and support for multi-location setups, Ottehr’s open-source solution enables healthcare practices to streamline appointment management, reduce no-shows, and enhance provider efficiency, creating a smoother experience for both patients and staff.
Efficient scheduling is the backbone of a smooth workflow in healthcare settings, from small practices to large multi-site clinics. Poor scheduling can lead to overbookings, long wait times, and administrative headaches, all of which reduce patient satisfaction and increase staff burnout. Ottehr’s open-source, FHIR-native, and customizable scheduling solution addresses these challenges by offering process improvements through flexibility, automation, and real-time management tailored to your practice's needs.
In this blog, we will explore how to optimize your practice’s scheduling setup with Ottehr to improve patient care and streamline clinic operations.
Inefficient scheduling can bottleneck clinic operations, leading to missed appointments, double-bookings, and poor patient flow. A well-optimized scheduling system enhances patient experience, provider productivity, and clinic efficiency.
Ottehr’s scheduling module solves these workflow inefficiencies through customizable configurations, ensuring your practice can adapt to various needs such as managing multi-location scheduling or handling telemedicine and in-person visits seamlessly.
Structuring your scheduling slots efficiently is critical for ensuring smooth operations. With Ottehr, you can organize your schedule by provider, location, or group, and offer both telemedicine and in-person consultations.
Define your appointment slots based on the type of service offered (e.g., follow-ups, new consultations) and provider availability. You can customize time slots for different appointment types, ensuring there is no overlap. Here’s how:
Buffers between appointments allow time for administrative tasks or for providers to prepare for the next patient. Ottehr allows you to implement buffer times for opening and closing slots from 15 minutes to 90 minutes. For additional buffer times between appointments, you can easily access the code here for customization.
Use Cases:
Automated communication tools like appointment reminders are one of the most effective ways to reduce no-shows and ensure patients arrive on time. With Ottehr’s customization capabilities, you can create an automated reminder system, where patients can receive SMS or email notifications leading up to their appointment. You can set multiple reminders—24 hours before, 1 hour before, etc.—based on your clinic’s preferences.
Set-up Recommendations:
Studies show that SMS reminders reduce no-show rates by 20-25%, improving overall clinic efficiency and reducing manual administrative follow-ups.
Incorporating patient registration and form completion into the scheduling workflow significantly reduces administrative burden and streamlines patient check-in. Ottehr’s form customization tools allow clinics to tailor intake forms based on the appointment type.
For returning patients, the patient portal prefills data, (e.g., name, insurance, medical history) speeds up form completion and reduces errors. This ensures a quicker registration process and fewer abandoned registrations.
You can assign specific intake forms based on appointment types, such as medical history for new consultations or follow-up-specific forms for repeat visits. These can be filled out by the patient ahead of time, either online or through the patient portal, improving overall clinic flow.
Ottehr's flexibility allows clinics to offer both scheduled and walk-in appointments. The "now" appointment option enables clinics to handle same-day visits without disrupting the scheduled flow of appointments.
One of Ottehr’s key strengths lies in its ability to integrate with other modules such as patient intake, billing, and clinical documentation. This integration streamlines the entire workflow, from booking an appointment to patient check-out and billing.
For instance, an urgent care clinic uses Ottehr to integrate patient scheduling with claims submission and intake, automating the process from the moment a patient books an appointment until they check out. This integration reduces manual data entry and ensures that claims are accurate and timely, significantly reducing administrative workload.
Set up appointment types to automatically trigger the necessary forms and workflows across modules. For instance, when a patient books an appointment, their registration and insurance verification can be automatically queued, reducing administrative overhead.
An efficient scheduling system is essential for improving clinic operations. Ottehr’s scheduling solution offers customizable workflows, automated reminders, and seamless integration with other clinic modules to ensure streamlined patient flow and reduced administrative tasks. By adopting these tips, your practice can optimize its scheduling, improve patient satisfaction, and enhance overall provider efficiency.
Explore Ottehr’s open-source scheduling tools today to see how your healthcare organization can benefit from this powerful solution.
Ottehr’s scheduling module is designed to facilitate a smooth workflow by providing customizable configurations, real-time scheduling management, and integrated automation tools. This helps minimize scheduling errors and reduce administrative burden, improving overall clinic efficiency.
Ottehr offers several process improvements, including flexible appointment slot management, automated reminders, buffer time settings, and integration with patient intake and billing modules. These improvements enhance clinic operations and reduce errors.
Ottehr’s scheduling module includes communication tools like automated SMS and email reminders, helping to keep patients informed and reduce no-shows. Customizable reminders can be set based on clinic preferences for maximum efficiency.
Yes, Ottehr’s scheduling module supports multi-location scheduling, allowing patients to book appointments at different sites without conflicts. It also offers a "now" option for managing walk-in appointments, making it suitable for hybrid clinics.
Key features of Ottehr’s scheduling module include its open-source flexibility, FHIR compatibility, customizable buffer times, automated reminders, and integration with other clinic systems, providing a comprehensive scheduling solution.
By offering configurable workflows and structured appointment slots, Ottehr reduces scheduling errors. It also syncs appointments across locations and providers, ensuring consistent scheduling management.
Ottehr’s scheduling system improves smooth workflow, enhances patient experience, and reduces administrative work through automation and flexible configurations. These features contribute to improved provider performance and clinic efficiency.
