Readers Write: Beyond Self-Scheduling: Analysis Shines Spotlight on The Future of Patient-Driven Access

Beyond Self-Scheduling: Analysis Shines Spotlight on The Future of Patient-Driven Access
By David Dyke

David Dyke is chief product officer at Relatient.

“Access to care” has become a central theme in healthcare leadership discussions. While the term “access” can mean many different things in healthcare, it begins with the patient.

A new nationwide analysis of self-scheduling tool usage underscores a shift occurring in the industry that provider organizations must acknowledge and act on to stay relevant: patient-driven access. Findings across more than 150 million patient bookings reveal a 30% year-over-year uptick in patients who booked appointments through digital self-scheduling options from 2023 to 2024.

Patient interest in self-scheduling is likewise driving adoption from healthcare organizations. The analysis further revealed a 53% increase in implementations of self-scheduling tools across a wide variety of healthcare organizations and specialties.

Self-scheduling has evolved into an essential access tool for today’s practices that are striving to meet rising patient expectations. The key is making the right investments upfront to ensure that organizations reap the full benefits of patient-driven access. Early adopters stand to not only delight patients, but also to realize significant operational value and bottom-line impact – such as 24/7 patient access and new patient acquisition — faster.

Understanding Increased Adoption of Self-Scheduling

Patients increasingly prefer digital self-scheduling options, with an overwhelming desire for improved digital self-service. As the first touchpoint in the patient journey, scheduling has a critical impact on overall patient experience.

Consumerism trends point to the need for greater convenience and empowerment. This means manual processes that require having to call multiple times or wait on the phone to schedule an appointment are quickly being replaced with digital solutions by today’s healthcare organizations.

Healthcare leaders value the patient experience advantages of self-scheduling. They also gain operational efficiencies and greater revenue opportunities. Data uncovered from the analysis revealed:

• A 50% decrease in no-show rates for self-scheduled appointments.
• A 21% reduction in cancellations when self-scheduling is used. The reduction was 30% for established patients.
• Two-thirds of appointments that are booked through online self-scheduling are for new patients.

These numbers significantly highlight ongoing industry opportunities to improve no-show rates and appointment cancellations.

Expanding the Impact of Self-Scheduling

Putting patients in the driver’s seat is a start, but the future of self-scheduling optimization relies on more intelligence and integration across the entire patient journey. Organizations can expand the impact of these tools by:

• Integrating full-service scheduling APIs to meet patients where they are. These open scheduling APIs provide flexibility for healthcare organizations to scale access points across diverse channels, automating key scheduling functions across a variety of new and existing patient touchpoints, including virtual agents, AI-assisted chatbots, third-party apps, financial clearance processes, and virtual care platforms. By supporting a self-service, multi-touch model, these tools empower patients to take control of their care journey. Many organizations struggle to deliver this model due to disconnected systems, but tightly linked, multi-channel functionality allows patients to bypass long phone queues and enjoy a more seamless experience, while providers gain better system interoperability and operational efficiency.
• Transforming staff and patient experiences by automating common appointment management tasks with AI-driven voice solutions. New Voice AI tools integrate seamlessly with existing scheduling systems, taking on repetitive, high-volume inquiries, such as appointment rescheduling and cancellations, so that staff can focus on more complex patient needs. By deflecting calls and reducing hold times, these tools not only ease operational strain, but also enhance the patient experience with immediate, conversational support that is available 24/7.
• Driving action and education with integrated scheduling across the patient journey. Digital patient communication should not only inform —  it should drive action. By embedding scheduling functionality into key communication touchpoints, such as appointment reminders, referral activation, and rescheduling workflows, organizations can support patients with timely next steps. This creates a more seamless and scalable access model.

Whether booking a single primary care visit or managing ongoing specialty care, patients benefit from convenience and autonomy, while providers see increased appointment adherence and streamlined operations. Consequently, providers should think beyond traditional scheduling within the call center by embracing self-scheduling and the scalable infrastructures that are needed to support success for the long-term.

As the future of patient access continues to unfold, with more and more power placed in hands of the patient, a single self-service touchpoint won’t be enough. Savvy patients will come to expect a seamless, interconnected experience at every step of the way.

Expanding patient self-service functionality now allows organizations not just to keep up, but to actively fulfill the future of patient access, leading the pack in both patient access performance and operational efficiency.