SMS appointment reminders at just 10c per message plus 50 free credits to get you started.
HealthQuest allows you to send an SMS to almost any mobile phone in the world via one of the supported SMS Gateways, reaching over 800 networks in more than 200 countries. SMS is great means of direct communication with customers, staff, suppliers, and students.
SMS traffic is growing at an exponential rate – an estimated 2.3 trillion text messages were sent in 2010. One billion text messages were sent in one day alone in Beijing this month on the eve of the Spring Festival, China’s biggest festival. HealthQuest allows users to be part of this growing and important means of communication.
SMS is perfect for appointment reminders and you can reduce your costs and play less “telephone tag”.
Our SMS Gateway provides internationally and supports the following features*:
- Send single and bulk SMS messages (messages are typically delivered in under 15 seconds)
- Send long messages (greater than 160 characters)
- Alphanumeric Sender ID so that you can send messages with your clinic name as a no reply service (of course you can send messages with your mobile phone number to receive messages)
- Message Logging – track the history of all sent messages
- 2 Way SMS – allow recipients to reply to messages and have them appear in your HealthQuest SMS database.
Please find below a recent article written by David Swan outlining the benefits of using SMS reminders to significantly reduce medical appointment ‘no shows’..
Despite feeling the pressure to increase bookings and cut costs, many health professionals are missing opportunities presented by e-health technology that would be of benefit to patients a new whitepaper says.
According to the Practice pressures and e-health realities whitepaper, almost 40 per cent of health professionals think speculation over government changes to Medicare has put their practices under pressure to cut costs or increase bookings.
14 per cent had already experienced a drop in bookings.
Less than a third used an automated reminder system to notify patients of upcoming appointments – even though of those who did, 70 per cent found it reduced no shows and late patients.
Health professionals also see the benefit in being able to transfer patient records electronically – to speed up referrals and improve efficiency – but few are actually doing this. Most still prefer to send records by fax and post.
“While many health professionals are feeling under pressure to increase bookings, few of them are using the electronic tools available to make their practices more efficient and productive,” says Phil Offer.
“In this day and age, when health professionals have access to systems that send information quickly and securely via electronic means, many are missing a great opportunity to spend less time on paperwork, and more time with their patients.”
