Patients Demand Online Scheduling and E-mail Reminders

Three-quarters of Americans say they would like to be able to schedule doctor's visits and get appointment reminders online, but most say such services aren't available to them, a Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive health-care poll found. Internet start-up UAppoint, Inc. has a solution to delight patients and their doctors.

New Orleans, LA (PRWEB) October 25, 2006 -- The online poll of 2,624 adults, published in the September 12, 2006, issue of the Wall Street Journal, found that the availability of online services could influence how patients choose health-care providers. Given a choice between a doctor who provides online scheduling and electronic mail and one who doesn't, the majority said this would influence their choice of doctors "a great deal" or "to some extent." Seventy-five percent of patients want the ability to schedule a doctor's visit via the Internet, and 77 percent wanted reminders via email to notify them when they were due for a visit.

"These findings are not surprising," says Dr. Dov Glazer, recently appointed UAppoint CEO. "Patient demand for Internet connectivity with their doctors has been well established and growing for the past few years. Doctors' reluctance to offer these services is understandable. The appointment schedule is the heart of the medical/dental practice and to relinquish control would be disastrous. As a practicing dentist who wanted to streamline front desk operations, empower patients while retaining control of the appointment book, I sought out a solution."

Working with UAppoint, Inc. Glazer helped develop a novel system and method, which is now in line for approval by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The premium service is now being made available to practices that subscribe to UAppoint's automated electronic recall, reactivation, reminder and confirmation services.

UAppoint's state-of-the-art service emails notices to patients for follow-up care, inviting them to select a desired appointment time. Beyond a simple notification tool, by synchronizing with the office software, patients can request times that are available on the practice schedule. Patients see vacancies based on predetermined criteria such as length of appointment, resources required, location and provider. When staff enters a new appointment in the practice management software scheduler, an appointment card is automatically emailed to the patient. This email gives the patient a written record of the appointment. No double entry and no training necessary.

The UAppoint service effectively bridges the gap been patient demand for online scheduling/email reminders and doctors ability to securely and efficiently deliver these service over the Internet.

About UAppoint, Inc.

UAppoint, specializing in smart patient scheduling solutions with online patient interaction, was founded in 2004 with the mission of enhancing doctor-patient relationships. The company is dedicated to providing exceptional service to doctors, their staff and the patients they serve.

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