Web-Based Medical Appointment Systems: A Systematic Review

Abstract

BackgroundHealth care is changing with a new emphasis on patient-centeredness. Fundamental to this transformation is the increasing recognition of patients' role in health care delivery and design. Medical appointment scheduling, as the starting point of most non-urgent health care services, is undergoing major developments to support active involvement of patients. By using the Internet as a medium, patients are given more freedom in decision making about their preferences for the appointments and have improved access.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to identify the benefits and barriers to implement Web-based medical scheduling discussed in the literature as well as the unmet needs under the current health care environment.MethodsIn February 2017, MEDLINE was searched through PubMed to identify articles relating to the impacts of Web-based appointment scheduling.ResultsA total of 36 articles discussing 21 Web-based appointment systems were selected for this review. Most of the practices have positive changes in some metrics after adopting Web-based scheduling, such as reduced no-show rate, decreased staff labor, decreased waiting time, and improved satisfaction, and so on. Cost, flexibility, safety, and integrity are major reasons discouraging providers from switching to Web-based scheduling. Patients’ reluctance to adopt Web-based appointment scheduling is mainly influenced by their past experiences using computers and the Internet as well as their communication preferences.ConclusionsOverall, the literature suggests a growing trend for the adoption of Web-based appointment systems. The findings of this review suggest that there are benefits to a variety of patient outcomes from Web-based scheduling interventions with the need for further studies.

Online referral and immediate appointment selection system empowers families and improves access to public community paediatric clinics

“…However, previous research has demonstrated improved reliability, quality and tracking of communication with the introduction of online referral systems . Online appointment scheduling has also been associated with decreased FTA rates in other studies . Our findings are therefore consistent with existing literature and expand on this by providing a paediatric‐specific study.…”

“…Public outpatient clinic patient attendance may be poor, resulting in costly inefficiencies and delays to care. In medical clinics spanning primary care and specialist services, the growing adoption of web‐based medical referral and appointment systems has been associated with an improvement in patient satisfaction and attendance . However, these eHealth initiatives may not attract widespread use and acceptance, and their benefit in paediatric health care in particular is unproven.…”

The power of digital communications: improving outpatient attendances in south London

“…Improving outpatient attendances to the diversity of pre-existing operational processes and use of IT systems across the different services at GSTT. 9 At the end of the 6-month onboarding phase the DNA rates across the trust dropped from 11.7% to 10.4% (11.1% reduction). Table 2 shows the rates as calculated for the 2016/2017 financial year with numbers in the FBC as the baseline.…”

How's Life in the Digital Age? (Summary in Spanish)

“…An imperfect proxy indicator is the share of people who make medical appointments online. Web-based medical appointment systems have a number of positive impacts, including improving patient satisfaction, reducing no-shows and wait times (Zhao et al, 2017). Data on the share of individuals who make medical appointments online is available for some European countries (Figure 2.22).…”