ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the ways that self-service features offered in a healthcare context can follow this same trend—increasing consumers’ satisfaction and meeting their desires for more convenience while creating efficiencies for the hospitals and clinics that implement them. The National Partnership for women and families interviewed eight providers who worked in practices using patient portals. Appointment scheduling online can take many forms. The most basic is an online appointment request, where a patient sends a request for appointment with preferred times and days. The online form then goes to the practice where employees actually book the appointment and notify the patient of the time. Patients do not show up for appointments for many varied reasons, and reducing no-show rates can be a complex task. New cancer patients are anxious and generally contact several organizations trying to obtain a quick appointment.
