Over the course of the covid, it has become standard practice in surgeries to make appointments for specific dates.At the same time, doctors and nurses had a lot of work to do. One possible solution is online ordering. MUDr. Ondřej Sobotka discussed its advantages and disadvantages in a webinar.

Many doctors are concerned about online ordering. "I order patients by phone. If they could order themselves online, I'm afraid it would be chaos," mentioned one of the participants at the webinar.

Moreover, online ordering may not always work properly. "I originally used an ordering system that was part of my outpatient software. After a while, I had to turn it off. It failed, patients were not able to order correctly in it," MUDr. Sobotka mentioned his own experience.

Another typical fear is that patients will block appointments and the practice will have no time left for preventive care.

Although some online appointments can be problematic, staying on the phone is not an option. "It's too time consuming.In my experience, the most time-consuming part is identifying the patient, finding a convenient appointment and then changing appointments," said MUDr. Sobotka.

But how to replace the telephone appointment and avoid fulfilling the concerns we mentioned in the introduction? MUDr. Sobotka discussed this topic in detail.

‍TIP: Did you miss the live webinar? Email us at podpora@sestraemmy.cz and we'll send you the full recording for free.
‍

3 basic ways to order

If you're thinking about how to make ordering more efficient, you need to consider that not every patient request is the same. To make your ordering system work, it has to deal with 4 basic types of requests.

1. Type: tetanus vaccination
   

• Clearly defined request.
  
• A clearly defined length of the procedure.
  
• Nothing to go wrong.
  
• This group includes things like a driver's license exam, a pregnancy checkup, a diabetes checkup.
  ‍
  

1. Type: work assessment
   

• Do I have enough information to make an appointment?
  
• I don't see a request from my employer over the phone.
  
• Does the booking system allow me to insert an attachment?
  
• This group includes prevention, pre-operative testing and more.
  ‍
  

1. Type: acute illness
   

• Do I have room for this? Aren't the appointments already taken?
  
• Do I have enough information?
  
• Is it urgent?
  
• Will I do it remotely or in person?
  ‍
  

1. Type: bulk ordering
   

• Vaccination campaign, prevention (pediatricians).
  
• Reaching out by sms, email.
  
• It will trigger an avalanche of phone calls.
  ‍
  

MD Sobotka compared how these requests are handled with different ordering methods:

• Hairdressing style - telephone ordering
  
• Tire shop style - "dumb" online system (i.e., too simple to cover the needs of the practice)
  
• Modern surgery style - Emma's clever online system
  

"Online ordering is already well implemented. It is cheap, still accessible and smart," concluded Dr Sobotka.

‍Watch thefull webinar for free

Do you feel that telephone ordering is no longer sustainable and want to switch to online ordering? But at the same time you don't want to underestimate anything and need it to work right the first time?

Watch the full webinar. You'll get an overview of the issues and see how 4 different types of requests are handled inEmmy, the software used to automate routine communication between the practice and patients.

You will also learn the answers to the following questions:

• How do seniors handle online ordering ?
  
• How is online ordering challenging to set up?
  
• How does online ordering work when filling in during the holidays?
  

Email us at podpora@sestraemmy.cz and we'll send you a free recording.

‍