Online appointment booking: a win-win solution

In June 2023, the Archipel Ontario Health Team launched a project to facilitate the implementation of online appointment booking (OAB) systems for health service providers. The project is led in collaboration with Ontario Health and members of the Archipel Primary Care Network. Seven primary care clinics in Ottawa East are participating, and five of them have gone live with their systems.

The Archipel Primary Care Network is co-chaired by Martine Whissel, Executive Director of the Eastern Ottawa Community Family Health Team, and Dr. Elie Skaff, family physician with the Connexion Family Health Team. Both teams are taking part in the project. Newly formed, the network advises Archipel’s Executive Committee on issues affecting primary care, such as the lack of human resources, socio-economic pressures, and the growing needs of clienteles, particularly those of unattached patients without a family doctor or nurse practitioner. 

The OAB initiative is aligned with the province’s Digital First for Health Strategy, which aims to strengthening primary care networks and improving patient experience and administrative efficiency, while supporting timely access to care.

What is online appointment booking?

Online appointment booking allows patients to choose from available dates and times in a physician’s or other healthcare professionals’ schedule via a self-serve online system available 24/7. Healthcare providers have an array of OAB solutions available to them. 

Ontario Health recommends online appointment booking because it is convenient and beneficial for both providers and patients. To support users in the implementation of systems, the province has developed resources and the Online Appointment Booking Standard.

Depending on the parameters defined by a clinic, appointments can be in person, by videoconference or by telephone, and according to the type of appointment: follow-up for a chronic problem, vaccination, specific exam, non-urgent problem, etc. The system can also send automated appointment confirmations and reminders by e-mail, text message or voicemail. These features can improve office efficiency and help decrease no-show rates.

Photo 1: “Once we have defined our parameters for (online) booking appointments—who can book, when, and for what reasons—the system becomes very efficient” - Dr. Élie Skaff, Co-Chair of Archipel’s Primary Care Network and family physician at Connexion Family Health Team.

The implementation experience at two local family health teams

Dr. Skaff handled the implementation of the system at the Connexion Family Health Team, which has been accepting online bookings for a few months now. “Once we have defined our parameters for booking appointments—who can book, when, and for what reasons—the system becomes very efficient. We started with two physicians to test it out. It makes communicating with our patients easier. For example, the messages we exchange with them remain in their patient record. And as a physician, it really helps with schedule management. Also, by reducing the number of phone calls, the receptionist has more time for tasks other than listening to voicemails and trying to reach patients on the phone. Considering the costs of the online booking system, it’s really worth it,” explains Dr. Skaff.

In addition to the integration with electronic medical records, online solutions offer other benefits to care providers, such as patient privacy and the availability of data. 

The advantages of online booking are just as numerous for patients. As consumers, they are used to making online transactions, as the banking, retail and tourism industries have long since adopted such systems. 

Patients and their designated caregivers now have the option of booking an appointment at a time convenient for them, not just during a clinic’s office hours. Automated reminders and the integration of appointment details into their personal electronic calendars make their life easier. And for patients with hearing impairments, it’s a fully accessible system.

“Eventually, this will be excellent. For a start, we’ve only activated the system for certain types of appointments, namely for flu vaccination clinics, and it’s working very well. Our biggest challenge is to find the time and human resources to properly define all the parameters of the booking system. It’s important to consider everything—analyze our workflows, decide on which reports we would like to get and on the integration with our other systems. We also have to think about fair access to appointments for all of our patients, because some people could have difficulty using this new system. It needs careful forethought,” says Martine Whissel of the Eastern Ottawa Community Family Health Team.

Photo 2: Martine Whissel, Co-Chair of Archipel’s Primary Care Network and Executive Director of the Eastern Ottawa Community Family Health Team.

Both co-chairs agree that the implementation of an online appointment booking system will benefit their clinics and their patients. It’s important to realize that every project goes through a period of adaptation, and trial and error. Communicating new ways of doing things to patients and using a change management approach with physicians and staff are winning strategies.