Place the call-to-action (CTA) above the fold on short pages with less content and both above and below the fold on longer pages that have more content.
This guide focuses on online patient scheduling & check-in best practices for:
Website placement & mobile
Website copy & FAQs
Search engine marketing
Search engine optimization
Social media
Public relations
Internal communications
Print & patient communications
Traditional advertising
Patient experience
“Health systems that integrate online scheduling into their long-term marketing and communication strategies will have the greatest success.”
Whether your health system has a robust marketing budget and large team or you run a leaner marketing program, this guide highlights operational best practices, campaign ideas, tactics, and channels your organization can use to promote online patient scheduling and online check-in. Plus, this toolkit offers free templates and sample content that you can leverage for your campaigns.
This guide will help you provide multiple access points for patients while maximizing your investment in online scheduling. You'll also find important steps to ensure online scheduling is available anywhere a patient might enter their healthcare journey, beginning with your website and including other channels such as social media, online ads, and even print materials.
Frequently Asked Questions
Start by incorporating online scheduling into existing web copy in a harmonious way through backlinks, instructions, and answers to frequently asked questions.
Yes, offering short, memorable URLs helps draw visitors to your online scheduling page and provides an additional way for your site to rank multiple times within results pages.
Google My Business allows you to claim the information of each of your health system's locations, add details about services, and personalize your business profiles on Google Search and Maps. You can even add links to book appointments on your Google My Business profile.
Social media can encourage colleagues and employees to share posts on their social networks to connect with new audiences and amplify your organic reach.
Yes, announcing the availability of online scheduling to the press emphasizes that patient-centric care and convenience are top priorities of your health system.
Develop an internal communications plan that incorporates announcements, reminders, and details across all channels such as digital ads, social media, posters and flyers, pop-up banners, and tabletop signs or cards at reception.
Yes, be sure to integrate online scheduling into all your patient communication channels. This could be in appointment reminders, emails, texts, on-hold messaging, IVR, and other channels that reach patients.
Build your advertising mix based on your budget and target audience. You could try utilizing print ads, billboards, or even radio ads.
Spend some time thinking through innovative ways to reach patients and truly make online scheduling an exceptional patient experience—maybe it’s a dedicated parking space or custom staff scripts.