CEMES
Creation of a website for a medical practice in Reunion Island, and installation of an appointment scheduling and management system for patients.
About the client
The Centre d’Échographie Médicale de L’Étang Salé (CEMES) offers medical ultrasound services on Réunion Island.
Its clientele is local, and includes both adults and children.
Needs and challenges
With its success on the island, the medical practice was receiving a large number of requests for appointments.
With no website, the secretary had to deal with a daily stream of emails and phone calls, and manually enter appointments into an outdated software system with no Internet connection.
Action was urgently needed to optimize appointment scheduling, as the workload was becoming unmanageable.
The medical center initially turned to online appointment scheduling solutions such as Doctolib, but it soon became clear that this solution had a number of drawbacks:
- software limitations in terms of customizing the types of examinations offered
- partial retrieval of patient information
- impossible to present services in detail as the practice wished
- non-appointment contact limited to the display of the practice’s contact details
- high monthly software costs
The medical center therefore decided to create its own website to easily manage appointments and communication with its patients.
Results
The development of the CEMES medical centre website has brought many changes and has enabled us to considerably increase the number of appointments while optimizing staff time.
Improved communication with patients
As soon as it went online, the website eased the secretarial workload enormously, and facilitated access to information for patients and future patients.
A dedicated area enables patients to consult and manage their upcoming appointments independently.
An easily modifiable FAQ has been integrated to enable visitors to find the answer to their questions rather than systematically sending emails or calling the practice.
Online management of medical appointments
The online appointment scheduling platform has completely replaced the old solution. The secretariat is informed in real time of appointment requests, and immediately receives the medical prescription when the appointment is booked, saving precious time.
Patients also receive an email / sms reminder shortly before their examination, which has reduced the rate of no-shows.
Time off is also set and specific slots dedicated to certain medical examinations have been set up.
The practice retains the option of scheduling appointments outside “normal” working hours, for emergencies or exceptional situations.
Patients also have access to a private area where they can log in to consult their past and future appointments, and if necessary postpone or cancel them.
The practice’s staff have received training in the various aspects of the new software, as well as a series of short video tutorials filmed for them.