5 Ways to Improve Patient Attendance with Digital Patient Intake Forms

Are your patients tired of arriving early for medical appointments? Do they spend half an hour filling out forms about their history? These factors can lead to missed appointments and lower revenue. Digital patient intake forms offer an ideal solution because they improve patients’ visits.

Here are five ways digital forms can help confirm appointments and improve attendance.

1. Encourages Patient Commitment

When patients book visits online, they can choose the best date and time. This results in:

• Better patient intake process and more patient commitment.
• Lower risk of the patient forgetting about the appointment.
• A better chance that they’ve checked their calendar before scheduling.

When patients complete their forms online, they become more involved in their care and will keep the appointment.

2. Makes Scheduling More Convenient

Using digital patient intake forms makes booking visits easier for the patient because:

• When a patient books over the telephone, they must make a note of the date and time.
• Staff can send digital forms by text or email for patients to fill in. The forms they send depend on the type of appointment the patient needs.
• Staff can send the forms a few days before the appointment. This acts as an extra reminder for patients.
• At Mend, we see how convenient it is to use digital forms. Sixty-eight percent of patients completed their forms in an hour. In total, 86% of patients completed the forms.

Using online forms gets patients to take charge of their visits. Doing so lowers the number of last-minute drop-outs.

3. Reduces Waiting Room Time

A busy waiting room is stressful for providers and patients. It can lead to patients skipping their appointments. Digital patient intake forms reduce the time patients spend waiting by:

• Allowing them to do the paperwork at home. This applies to both in-person and virtual appointments.
• Removing the need to arrive or check in early to complete their medical history.
• Reducing the time they wait for staff to enter the data into their electronic health record (EHR).

4. Provides a Better Patient Experience

For many patients, attending an in-person doctor’s visit is worrying. Using digital forms provides a better patient experience because:

• Patients don’t need to write down their full medical history in a few minutes.
• Patients can check the details of their medicines while they complete the forms at home. These include starting dates, drug names, dosages, and other info.
• Visits to the doctor are less scary for the patient, and their medical documentation is ready before they get there.
• Medical staff can focus on care instead of forms, which matters more to patients.
• A better patient experience leads to better attendance and fewer no-shows.

5. Facilitates Virtual Visits

During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth and other types of virtual visits became common. Digital patient intake forms boost the use of telehealth by:

• Providing a reliable appointment confirmation method for virtual visits.
• Improving confirmation and attendance at virtual appointments.
• Making virtual visits easier. That’s because all the patient info is on the digital forms.
• Being able to consult with the doctor from home reduces the risk of no-shows.

These factors all help to increase income and profits for the provider. Meanwhile, the patients have a better experience.

The Take-Away

When you provide digital forms for patients, you enable them to be better organized. You’re also helping them get used to using computers. You have to do less work, and your record-keeping gets better. Your office benefits from getting the info faster and easier.