This sure is an extreme statement. However, I firmly believe that open access to doctor booking systems would provide significant value for both doctors and patients.

Years ago, people who needed to see a doctor simply walked in, “took a number” and waited for their turn. At that time appointment scheduling was a welcome change as it brought order to the chaos. However, the results did not meet expectations. Appointment systems became complex and frustrating. Despite proper scheduling, the appointments were rarely honored. Double and triple booking by doctors to mitigate no-shows resulted in the same old wait-your-turn system.

Not just this, the need for timely access pushed more and more patients to emergency room care. Studies show that more that 50% of HMO patients would have preferred a day or two wait for their primary care instead of going to an ER. It’s just that the receptionist telling them “come next week” led them to an ER.

Open access eliminates most of these issues.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could be sure that when you call your doctor, he/she would see you either today or tomorrow instead of making you wait for weeks?

In the book, Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations, the authors talk about one such open access scheduling system – developed as part of idealized design of clinical office practice IDCOP – in Jefferson County, Alabama. The system required the doctors to provide for same day appointments. When implemented the results were startling:

• Contrary to popular belief, physicians were fine with the guarantee of same day appointments
• Revenue increased by almost 10%
• After 6 months average appointment wait time was reduced from average 46 days to 5 days
• No show rates reduced from 56% to 19%
• New patients per month increased from 78 to 95

Needless to say, the results were so amazing that Jefferson County adopted the same-day scheduling system.

Clearly, medical practices can create considerable value by enabling patients to see the doctor promptly by improving existing appointment scheduling systems. I believe DocAsap would prove to be a prominent open access mechanism that would create value for both doctors and patients.