Technology Tools for More Timely Appointments
It’s important for patients to have ready access to appointments for their health care providers, but at a health care organization the size of Nationwide Children’s Hospital, that can be a challenge.
Nationwide Children’s, the third largest children’s hospital in the United States, sees 1.8 million patients visits per year. Certain kinds of regular appointments with particularly busy medical specialties need to be scheduled weeks in advance. The wait can be stressful for a family.
Beginning in early 2023, Nationwide Children’s began spotlighting new technological tools that would allow patients to be seen earlier. Now, across the hospital, families who use these tools have been able to move their appointments up by an average of nearly 30 days.
A separate tool has also allowed families to save their place at Nationwide Children’s Urgent Cares before they arrive, giving them greater peace of mind.
“We are always trying to increase our patients’ access to the care they need, and we’re continually trying to improve the service we give to families,” said Chris Spencer, vice president of revenue cycle at Nationwide Children’s. “We’ve been able to achieve both of these goals. These tools have really taken off.”
The earlier appointment dates are made possible with the “Fast Pass” feature of online scheduling through the MyChart patient portal. While online scheduling has been possible for years, Nationwide Children’s focused on increasing the use of it beginning in 2023. Families can schedule online in three ways: directly with their current provider; through a “self-referral” to a provider they wish to see but do currently have a relationship with; or when self-referral is not possible, through a ticketing system that allows patients to request an appointment.
There were approximately 10,000 appointments scheduled online at Nationwide Children’s in April of 2024, 3x more than were scheduled in June 2023.
Fast Pass is a functionality of for online scheduling. Families may need to schedule an appointment weeks in advance, but through Fast Pass, they can be notified when an earlier appointment opens up because of cancellation for the most common visit types.
In January 2023, just 180 Fast Pass appointments saved a total of 5,380 days of waiting by patients. There were 779 Fast Pass appointments in April 2024, saving many thousands more days.
“We are always trying to increase our patients’ access to the care they need, and we’re continually trying to improve the service we give to families. We’ve been able to achieve both of these goals. These tools have really taken off.”
Save My Place was used 1,800 times in April 2024.
A separate technological tool called Save My Place (also available through MyChart) is saving time and limiting uncertainty for families who need to use a Nationwide Children’s Urgent Care. With Save My Place, families can essentially put themselves on a wait list. They can know the approximate time they need to arrive at a location and can potentially save time they would otherwise be spending in a waiting room.
In April of 2024, there were 1,800 uses of Save My Place.
Both Fast Pass and Save My Place have grown significantly in just the last year, and each month more families discover how they can be helpful.
“We’ve had great acceptance for both these among patient families and our staff,” said Spencer. “Everyone understands how useful these tools can be.”
Published May 2024
