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Streamlining your aesthetics clinic processes

02 October 2022
Volume 2 · Issue 8

Abstract

Clinic software solutions are quickly becoming the way to manage your aesthetics business. Max Hayward discusses how software can help to streamline your business processes

Practitioners can simply list their treatments and schedule their availability, allowing patients to see when and where they are available

No matter what industry someone is in, a common issue for businesses always seems to be a perceived lack of time. Whether clinic owners are struggling to keep up with appointment enquiries or finding that their patient records are becoming difficult to manage, the introduction of a clinical management solution could be the answer to freeing up some time so that practitioners can focus on growing their business. So, the question is: how can a clinical software solution help streamline an aesthetics business? This article will focus on three key processes within clinics.

Process one: taking and managing bookings

Managing a diary, responding to enquiries and booking in appointments requires a lot of time and energy that could be spent elsewhere in an aesthetic business. Now, more than ever, it is becoming increasingly important that a seamless booking experience is offered, to reduce the friction for a patient when booking their appointment.

According to recent studies, the average person's attention span has reduced from 12 seconds in 2000 to just 8.25 seconds in 2015, meaning that clinicians have a shorter window to capture a patient's attention and successfully book their appointment (Hayes, 2018).

Below, let us explore current booking processes and how technology can revolutionise this experience for both the practitioner and the patient.

Managing appointment enquiries

Aesthetic practitioners easily become accustomed to trying to juggle multiple conversations with patients across several different apps. However, as a business starts to grow, managing these appointment requests can quickly become chaotic. Someone's message might be missed, or response times slow down. Consequently, this has a negative impact on a patient's first impression.

Once a patient's initial request has been responded to, the back-and-forth messaging begins to arrange a date and time that suits both the practitioner's working hours and the patient's personal schedule. This can become time-consuming and hard to manage.

So, this raises the question of what can be done to help clinicians work more efficiently, save them time and improve patients' experiences.

Introducing an online booking system

An online booking system allows patients to book appointments themselves through a practitioner's own unique booking page, which can be linked to the clinic's website and social media pages. A range of clinic software systems offer an online booking platform that is quick and easy to set up. Practitioners can simply list their treatments and schedule their availability, allowing patients to see when and where they are available, as well as the treatments that they offer.

The benefits that an online booking system can bring to a business not only save time but also improve patients' experiences from the moment they come into contact with a clinic.

» With it costing five times more to gain a new patient than retain an existing one, rebooking reminders help boost patient retention rates by encouraging patients to book their appointment «

Online booking can help to run a business more efficiently in the following ways:

  • Never miss a potential booking: according to Teckchandani (2021), one of the most popular times to book an appointment is between 4pm and 8pm on a Sunday This is likely to be when potential patients have the most downtime and are looking to book their next treatment, and if their chosen practitioner/clinic is not available, they could be losing out on this potential booking. However, with an online booking system, whether the practitioner is in clinic, taking the kids to school or even having a week in the sun, patients can view the range of treatments that are offered at a time that suits them. Essentially, a business can be taking bookings 24/7.
  • No need for back–and–forth messaging: the tedious task of answering all appointment enquiries is a thing of the past after introducing an online booking system. Patients can go to a clinic's website (or social media), click ‘Book now’ and be done. Their appointment is booked, a confirmation message is sent and the practitioner does not need to lift a finger. Patients can also reschedule online without needing to contact the practitioner. The typical expectation for business replies is 1 hour (Toister, 2020), so if you want to streamline your business and save time, an online booking system could be your saving grace.
  • Grow your business: online booking can also improve the growth of a business. In an industry worth £3.6 billion (Delgado, 2020), think about the potential patients currently looking online for an aesthetic treatment. Offering a quick and easy way for patients to book can easily increase potential revenue and help reach a wider audience that may otherwise have booked somewhere else. With the average person picking up their phone more than 1500 times a week (Hayes, 2018), a simple booking link could increase business growth significantly.

Introduce a deposit or booking fee

Sometimes, aesthetic practitioners can be hesitant to request a deposit in case it puts patients off or requires admin time to collect and manage. By using an online booking system, practitioners can automatically collect deposits at the point of booking, which helps to prevent loss of income due to no-shows or late cancellations. Some readers may already request deposits, but if this is done via bank transfer, it can be extremely time-consuming to keep on top of as patient numbers grow and, often, patients fail to pay, leaving the practitioner with an awkward conversation to have. Having a clear cancellation policy that patients must agree to when booking helps to avoid this and makes collecting deposits hassle-free.

Consider the current method for managing appointments and how this impacts the business (Table 1).


Table 1.
Paper diary Built-in mobile calendar Clinic software
No ongoing costs Can be accessed anywhere, at any time Information can be accessed anywhere, at any time
Familiar method for aesthetic practitioners Ability to quickly reschedule an appointment Full patient history is available at booking
No patient history can be viewed at the point of booking No automations are present Data is stored securely and backed up regularly
It is difficult to reschedule appointments Security of patient data can be compromised A small monthly cost is required

Process two: recordkeeping

From medical questionnaires and consent forms to treatment notes and photos, as a business grows, the volume of paperwork quickly increases, which adds to the pressures of recordkeeping. Professional bodies, including the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), General Dental Council (GDC) and General Pharmaceutical Council (GphC) state that patient records must be stored securely at all times. Indeed, Section 119 of the General Medical Council (GMC)'s code states that clinicians must make sure that any personal information about patients that is held or controlled is effectively protected at all times against improper access, disclosure or loss (GMC, 2000).

With a software solution that is designed specifically for medical aesthetics, practitioners can have peace of mind that all of this information is saved securely and backed up directly to a cloud-based server, meaning that goodbye can be said to the bulky patient record cabinet sitting in the corner of the room.

In addition to keeping records safe, adopting a paperless system significantly reduces the time spent completing treatment records during and after appointments.

Sending medical forms

How much time do patients spend sitting in a clinic's waiting area or room, filling out forms before they can go ahead and be treated? Sending forms such as medical questionnaires prior to an appointment for patients to complete securely at home saves both them and the practitioner time when they come into the clinic. It also means that clinicians can check their answers beforehand to understand their medical history before the consultation or treatment. With all medical and consent forms now stored in one place, practitioners can eliminate their weekly struggles of stocking up their paper forms and, instead, have instant access to every form they need.

Treatment notes

Once a patient has left their appointment, practitioners will start the process of handwriting all of the treatment notes to be stored in the patient's folder. This process can be one of the most time-consuming elements of the day. However, solutions designed specifically for medical aesthetics can make it easy to document thorough and accurate notes, without spending hours each evening doing so.

Practitioners can set up short templates of notes that they may find themselves writing over and over again for each appointment, which can then be added at the touch of a button. For example, ‘risks and benefits discussed, alternative options considered, no concerns at treatment’. These automated notes (referred to as ‘Snippets’ by Aesthetic Nurse Software) can quickly be inserted into the treatment notes and can then be edited per appointment for any specifics related to that patient.

These notes are then automatically dated and time-stamped to ensure compliance with professional and insurance requirements. The NMC expresses that any entries made on paper or electronically must make records clearly written, dated and timed stamped (NMC, 2015).

Before and after photos

Before and after photos are an essential part of a patient's record. However, they may not be stored securely. Often, the most common place that practitioners store photos, especially when they are just getting started, is on a mobile phone, which poses a data security risk.

To make sure that patient photos are protected, without spending hours transferring them to a secure hard drive, clinic software can be used to automatically store patient photographs in a secure cloud-based system. This acts as a back-up to protect photos from being lost forever, as well as protecting them from unauthorised access. Not only is this secure, but it makes it much easier to find and access the photos that are needed. In the event of a complaint being made against a practitioner, having these photos to hand in a timely manner is crucial for submitting supporting evidence to a practitioner's insurance provider.

Patient records

By introducing a software solution, practitioners can easily streamline their recordkeeping processes:

  • Forms can be sent to patients prior to an appointment
  • Snippets can be created for notes, making it easy to document
  • All notes are date and time-stamped automatically
  • Photos are uploaded directly to a patient's profile and backed up
  • All this information can be quickly found directly within the patient's unique profile.

Software designed specifically for aesthetics, such as Aesthetic Nurse Software, can take care of all of this for you.

Process three: keeping in touch with patients

Communicating with patients is a key part of their treatment journey. Think about how often you are communicating with patients and if it is enough, or whether current communication methods could be streamlined and automated for the business.

Pre-treatment

Prior to their appointment, patients should have all the necessary information they need. A brief overview of the appointment details and any important information about the clinic and policies should be sent immediately to the patient when the appointment is booked. A gentle reminder can be sent a few days before the appointment to prompt the patient about their appointment, reducing the chances of them not turning up or cancelling last minute. These pre-treatment messages are designed to make patients' experiences as seamless as possible, providing any relevant information that the patient requires before they arrive.

Post-treatment

Communication with patients should not finish once they have left the clinic. Introducing a follow-up message to be sent 24–48 hours after the appointment adds a personal touch to your patient's treatment journey. This is a great opportunity to reach out first and show that the experience and duty of care do not finish once they walk out of the clinic. This continuation of care shows patients that you are passionate about your profession and their treatment outcome, thus building rapport.

Reviews can easily boost a business, and the post-treatment follow-up is a perfect opportunity to request that patients leave one and support your business. With 89% of potential patients reading reviews before making a purchase (Carter, 2022), it could be just the trick to collect genuine feedback from patients and improve an online presence, thus advertising the practice to new potential patients.

Another form of post-treatment communication that may be considered is rebooking reminders. Often, patients leave the clinic and do not book their next appointment. Practitioners then rely on the patient to remember when they are due back. Clinicians could be losing out on a significant number of repeat bookings and revenue. With it costing five times more to gain a new patient than retain an existing one, rebooking reminders help boost patient retention rates by encouraging patients to book their appointment at the optimum time for their treatment (Saleh, 2017). The addition of an online booking link within this reminder allows patients to even book their own appointment.

Automating and methods of communication

The optimal number of communications sent to a patient can be hard to manage if this is a manual task for practitioners. However, with the addition of a software solution, these messages can be automated, ultimately allowing the practitioner to achieve more by doing less. Scheduled messaging at a time that the clinician decides allows for full control of what, when and how notifications are sent to patients. Furthermore, by introducing a smart ‘tag’ (name, date and time of appointment), messages can be personalised to each patient, which creates a professional but personal business image.

A preferred method of communication can also be set when automating patient messages. This can be whether practitioners are looking for all messages to be sent as an email or to only send reminders before the appointment to patients via text message. These two methods of communication stand side by side. However, there may be advantages to using one over the other (Table 2).


Table 2.
Text messaging Email
High open rate: SMS has a 98% open rate compared to email's 20% (Dohrmann, 2020) Cost-effective: the cost of email is much lower than other forms of communication
Timely: 83% of people will open a text message within 90 seconds of receiving the message (Dohrmann, 2020) Personalisation: email communications can be customised to include brand colours and logos
Manageable: messages can easily be found directly on a person's phone Character limitation: unlike other communication forms, email has no limit on the number of characters used

When it comes to streamlining patient communications, the decision between the communications is clear: choose both. When used in conjunction, emails can be used to deliver detailed information about a business, whereas SMS is a great way to get important information to patients to reduce the levels of appointment no-shows. Consider how your patients currently contact you to book their own appointments; they want fast and easy replies, so maybe it is time for you to introduce the same communications to them.

Conclusion

Streamlining a clinic's business processes not only saves time on daily admin tasks but can also improve the experience for patients before, during and after their treatments. An online booking system can increase the number of bookings that are received, automatic communications reduce appointment no-shows and sending forms prior to appointment can save practitioners hours in the clinic. A software solution can take care of all of these for you, and let you focus on growing your business. Remember: ‘time is money’.