Phreesia’s New Appointment Accelerator Transforms Medical Scheduling, Reducing Wait Times and Improving Patient Access

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Phreesia is pleased to announce that it has launched Appointment Accelerator, a cutting-edge solution that allows healthcare providers to automatically fill cancelled appointments, reduce no-shows and improve patient access—all without any staff involvement.

Appointment Accelerator uses AI and a custom-rules engine to offer earlier appointments via text message to patients who may otherwise have had a months-long wait, filling schedule openings within minutes.

“Appointment Accelerator is an exciting extension of Phreesia’s mission to create a better, more engaging healthcare experience for patients, providers and staff,” said Phreesia CEO Chaim Indig. “Given that so many Americans skipped or delayed medical care during the pandemic, we believe it’s more important than ever to help practices improve efficiency to ensure patients get care faster.”

While other electronic waitlist solutions may take one or two days to fill a cancelled appointment, the average time to fill an open slot for medical practices using Appointment Accelerator is just 5.3 minutes. When an appointment is cancelled, the AI-based algorithm sends texts to clinically relevant patients with appointments already on the calendar. The first to text a response secures the earlier appointment and immediately receives a confirmation of their new time, with no log-in required.

Long wait times are a common complaint from patients across all healthcare organizations and specialties. Appointment Accelerator reduces wait times and improves patient access through more convenient communication—on average, patients are seen 18.5 days earlier.

Appointment Accelerator also allows providers to increase patient volume and reduce the lost revenue from unfilled appointments. Medical practices that use Accelerator fill an average of 15.6 open appointments per provider per month. The solution helps staff handle the unexpected events that can throw off a provider’s schedule and create additional staff work. When a patient doesn’t show up for their appointment, they receive a text message offering new appointment times. If a provider’s schedule changes, patients are similarly alerted and given the opportunity to self-schedule for a new time.

The solution can also be used to balance schedules across physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants, ensuring more patients can see a provider in a timely manner.

“With Appointment Accelerator, we’ve been able to increase our patient volume and save our staff valuable time that they can now spend on more patient-focused tasks,” said Danielle Socrates, Director of Performance Operations at Beebe Medical Group. “Plus, our patients love being able to easily communicate via text to get earlier appointments.”

About Phreesia

Phreesia gives healthcare organizations a suite of robust applications to manage the patient intake process. Our innovative SaaS platform engages patients in their healthcare and provides a modern, convenient experience, while enabling our clients to enhance clinical care and drive efficiency.