Online booking systems for dental appointments

The improvements in technology have made lives a little more complicated, but certain things are getting easier. Online appointment booking is now here and very real.

It was only a matter of time before dentistry entered the virtual world of online appointment booking. Many view this with some scepticism, yet it is time to embrace this new and exciting technology that can help the patient in the journey to seek the care they want. It is not about what we want; it is about moving with the times and giving the patient what they want.

Many patients complain that they spend disproportionate amounts of time holding on telephone lines trying to get through to a practice to book a new appointment; this tends to be reflected in patient surveys where patients are at liberty to provide feedback on their experiences and can be a source of very real frustration for all involved. If we empower the patient with modern technology to book their own appointments then much of this stress can be removed. The current systems are compatible with email technology and smartphones (Figure 1) and this gives the patient the convenience of booking appointments using the technology they prefer.