Managing Access: OrthoSC Uses Technology to Open the Front Door Wider

// By Ron Shinkman //

How a busy orthopedic practice optimizes capacity and makes online appointment scheduling easier for patients.

Let’s face it. Demand for medical services today exceeds supply, partly driven by the nationwide shortage of physicians and nurses. Appointments for even the most basic services are often available weeks, if not months, into the future. For specialty care, wait times can be much longer. With these dynamics, providing timely care for patients is a challenge.

If your medical practice has the added pressure of being in a fast-growing market in a specialty in high demand, you need to be as efficient as possible to meet the care needs of your community.

Andrew Wade, CEO of OrthoSC

Gaining efficiencies to better serve the counties surrounding Myrtle Beach, South Carolina has been a big motivator for Andrew Wade, CEO of OrthoSC. “The realm of healthcare’s front door and how do we connect people with the right care at the right place in the right time is still, I guess, a fairly new thing,” he says. “But I think it’s going to be really incredible when we see the potential of it make its way into maturity.”

Competition is not the main challenge for OrthoSC. “None of us can keep up, you know, the area is just growing so rapidly,” he says, mentioning four hospitals in the area that also offer orthopedic services. The greater challenge is better utilization of existing resources, and that’s where technology has been a game changer.

To optimize capacity, give patients easy-to-use digital scheduling tools, and empower call center agents with information, Wade turned to Relatient.

The ultimate goal is a better customer experience. “I want somebody to be able to knock an appointment out while they’re sitting at a red light,” he says.

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