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APPOINTMENT
SCHEDULING
My experience of working with a range of
online businesses has taught me numerous
things that are transferable to the healthcare
industry. With the growth of online trading
and the expectation of online convenience,
many service industries have had to adapt
their practice to meet consumer demands for
accessibility. Healthcare is no different.
Over the past decade I have worked with
major leading online brands and businesses,
including wotif.com, seek.com, carsales.com.
au, ninemsn.com.au, graysonline.com and
realestate.com.au. What these businesses
all have in common is their position as
major one-stop portals for online customers
seeking information or services in their
respective industries.
The hotel and real-estate industries
provide possibly the best examples of
this growing trend, with wotif.com and
realestate.com.au serving as both pioneers
and benchmarks in their provision of
exceptional customer service. It's a successful
formula that the healthcare industry should
not ignore.
CONSUMER CONVENIENCE
An online startup, wotif.com initially began
with the objective of integrating with
existing hotel-management systems, which
operate similarly to practice-management
systems, but seized the opportunity to meet
a market need ­ to streamline and simplify
the booking process for customers.
VIRTUAL
REALITY
According to
Klaus Bartosch, healthcare practitioners can no longer deny that
the change to online appointment booking is inevitable.
Klaus Bartosch is
Executive Chairman
of 1stAvailable.