How to prepare patient check-in with email marketing

Each appointment the patient schedules is a new journey he is about to embark on. During this journey, the patient goes through several stages until he arrives at the care with the health professional, and one of these steps concerns your check-in.

Patient check-in is a step carried out at reception, and if you use management software like Ninsaúde Apolo, know that it is possible to make the patient perform some actions alone even before arriving at the clinic. With the help of the E-mail Marketing tool, you can program the sending of e-mails and send, for example, the patient's registration form, so that he/she can fill it in in advance.

Before we continue, we need to know: Do you already use medical software to perform your consultations at the clinic? We invite you to get to know Ninsaúde Apolo, online software that can be used on a tablet, smartphone, or in the traditional way, on computers. Learn more on our website apolo.app.

What is Ninsaúde Apolo Email Marketing?

E-mail Marketing is a digital marketing strategy where e-mail shots are made to certain audiences. It is based on communication between the company and its customers, or potential customers (Leads). Despite referring to something strictly commercial, E-mail Marketing also brings other advantages when it comes to enriching experiences.

Because of its advantages, we can say that E-mail Marketing is a great tool to establish a healthy relationship with your patients and work on fidelity. Through it, it is possible to send appointment reminders, and informative content, among others that we will discuss below and that are important for the patient to check-in at the clinic.

To use this functionality, the system user must access the Applications menu, submenu Email Marketing. Then, right after defining the message that will be sent, you must fill in some fields referring to:

• "Header" - contains subject and sender information, for example;
• "Send to" - contains filters where you define who will receive the email;
• "When" - here you define when this email will be sent.

How to use Email Marketing in Patient Check-in?

First, it is important to know that you can create different email templates and save them for automatic sending. So, let's organize your ideas and set up an email for each situation. According to the settings you entered in the sending areas, emails will be sent to patients who fit that profile.

A tool available in Ninsaúde Apolo that can be used in E-mail Marketing is the Groups' function. You can create groups for surgical patients, physical therapy patients, or even professionals (a group called "Dr. John Patients", for example) if the clinic has several health professionals. In the E-mail Marketing sending filters, you can choose one of these groups, and in this way, the email will be sent only to patients entered in it.

You can also separate shipments by gender or age of patients, scheduled service, or even the unit where the patient will be treated. Other filters are also available, such as ICD and tags inserted in calls. If none of these fields are filled in, the system will send the email to all types of patients.

Now let's say that your clinic performs check-ups and that you have several guidelines to give patients before they come to an appointment. This is a good opportunity to prepare to send an Email Marketing. Check out our example below with the steps to prepare this email.

Introduction and Reminders

To start the email, you can enter a greeting, including the patient's name. For this, use the automatic text tool and enter the option "Addressee/Name", because when sending the e-mail, the system will look for the name in the registration form of the same. This action allows your message to be more personalized, creating a bond between the clinic and the patient.

Following this, you can inform the date and time of the appointment in this same email, so it will also serve as a reminder. You can use the auto text tool for this too, and the system will search for the date and time when the patient is scheduled, and such information will appear in your email automatically when it reaches the recipient.

Another automatic text option that can be used in this situation is the "Schedule/Registration Form". Using this automatic text, when opening the email a link will be available, and through it, the patient will be able to fill in the form that is linked to the software. Therefore, when you arrive at the clinic, this step can be skipped.

Following our check-up scheduling example, in a check-in e-mail for this situation, it is important to pass on all the necessary guidelines so that the patient can carry out their exams in peace.  In this sense, you can inform, for example:

• How many hours of fasting should the patient remain before the appointment;
• Whether to take a specific amount of liquid (water) before the exams;
• What is the most appropriate clothing for carrying out these exams;
• Other reminders are also very important right now, such as the documentation that the patient must bring.

Location

Many of the patients you usually see may be residents of your city or close to the clinic, but it is important to remember that many of them can also come from outside, and therefore need guidance to reach you.

Sending the clinic's location is a very important point, but don't limit yourself to just entering the address: Landmarks and even a map of the location are very helpful. The map can be generated through Google Maps, and from a Print Screen, transform into a Jpeg image. and insert it in the body of the email.

Other landmarks

In addition to the clinic's address, you can also inform patients who are from out of town, if they need accommodation, what are the closest hotels to your location, indicate a hostel, guesthouse, etc. Inform the patient of the location of places for a good coffee or restaurants for lunch, and that preferably stay close to the clinic, can also be good items to insert into your email template.

As much as running apps are super hot, many people still prefer the more traditional means of transport. And in many cases, when the patient is at a median distance from the clinic, it may be in his interest to know bus and/or taxi routes and stops.

How to schedule the "when" tool, for sending an Email Marketing?

When preparing pre-consultation informational emails, they must be sent at least 2 days in advance to the patient so that he can organize himself. The advantage of using Email Marketing is that you don't have to manually send these emails every day, because you can program them and the software performs the automatic sending.

In Ninsaúde Apolo's E-mail Marketing there is the option to send "From schedules", which, as the name suggests, sends it to patients whenever they have an appointment at the clinic. To use this function, simply select the corresponding option and enter the number of days before the query that you want to be sent. The system will look for the appointment information in the agenda, and in the defined period, the e-mail is sent to the patient that corresponds to the characteristics of the filters, that is, the sending configuration. In addition, it is also possible to set the time when the email will be sent.

After finishing the process, just click on Save and from there the emails will start to be triggered according to the settings applied. If you need to stop the emails, you can access the template you created and save it as "Inactive". In addition, you will also be able to edit them whenever you want, and after making the changes, just save them.

So, did you like our tips? Keep following the blog for more articles like this one, and if you still don't use management software in your clinic, get to know Ninsaúde Apolo.