Making an appointment via email

I tried a couple of years ago to do this versus a phone call and never got called back. Recently I tried again with a different clinic and two different attempts (now about a month old) with no response. Just curious if this has happened to others. Seems strange to me to have a nice website and this option and then not respond to email or phone number. Just my luck ?

It should be made pretty clear on either a site or during a phone call if a doctor is accepting new patients. Email is generally a terrible option for anything in medicine as the confidentially isn't there.

Are you trying to call during normal business hours? Are you calling a GP, a free clinic? You should be able to get an answer during normal business hours, I've never not had that be the case.

Is this for a REAL MD appointment or for what I think you mean for a MedFet appointment at a dungeon?

There are things email is good for. There are things it is poorly suited for.

Because making an appointment requires back and forth conversation about schedules, it is poorly suited to email. The person at the appointment desk, or the person on the phone get prompt attention. Email is worse than being at the back of a line. The appointment offered may be given to someone else before you respond.

Unlike Susie, I'm assuming this is for a real medical appointment.

While real MD offices who make appointments online can result in the appointment time you request being given to someone else before you respond, real MD's with appointment making options on their websites will generally respond in 24-48 business hours. Often the same day. No response for a month seems very unlikely in the case of real doctors.

My doctor's office recently opened up an online patient portal. I was looking to make an appointment this week for something I'm concerned about, and I don't have a lot of time in the mornings before classes to give the office a call first thing, so I decided to give the online appointment request a try. Filled everything out, checked off when I was available and what the problem is. I got a response within a few hours....BUT...the response didn't include an appointment. It just told me to call the office in the morning. I haven't gotten around to actually calling them yet. I'm just wondering why they'd make use of that online feature, but not actually book appointments through it. Hmm.

Brooklyn,

There may be follow up questions to ask you per the reason of your appointment that is easier to do on the phone.

Andie

I know a local eye doctor who uses an online request system. They get an e-mail ever morning at their front desk. They follow up ASAP.

It's happened to me, a real medical office with a doctor and two p.a.'s as well as a banner stating its name and 'welcoming new patients.' No reply. After a week, I called, and pointed out the non reply earlier. No comment. But, yesterday, my vet was able to send me a link to its site, my email in place, my two dogs' medical records and future needs, usually seen on post cards or paper, with the ability to set up an appointment. Yes, I'm an established 'patient,' but interesting how this can be done. For animals.

For clarification I was referring to real clinics both large scale and small. There was the ability to post what your needs and concerns were and that they would get back to you to finalize details. Again I never heard via phone or email. I realize a phone call would maybe be better, but since you need to do it during the day and I work in setting that one can be overheard I thought this would be easier.

J9999

If you must call during the day and don't want to be heard, take your cell phone to the privacy of your car during a break and make your appointment. Very Simple!

Car dealerships provide the ability to schedule the day and time of service, the service adviser and the type of services desired all in one internet session. No doubt the time will come when a patient will be able to select from a menu of procedures desired and book a particular time slot. Perhaps the medfet community will pioneer in this area. Employers will be able to oversee the examination of their employees at hire time and periodically through their work career.

One cardiovascular exam with burgundy stethoscope for Tim please!

I wanted to make an appointment for a physical. I called the office I go to and a recorded greeting said I could schedule an appointment online at their website. So I hung up, went online and filled out the form. 24 hours later someone called asked me a few questions and then connected me with the office I go to. They asked me a few questions and finally scheduled me. I think next time I will skip the online and just call directly like I started with and save the 24 hours.

The practice is part of a large hospital network. I envision some administrator in a meeting bragging how cutting edge they are with online appointment scheduling but it is not there yet.

The PCP office I go to gives you the choice of a voice call, e-mail or calling you on the home phone. Guess witht he e-mail, you have to send a message back to them informing them that you will be able to make the appointment.

I recently scheduled an appointment with a multi-specialty clinic that has numerous doctors using the clinic's online scheduling system. I wasn't able book directly and entirely on my own, but I did fill out and complete all the info.....doctor I wanted to see, reason for appointment, desired days and times for appointment.....and then submitted it. Within a couple hours I received an email telling me I had a message and to log into the online system. I did and I had a message with my scheduled appointment date and time. If I needed to change it or if set appointment didn't work, I could either reply or call.

It wasn't a perfect system, but I was kinda impressed I could do it mostly online with minimal interaction. Not that I was looking for that, but when offered the opportunity to schedule online myself I thought I'd give it a try. Worked pretty well, but I guess the next step would be to let the patient see available appointment times and pick one and know your appointment is scheduled in one online visit. This clinic does allow that for scheduling flu shots, so I'm guessing this may be the next step for booking all appointments.

I've had the same experience using a similar system to what jill2doctor described. I thought the system worked fine and it eliminated the need to wait on hold on the phone to talk to someone. Obviously if I needed to see someone right away I would bypass the email system and just call.