Schedule a Retail Health Visit
Market: Family healthcare managers
Scenario: A 42-year-old family healthcare manager decides to schedule a retail clinic appointment. She determines the best location, selects a time slot, and completes the COVID pre-screener. After providing her medical history, insurance, and pharmacy details, she books the appointment. On the day of the visit, she checks in for her appointment.
Average Difficulty: Medium (max difficulty scores are mostly in the 20-30% range or mostly mild with a few intense steps)
71 Outcomes 0% to 51% Difficulty
Research Insights
The research suggests that customers face challenges when scheduling appointments at retail clinics, particularly in determining symptom severity, finding available time slots, and providing necessary information. Customers desire a streamlined, transparent process that minimizes time spent on each step, increases confidence in their decisions, and ensures a smooth experience from scheduling to check-in.
Job Steps
1. Decide if I need to seek medical care
2. Determine where to go
3. Select and reserve time slot
4. Complete a COVID pre-screener
5. Answer questions about the purpose of the visit
6. Provide info about medical history and drug allergy
7. Provide insurance, payment and pharmacy information
8. Book and Confirm Appointment
9. Check-in for appointment
Themes Identified
- Symptom Assessment and Care Options: Increasing understanding of symptom severity, decreasing assessment time, and improving confidence in seeking professional help.
- Appointment Availability and Scheduling: Decreasing scheduling time, increasing provider options, and improving ability to schedule multiple family appointments.
- Information Provision and Management: Minimizing information needed for returning patients, decreasing time spent providing information, and increasing access to personal health information.
Recommendations
- Implement a user-friendly symptom checker that helps customers quickly determine the severity of their symptoms and suggests appropriate care options.
- Optimize the scheduling process by displaying real-time appointment availability, allowing users to filter by location, provider preferences, and appointment type.
- Streamline the information provision process for returning patients by pre-filling forms with previously provided data and allowing easy updates.
- Develop a secure, centralized platform for customers to access and manage their health information, including medical history, insurance details, and pharmacy preferences.
- Provide clear communication throughout the scheduling process, confirming appointments, and offering visibility into wait times and check-in procedures.
Cautions
- Avoid overcomplicating the symptom assessment process, as customers want quick and clear guidance on whether to seek care.
- Do not limit appointment availability or scheduling options, as customers value flexibility and convenience.
- Be cautious not to overwhelm customers with excessive information requests, especially for returning patients.
- Ensure that any digital solutions prioritize data privacy and security to maintain customer trust.
- Do not neglect the importance of human interaction and support, as customers may still require assistance from staff during the scheduling and check-in process.
Outcomes
The difficulty percentages below represent the proportion of the market that finds this outcome difficult to achieve.
| Difficulty | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 51% | Increase my ability to schedule multiple appointments for my family concurrently |
| 49% | Increase understanding of who got me sick in order to understand how they dealt with it |
| 45% | Increase understanding of why I got sick so I don't catch it again |
| 40% | Increase the number of days that I can choose from to schedule an appointment beyond five days |
| 31% | Increase my ability to find a provider that fits my lifestyle [e.g., reviews, gender, education, age, etc.] |
| 30% | Maximize visibility into recently visited clinics |
| 30% | Increase visibility into available consecutive appointments |
| 27% | Decrease the time it takes to treat my symptoms |
| 26% | Increase my ability to choose a specific provider |
| 26% | Increase my ability to manage the issue myself |
| 25% | Increase the speed of diagnosis |
| 23% | Increase my ability to modify my appointment |
| 22% | Increase my confidence that I need professional help |
| 22% | Increase the accuracy of diagnosis |
| 22% | Increase confidence that I won't be exposed to people who are unvaccinated to COVID |
| 21% | Decrease the amount of time it takes for my pharmacy to get the order for my prescription |
| 20% | Increase confidence I will still be seen regardless of COVID symptoms |
| 20% | Decrease the time spent on determining if my symptoms are serious or not |
| 18% | Increase my ability to book an appointment at a clinic I've visited before |
| 18% | Increase my knowledge of when to use virtual care versus in-person care |
| 18% | Increase my ability to provide my symptoms to the provider before my appointment |
| 17% | Increase visibility into how long I have to wait until the provider sees me after I checked in |
| 17% | Increase my understanding if my symptoms are serious or not |
| 17% | Minimize my fear about my symptoms |
| 16% | Decrease my exposure to potentially contagious people in the waiting room after checking in |
| 16% | Minimize the amount of information required to provide if I am a returning patient (e.g., insurance, payment, and pharmacy information) |
| 14% | Minimize the time it takes to provide information I need to provide as a returning patient (e.g., medical history and drug allergies) |
| 14% | Maximize number of appointments offered within the next few hours |
| 14% | Increase my confidence my provider has the necessary information to make a diagnosis |
| 14% | Increase my ability to communicate my needs to the provider before my appointment |
| 14% | Minimize the amount of information I need to provide as a returning patient (e.g., medical history and drug allergies) |
| 14% | Increase the number of options to control what health/financial information is stored for me |
| 13% | Increase confidence I will still be seen regardless of COVID vaccination status |
| 13% | Increase my awareness of how long the time slot will be held for me as I'm filling out the online forms |
| 13% | Increase availability of in-person appointments |
| 12% | Decrease time spent on answering questions about COVID exposure/symptoms |
| 11% | Increase my ability to access and manage my information (e.g., medical history and drug allergies) |
| 10% | Decrease the time it takes to discover if the service I need is not available |
| 10% | Decrease barrier/s to providing financial information prior to appointment (e.g., insurance, payment, and pharmacy information) |
| 10% | Increase visibility into the level of medical training and credentials of the health professionals in my clinic |
| 10% | Increase price transparency for costs of visits |
| 9% | Increase my confidence that my selected time slot will still be available after completing my online forms |
| 9% | Increase my confidence that I won't be exposed to COVID at the clinic |
| 8% | Increase my confidence my insurance is valid and accepted |
| 8% | Decrease the extra steps (e.g., take my vitals) necessary to get care |
| 8% | Increase my understanding of what medical services are available |
| 7% | Decrease risk of losing my time slot while filling out online forms |
| 6% | Decrease the time it takes to provide my insurance card |
| 6% | Decrease the time I spend providing information at the actual appointment (e.g., insurance, payment, and pharmacy information) |
| 6% | Decrease the complexity of providing my insurance |
| 6% | Increase my knowledge of what is required for the appointment [e.g., health information, insurance information, permission slips for minors] |
| 6% | Minimize the amount of time in the waiting room |
| 6% | Decrease the number of steps when reserving my time slot |
| 5% | Increase my ability to access and manage my information (e.g., insurance, payment, and pharmacy information) |
| 5% | Increase the number of available appointments close to me |
| 5% | Decrease the time I wait to be seen |
| 4% | Maximize my ability to save all my information I provided for the visit |
| 4% | Minimize the amount of financial information required to provide before the visit |
| 4% | Increase ability to only be shown days with available time slots |
| 4% | Increase the number of available immediate appointments |
| 4% | Decrease the amount of information I need to provide at the actual appointment (e.g., insurance, payment, and pharmacy information) |
| 4% | Increase my confidence my insurance will be accepted |
| 4% | Increase the clarity of instructions of how to reserve my appointment time |
| 3% | Increase the number of alternatives when the closest location doesn't have an available appointment |
| 3% | Increase the time with my Health Professional/Doctor |
| 3% | Decrease the distance I travel for care |
| 3% | Decrease steps required to check-in for my appointment (e.g., make it easy for me) |
| 3% | Decrease the amount of time it takes to complete the scheduling process |
| 3% | Decrease the amount of time it takes to see available time slots |
| 2% | Increase the amount of trust I have in the health professionals in my clinic |
| 2% | Decrease the time required to check-in for my appointment |
| 1% | Decrease the amount of time it takes to communicate why I am visiting the clinic |
| 1% | Increase my confidence my appointment is confirmed |
| 0% | Increase my visibility into clinic operating hours |
