Sitting in the waiting room in a doctor’s office could be a thing of the past at an Okotoks clinic, thanks to a new app.
The new Pinnacle Medical Clinic in the Westmount area of Okotoks is using the new Skip the Waiting Room app, founded by Mark Richardson in P.E.I. a year ago. The app allows walk-in clinic patients to log in and book appointments. The app will then provide notifications when it’s time to get to the doctor’s office, all at no charge.
After a year of trials in the Maritimes, the application made its way west, and is now in operation in many locations through Ontario, B.C. and most recently Alberta, including the Okotoks clinic.
Richardson said the system was born out of necessity.
“I sat in a walk-in clinic for four-and-a-half hours one day, and I thought there had to be a better way than this, and I looked around and everyone had their smart phones out,” he said. “There were 30 people there, the doctor was two-and-a-half hours late, and I thought, ‘There’s got to be a better way than us all sitting here.’”
Having spent his entire career in healthcare IT, Richardson developed a prototype of the application and starting plugging it with local physicians and clinic owners in P.E.I. It didn’t take too long for someone to pick it up, and the system went live.
In its first year, more than 5,000 people have received health care via online registration, he said.
“Our goal is to minimize the amount of time people spend in the waiting room,” said Richardson. “You get to stay home with your family, or stay at work so you don’t miss as much time. You’re only asked to come in when it’s appropriate.”
People can register online to see a doctor, and will receive an automated text message or phone call to verify the telephone number, he said. When it’s time to come in for the appointment, patients will receive another text or call.
Those without access to technology or who don’t choose to use the app won’t be put out, he said.
“We don’t take over all the clinic,” said Richardson. “We never want to disenfranchise anyone who didn’t have access to technology or the Internet.”
He said a number of time slots are blocked from Skip the Waiting Room to accommodate unbooked walk-ins.
“I always say I wouldn’t want my 80-year-old grandmother to be at a disadvantage,” said Richardson. “We work to make that possible, to accommodate everyone.”
At Pinnacle in Okotoks, the system is time-based, meaning patients can sign up for a specific time, he said.
Robert Biddlecombe, project manager at Pinnacle Medical Clinic, said the clinic signed on with Skip the Waiting Room because it helps to streamline care and provides an extra service to its patients.
He said the application has been well-received since it launched two weeks ago.
“People quite like it,” said Biddlecombe. “They enjoy being able to have a guaranteed time when they can see a doctor and also pushing messages to them to say we have an early appointment, and would they like it, or that we’re running five minutes behind. People like that because they can walk right into an exam room right away instead of having to wait.”
Despite positive feedback over the past year, it’s been a longer road than Richardson expected to get Skip the Waiting Room to catch on across the country. He’s not done yet – he continues to engage clinics in every province to promote the app and streamline walk-in care.
“We plan to expand out to a couple more clinics in the next coming weeks, and then hope to go beyond,” said Richardson. “I can only imagine that Albertans like sitting in a waiting room as much as I do.”
