When launching a private practice, work calendars are an essential tool for organizational success as well as a means of ensuring adequate work-life balance. A 2018 Harvard Business Review study found that private CEOs worked an average of 9.7 hours per weekday, and conducted business on 79% of weekend days. (https://hbr.org/2018/07/how-ceos-manage-time) 

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That’s a lot of extra work time to manage. 

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As a practice founder, initial work time will be booked up making crucial decisions such as choosing the right business entity or hiring a bookkeeper for your private practice. Once the practice has launched, treating a patient appointment calendar with the respect and attention it deserves will make that precious time more productive and help prevent early burn out.

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There’s an endless stream of online scheduling tools to support a new private practice, allowing  clients easy access to appointment scheduling and, ideally, integration into their own personal calendars. 

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It’s now become standard for digital scheduling apps to offer a practitioner’s schedule listing so clients have access to a clinician’s schedule availability. Giving clients a flexible means to schedule an appointment is empowering for patients. It also allows a clinician to build their workload on their terms, maintain organization to work at a suitable pace, and prevent unfortunate circumstances like double booking clients.

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For the purpose of launching a private practice, clinicians must select a calendar method that will protect client information as outlined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act  (HIPAA). The calendar platform must meet business associate standards to secure a patient’s Protected Health Information (PHI).  

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Electronic Health Record (EHR) software platforms are the industry go-to for handling the systematized collection of patient and population electronically stored health information in a digital format. These records can be shared across different health care settings. Some of them include:

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Simple Practice: Simple Practice is a full on private practice management software system that includes integrated scheduling. Practice managers can maintain control over which times, services and locations are available for client access. Its automated reminder system allows practitioners to send unlimited scheduled texts, emails and voice reminders to clients to reduce the possibility of no-shows. 

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Acuity Scheduling: Acuity Scheduling is an offshoot of Squarespace, the popular website building company. It offers a simple user interface to show clients what times are available. Although it’s a commercial product intended for any type of business, it does have PHI security that qualifies under HIPAA. 

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Google Calendar: In March 2022, Forbes published a report claiming that Google was in the midst of allowing users to browse medical office availability schedules and lock in appointments directly through search. While that is still being rolled out, Google Calendar currently integrates with all of the aforementioned sites to allow patients to add appointments to their calendar. 

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Calendly: Calendly is a free scheduling automation platform that helps users create a time and date availability list to share with others. Recipients are then able to select a date/time that suits them. Calendly is popular in numerous industries, but it does not feature a business associate agreement (BAA) and is therefore not HIPAA compliant. 

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Ease Cal

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Each of the previous calendar scheduling platforms can benefit a private practice. Tiger Connect’s robust calendar selection can enhance schedule management. Simple Practice’s unlimited reminder option can ensure a practice is securing patient attendance.

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With Ease Cal, a private practice can provide clients with fast access to appointment scheduling and secure payment with a quick click. 

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Ease Cal lets clinicians create multiple appointment types for both patient and non-patient related appointments. Patients are allowed to directly book appointments with their clinician, and clinicians are able to set up and send custom reminders to patients with Ease. 

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The Ease Cal clinician dashboard allows a private practice to view appointments, both upcoming and previous, with full appointment details attached. 

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Ease Cal also allows clinicians to connect Ease Pay seamlessly, making payment collection a breeze. Clinicians can integrate multiple Google Calendars, allowing Ease Cal to monitor several calendars at once and build availability for appointments with efficiency.  

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Future features include customized calendar models and templates for branding purposes; a date range capability that will allow appointments to be scheduled within a certain time frame; and the ability for clinicians to block time off their calendar for vacation without having to remove or disable their calendar. 

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The Tools for the Times

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Taking time to consider a new practice’s scheduling needs is time well spent. Private Practices must utilize the right tools to ensure their private practice scheduling is on the mark. When making a final decision, a practice should prioritize client information protection, ease of access, schedule flexibility for patient empowerment, and integrated payment options.

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With the right calendar platform, clinicians can ensure the needs of their patients are met in a timely manner.