The only patient-initiated touchpoint is appointment booking requests.
Mikata offers the ability for patients to request/book their appointments online. Patients will access a booking chat and respond to questions about their appointment (e.g., what are you booking the appointment for?). Chats can be customized to include different questions based on the patient's responses. For example, if a patient is booking an appointment for an office visit they will enter a different chat flow than a patient booking for a mental health follow-up.
There are a few ways to give patients access to the booking chatbot:
A QR code that patients can scan to access the chat.
A widget that can be attached to your website for patients to click on and access the chat.
A link to the booking chat, which patients can request by texting your clinic's designated Mikata number.
The patient can access the chat and enter the information that you need to book their appointment.
Chats are completely customizable, so you can get the information you need!
There are 3 different types of booking chatbots available in Mikata:
Basic appointment requests
The patient selects a general day of the week and time of day (am or pm) that works best for them. Your team then reviews the request and books the patient into the EMR based on their preferences (if possible).
Mikata's basic appointment requests are a default in the booking chatbot. If a patient is completing an advanced request or autobooking and they are unable to find a time that works for them, they will be bumped into a basic appointment chat.
Advanced appointment requests
The patient selects up to 5 specific days and times for their appointment. Your team then reviews the request and books the patient into the EMR based on their selections (if possible).
Autobooking
Autobooking enables patients to select an appointment time from available times in your EMR schedule, and then book their appointment directly into your EMR schedule without requiring review or approval from your team.
IMPORTANT: Depending on your EMR, autobooking will only work for patients who have an existing chart in your EMR. You can further restrict this to patients who have a primary provider designated in their chart. Patients who do not have a chart (or a primary provider, if you've added that restriction) will be redirected from autobooking to a basic appointment request.
You can mix-and-match booking options, giving you the ultimate flexibility over how patients book appointments!
E.g., you can use basic appointment requests for some appointments, while enabling autobooking or advanced booking for others.
For more information about appointment booking visit the Appointment Requests section.
An example of an automated reminder touchpoint is shown below:
Text message: The patient receives a text message about their appointment with a link to their appointment hub.
Appointment hub: When the patient opens the link attached to the text message, they will be taken to the appointment hub. Here they can view information about their appointment, complete any forms, read instructions, and confirm or request to cancel/reschedule their appointment.
Chat form: If the patient has any forms to complete, they can complete a chat to collect information for their appointment.
The appointment hub is where patients can view information about their appointment, complete any forms, read instructions, and confirm or request to cancel/reschedule their appointment. The hub is completely customizable to your needs.
There are 3 sections of the appointment hub:
The appointment section includes basic information about the appointment. This can include the date, and location for the appointment, as well as the patient name.* The appointment section is also where patients confirm or request to reschedule/cancel their appointment.
*We know that sometimes having the same phone number for multiple patients can cause confusion about who the appointment is for. That's why we've included the ability to add the patient name to the appointment section of the hub!
By default, this feature is deactivated in our system until we have explicit consent from the clinic to include a patient's first name.
This section is where you can include any instructions, forms, or tasks that you want patients to complete before their appointment.
Once the patient has looked through the tasks, the appointment hub will update to show "Completed".
When the patient scrolls down in the appointment hub, they will be able to see more details. This section can be customized to include any information that may be helpful for patients.
For example, we can customize this section to show specific information about parking instructions, location details, or if it's a phone call appointment, we can let patients know to be in a quiet area.
Direct messages
Clinic staff can send messages to patients directly through Mikata using this type of touchpoint.
These touchpoints can include instructions and forms, and can be based on a template or written from scratch.
Campaign messages
Clinics can send out custom messages to a list of patient using this touchpoint. Campaign messages can be used to share any number of updates including:
New doctors
New services
Vaccine availability
Doctors leaving
Last minute changes to care (e.g., appointment delays or cancellations due to weather or personal emergencies)
For more information about campaigns, visit the Campaigns section.
For more information about direct messages, visit the Appointments > Clinic-Initiated Direct Messages section.
Automatically send patients information, and help them complete tasks at specific moments before, during, and after appointments.
Touchpoints start as a text or email message and include a link to the patient's online 'appointment hub'.
The hub enables patients to securely view information, take actions (e.g., confirm, request to cancel/reschedule, check-in), and complete tasks (e.g., prep instructions, fill in forms).
Reminders
In this touchpoint, patients will receive an automated reminder about their appointment.
Check-ins
In this touchpoint, patients receive a notification before the appointment asking them to check in.
Follow-up
In this touchpoint, patients receive a follow-up message after their appointment.
Booking notifications
In this touchpoint, patients receive a booking confirmation message for their appointment.
You can customize:
When a touchpoint is sent:
Upon booking
X days, hours, minutes before the appointment
X days, hours, minutes after the appointment
What the text/email says:
NOTE: Text messages are limited to 160 characters
What information the patient can view on the hub:
Patient first name
Date, time
Location name
Location phone number
Location address
Policies
What actions and tasks the patient can complete on the hub:
Confirm, request to cancel/reschedule, check-in
Preps, forms, etc.
An appointment journey consists of one or more automated touchpoints, triggered by the appointment's location, provider, and/or reason.
Appointment journeys enable you to create highly customized experiences for patients, ensuring they receive just the right information at just the right time.
For example, you could create a journey for new patients that includes a new patient intake form in their pre-appointment touchpoints and a follow-up satisfaction survey with a prompt to rebook in a post-appointment touchpoint.
Or, for patients with mental health appointments, you could configure pre-appointment touchpoints that include mental health questionnaires (e.g., PHQ-9, GAD-7), and post-appointment touchpoints that include follow-up questions about their symptoms and progress.
The possibilities are endless!
By default, patients are enrolled in a base (i.e., default) journey for your clinic unless their appointment location, provider, and/or reason triggers another journey.
For more information about appointment journeys and automated touchpoints visit the Appointment Journeys section.