Methodist is the first health care provider in the Houston area to offer this service. In addition to registering for procedures, patients can obtain a physician referral or schedule doctor's appointments. Steve Gilbert, Methodist manager of admitting services and patient registration, said online registration expands the options patients have for accessing health care and can eliminate an extra trip to the hospital before surgery. We see this as a way to improve the patient's health care experience. When they're ready to access the system, we're ready to serve them.
Prospective patients receive an immediate confirmation that their e-mail has been received.
Staff members in the scheduling office open e-mails throughout the day and as soon as they arrive each morning. They verify information with a doctor and schedule the procedure time. Patients receive appointment confirmation within 24 hours. Methodist Health Care System webmaster Erin Skelley said that only about eight percent of hospitals and clinics in the United States offer online registration for doctor's appointments and even fewer offer online registration for hospital procedures. The Methodist web site logs approximately 130,000 visits each month.