Disclosure: I’m not being paid to write this post but I am entering it into a competition with some great prizes on offer. All opinions are my own.
I do lots online and given the opportunity would gladly do much more. It’s not that I avoid contact with people, because I can be social and you’ll be told that I don’t mind a chat … but with three children, a busy household, a dodgy memory and a lack of spare time, convenience means the world to me, and online delivers the convenience I crave.
The web-based and mobile app appointment booking service offered by 1stAvailable.com.au just makes sense to me. I’d love to be able to book my healthcare appointments without having to make time consuming calls to the doctor’s surgery, the dental practice and the physio rooms etc etc. Life is never easy, but this service would make it easier – no more time spent waiting on hold, no more forgetting to make a call during a busy day and just being able to have some control over the whole appointment booking process in one easy place would be a dream.
Importantly though, a major reason why I think this service is much needed (and this point of view comes from having lived in either a semi-rural or regional area since 1989) is because the limited access that some Australians have to healthcare concerns me. Away from the metropolitan areas, the availability of medical appointments can be rare and snagging a booking difficult. An online service such as this would enable all Australians, regardless of geographic location, the opportunity to schedule their appointments with greater ease. And that outcome would have to be a good thing, right?
From head to toe are polka dots, to me this looks like Chicken Pox!
Currently more health care providers need to be convinced that their patients – that’s me and probably you too – would prefer to schedule appointments conveniently online. Once there is a proven and registered interest in this service, health practitioners will offer it because they’ll understand that it meets not only our needs but our modern-digi-age expectations too. It’ll actually assist health practices tenfold as receptionists become let loose from the phone … but alas, that is a rant for another day.
To reinforce this demand, 1stAvailable.com.au needs consumers (patients) to register for their free service and are currently running The Great Healthcare Giveaway - a competition with a budget-blessing first prize – they will pay the private health insurance bill for some lucky registrant – for one whole year! This is valued at almost $5000 and would make such a difference to the household balance sheet!! Well, it would to my household finances, so I’ve registered. And, as the blogger, sharing this information with you and encouraging your entry, I could win the opportunity to attend the Problogger conference later this year on the Gold Coast with my family joining me for the weekend. Sounds like win-win to me ;)
How to enter the Great Healthcare Giveaway
1. Click here and register with 1stAvailable.com.au – add your voice to the demand for convenient online booking. It’s free and you’ll only be contacted when a practitioner in your area comes on board with their service.
2. Encourage your friends, family and neighbours to enter – it will increase your chances of winning the 12 month healthcare prize plus help inch all Australians closer to a service that could make life so much easier for many.
Would you like to book medical appointments online? What do you do online already that you can’t imagine doing any other way?
Linking up this Tuesday with Jess at IBOT! It’s esstentially awesome – so is Jess, I’ve met her – and you can find it here - Essentially Jess!
photo credit: AZAdam via photopin cc