Online Scheduling Offers Mercy Patients Convenience

Patients have made thousands of appointments via mercy.net since online scheduling began in 2017, and Mercy now offers online scheduling for mammography and four areas of practice: family medicine, internal medicine, general pediatrics and OB/GYN.

Expanding options for online scheduling reflects Mercy’s desire to offer patients ease of access to exceptional health care. In just a few clicks, existing and new patients can select appointment times that work with their schedules, 24 hours a day, from a handheld device or computer.

“Online scheduling allows our patients to choose their own appointments, in real time, rather than having to work around us,” said Dr. Steve Goss, president of Mercy Clinic Northwest Arkansas in Rogers.

For several years, established patients have had the option of going to Mercy’s patient portal, mymercy.net, to schedule appointments with their providers. Through the online scheduling platform, not only can established patients schedule visits, patients who are new to Mercy can find a provider who is accepting new patients.

Online scheduling is particularly popular among patients seeking appointments in areas of women’s health care. Numerous newly pregnant patients have scheduled their appointments via mercy.net.

“Women are caretakers and often schedule appointments for themselves, their spouse and children. By going online to make appointments, they don’t have to wait or sit on hold,” said Teresa McCluskey, Mercy’s director of strategic initiatives for ambulatory care.

Mercy’s investment in electronic medical records paved the way for the health system to introduce online scheduling. Individual clinics manage their online appointment schedules to accommodate sick and well patients, and to keep wait times as short as possible.

Mercy will continue expanding the types of appointments available to schedule online, including specialty care.

To schedule an appointment online, go to mercy.net and click on “Find a Doctor.” Follow prompts to select your location, narrow search results and choose a provider.