Should My Practice Offer Online Booking for New Patients?
Last updated: November 12, 2026 · By Kayce Sadler, Founder & CEO, Abode Marketing
For most practices, yes: offer online booking for the new-patient visit types that do not need a clinical or insurance review first, and route the rest to a fast call-back. Patients say they prefer booking online, yet most practices still see only a small share of patients use it, which usually points to a clunky flow rather than a lack of interest. The goal is fewer phone-tag losses, not replacing your front desk.
Key takeaways
- In athenahealth’s 2024 survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, 67% said they prefer to schedule appointments online.
- Experian Health’s 2025 State of Patient Access found 54% of providers offer self-scheduling, and 55% say patients are unsure how to navigate it.
- In a July 2025 MGMA Stat poll, 71% of practices said fewer than a quarter of their patients self-schedule digitally.
- Google Business Profile supports booking through a Reserve with Google provider or your own appointment link, but Google gives no performance data for custom links, so tag them yourself.
- Any scheduling or intake vendor that handles protected health information for you needs a business associate agreement.
Do new patients really want to book online?
The survey data says yes. athenahealth’s 2024 patient survey (1,000 people, fielded by Dynata in August 2024) found 67% of respondents prefer to schedule online rather than by phone or paper. Experian Health’s 2025 State of Patient Access survey reported that eight in ten patients want to book at any time from home or a phone.
The gap is on the practice side. In the same Experian report, 54% of providers offered self-scheduling and 55% said patients are unsure how to use it. MGMA’s July 2025 poll found 71% of medical groups had fewer than 25% of patients self-scheduling. When demand is high and usage is low, I look at the flow before I blame the patients.
How do I get a Book button on my Google Business Profile?
There are two routes, and Google’s help center describes both. The first is booking through a provider: in your profile, open Bookings, choose Get started, pick a supported scheduling provider, and it shows up on your profile within about a week. Google notes the provider may charge you for bookings made through Google.
The second is adding your own appointment link. Google allows up to 10 links per category, including “Book an appointment,” and you add them from the Booking section of your profile in Search or the edit menu in Maps. Two quirks to know: third-party booking links can appear on your profile automatically through partners, and you cannot delete those yourself; you have to opt out with that provider, which Google says must process the request within 5 business days. Also, Google does not report performance for custom links, so add tracking parameters to yours.
Should new patients book the same way established patients do?
Not quite. An established patient booking a follow-up already has insurance, history and forms on file. A new patient does not, so the flow has to collect enough to protect your schedule: visit reason, payer and member ID, referring provider if one is required, and a photo of the insurance card.
Here’s my take: open online booking for a short list of clearly defined new-patient visit types, such as a new-patient physical therapy evaluation or a standard new-patient office visit, and leave the rest as “request an appointment.” That one choice prevents most of the bad bookings front desks worry about.
When does a call-first model still make sense?
When someone has to look at something before the visit is worth scheduling. Spine surgical consults often need imaging and records reviewed first. Interventional pain visits may depend on prior authorization. Workers’ compensation and attorney-referred injury patients usually come with paperwork that determines who pays. Booking those blind can waste a valuable slot.
Call-first does not have to mean phone-only. A short online request form with a promised call-back window, during business hours, keeps the patient who found you at 9 p.m. from moving on to the next practice in the map pack.
What about intake forms and appointment reminders?
Put intake right after booking, not at the front desk. Send the forms with the confirmation so the patient arrives with history, medications and consents done. Automated text and email reminders belong in the same system; MGMA noted that groups with the highest self-scheduling shares were more likely to report fewer no-shows.
The compliance piece is not optional. HHS defines a business associate as an outside person or entity performing services for a covered entity that involve protected health information, and requires a written contract with safeguards. Your scheduling, intake and reminder vendors almost always fall into that group, so get the agreement signed and have your compliance lead review which tracking tags fire on booking and intake pages.
A checklist for a new-patient booking flow
- Pick the new-patient visit types that are safe to self-book; everything else becomes a request form.
- Ask for visit reason, payer, member ID and referral status up front, with an insurance card upload.
- Show real availability only for providers accepting new patients, and hide visit types a provider does not offer.
- Send confirmation, intake forms and directions in one message, then automated reminders before the visit.
- Give every booking an easy reschedule or cancel link so a no-show becomes a reopened slot.
- Put the same booking link on your website, Google Business Profile and each practitioner listing, tagged so you can tell them apart.
- Confirm a signed business associate agreement with every vendor in the chain.
- Review completed bookings, show rate and front-desk call volume monthly for the first quarter.
How do I know if online booking is working?
Measure completed bookings, not clicks. Set the booking confirmation as a key event in your analytics, tag the Google profile link separately from the website button, and compare new-patient show rates for online versus phone bookings. MGMA also suggests watching new-patient conversion time, the days from first contact to a booked visit.
What we’d check first before adding online booking
- Your Google Business Profile booking setup. Whether a Book button already exists, which provider or link powers it, and whether an old third-party link is sending patients somewhere you do not control.
- Practitioner listings. Whether each provider’s Google listing points to the same booking link and the right location.
- The mobile path on your site. How many taps it takes to get from a service page, such as your spine or physical therapy page, to a confirmed appointment on a phone.
- Conversion tracking. Whether completed bookings are recorded at all, and whether tags on booking pages have been reviewed for HIPAA.
- Reviews against the map pack. Count and recency compared with the three practices showing above or beside you, since that is where patients decide before they ever reach your calendar.
Related reading
Booking is one piece of a wider intake system; our guide on getting more patients for a Louisiana medical practice covers the rest. Therapy clinics can find clinic-specific ideas in physical therapy marketing in Louisiana, and our AI marketing guardrails for medical practices touches on privacy-safe tools.
If you’d like an outside look, our free visibility audit reviews your Google profile booking setup, mobile path to an appointment, conversion tracking and reviews, then shows where new patients are dropping off.
More owner questions we’ve answered: How Do Pain and Spine Practices Market Within Compliance Lines? · Can My Practice Respond to a Negative Patient Review Under HIPAA? · Why Did My Google Reviews Disappear? Causes and What to Do
Frequently asked questions
Will online booking replace my front desk staff?
No. It shifts routine scheduling off the phones so staff can handle insurance questions, referrals and the visits that need a human review. Most practices still need someone to watch the request queue and call patients back quickly.
Can patients book through Google without visiting my website?
Yes, if your Business Profile is connected to a supported booking provider through Reserve with Google, patients can book from the profile itself. If you only add your own appointment link, Google sends them to that page to finish.
What if an online booking turns out to be the wrong visit type?
Build a quick screening step into the flow and have staff review new-patient bookings each morning. Calling a patient to adjust a visit is far easier than recovering a patient who gave up on the phone.
Should I let new patients book with a specific provider or the next available one?
Offer both if your schedule allows. Some patients search a doctor by name, while others care more about the soonest opening, and letting them choose reduces abandoned bookings.
Is a Book button on Google worth it if most of my patients are referred?
Usually yes, because referred patients still look you up before calling. A clear booking or request option on your profile helps them act on the referral instead of putting it off.
Sources
- athenahealth: How patients use digital healthcare tools (Feb 2025) — 67% prefer online scheduling; 2024 survey of 1,000 adults fielded by Dynata, Aug 2024
- Business Wire: Experian Health 2025 State of Patient Access survey — 8 in 10 patients want anytime booking; 54% of providers offer self-scheduling; 55% say patients unsure how to navigate
- MGMA Stat: Meeting pressure on patient digital self-scheduling (Jul 2025) — 71% of practices have under 25% of patients self-scheduling; higher self-scheduling linked with fewer no-shows; conversion time
- Google Business Profile Help: Set up bookings through a provider — Bookings > Get started flow, providers appear within a week, provider fees, no performance data for custom links
- Google Business Profile Help: Local business links — Up to 10 appointment links, how to add, third-party links can’t be deleted directly, 5-business-day opt-out
- HHS: Business associate contracts — Definition of business associate and written contract requirement
