Essential Insights
- 75,522 ER reservations: Consumers across three divisions used InQuicker to reserve emergency care online, reducing uncertainty and improving ER experience.
- 54% were new patients: Online ER scheduling became a powerful acquisition channel, bringing first-time consumers into this health system.
- Scaled from 3 to 37 ERs: A successful three-ER pilot expanded more than 12x across West Florida, Central Florida, and Kansas, with Georgia next.
The Big Picture
A not-for-profit, faith-based health system headquartered in Florida, operates dozens of hospital campuses across nine states. As part of a broader growth and tourism strategy, the organization set out to become the emergency room (ER) destination of choice for the millions of local and visiting consumers it serves each year.
Emergency care is unpredictable, but the access experience doesn’t have to be. To make seeking ER care easier and more convenient, this health system partnered with Carenet Health to deploy InQuicker, a web-based scheduling technology that lets patients reserve a time to be seen, allowing them to coordinate around their lives and arrive with confidence. What began in 2019 as a three-ER pilot in the West Florida Division has since grown into a flagship “EasyER Access” program spanning 37 emergency departments across three divisions, with expansion into Georgia underway
Challenge
Today’s healthcare consumers expect care access to feel as easy as the rest of their lives, with convenient options, clear choices, and digital support when they need it. Even emergency care. This health system needed a way to differentiate ER access in highly competitive markets, reduce the friction and anxiety of an unpredictable ER visit, and capture new and unaffiliated patients, all without compromising clinical safety.
The solution had to scale reliably across divisions and states, integrate into existing ER workflows, and intelligently route true emergencies to immediate care rather than an online queue
Key Challenges
- Challenge 1: Meeting consumer demand for digital convenience
- Challenge 2: Differentiating ER access in competitive markets
- Challenge 3: Capturing new and unaffiliated patients
- Challenge 4: Maintaining clinical safety in online scheduling
- Challenge 5: Scaling reliably across divisions and states
Solution
Carenet partnered with a leading faith-based health system to deploy InQuicker online ER scheduling under the co-branded “EasyER Access” program — pairing digital convenience with built-in clinical safeguards.
- A consumer-first reservation experience
- Patients reserve an ER time directly from the facility website in 15-minute increments
- Confirmation is delivered instantly on-screen, by email, and by text
- Reservations can be canceled via a self-service link, keeping the dashboard accurate
-
Safety built into the workflow
- Intelligent keyword screening flags symptoms needing immediate attention and redirects patients to call 911 or seek emergency care
- The care team is notified of each reservation in advance, reviewing details and preparing the room ahead of arrival, so patients are expected when they get there.
-
Operational integration and insight
- A reconciliation workflow keeps reservation statuses accurate for reporting
- Post-visit surveys capture consumer feedback six hours after the reservation
- A real-time analytics dashboard surfaces visit volume, demographics, new-patient mix, and satisfaction across every facility
Results
Since inception in 2019, the EasyER Access program has delivered measurable scale, acquisition, and satisfaction:
-
- 13K+ online ER reservations annually — sustained reach across active locations, growing year over year
- 54% new patients — a significant patient acquisition channel
- 33.7% with no PCP — an opportunity to establish lasting care relationships
- 80.6% would recommend InQuicker to family or friends
- 84.3% mobile users — meeting consumers on the device they prefer
- Average patient age of 40 — reaching a digitally active, high-value consumer demographic.
- Scaled from 3 to 37 ERs across West Florida, Central Florida, and Kansas, with Georgia expansion in progress
By pairing the convenience consumers want with the clinical safeguards emergency care demands, this health system turned online ER scheduling into a differentiated access experience and a proven engine for patient acquisition and loyalty.
