Booking appointments, either by phone or now online, is the direction Calgary Laboratory Services wants patients to go.
People who show up without appointments are having to wait longer to be seen because 40 per cent of people are already booking ahead, and that was before Sept. 1 when CLS started providing online booking, according to officials.
“We’re very excited. It’s a lot more efficient and we hope our patients take advantage of it,” spokesperson Daphne Kuchinski said, adding 3,000 people have used the system in two weeks.
Patients with appointments will be given priority over those who walk-in.
“We hope to have 80 per cent of our patients use the system eventually.” Kuchinski warns that mornings are the busiest time, but patients can be in and out much quicker in the afternoon.
