Concern: “I’ll lose control of my schedule with unnecessary bookings”

This concern usually stems from worries that patients might book too often, choose the wrong appointment types, or book time slots when that shouldn’t have been open. All of this situations would require clinics to manually update the bookings, call the patients and ultimately create more work. Thankfully with Ocean, you retain complete control over who can book what and when.

For example, with Ocean online booking you can:

• Limit how often patients can book (e.g. once every 2 weeks)
• Specify a minimum time between appointments of the same type (e.g. 365 days between physicals)
• Display only certain appointment types or time slots
• Prevent last-minute bookings and define booking windows
• and so much more!

Rest assured that with this level of control, Ocean clinics actually see fewer unnecessary appointments because the process is more structured. If there are patients misusing the system, you can even add specific restrictions to the individual patient.

Many clinics start with just a handful of time slots, a single appointment type, or a specific provider during their beta period, and build from there once they’re more comfortable. This way, it feels less like opening the flood gates.

Concern: “We’re already busy. This will just create more work!”

This is a really common hesitation we hear, especially with how many clinics are already stretched thin. In practice, online booking reduces the overall administrative burden and adding tools like online booking become a simple investment into future time savings.

Instead of staff fielding calls all day, a portion of the bookings move online, where patients can pick their own time (and even complete consent forms or update their demographics). That change alone takes a noticeable amount of pressure off the phone.

There’s also the follow-up piece which can get overlooked. With Ocean, appointment reminders are built right in. Once the appointment is booked, confirmations and appointment reminders are sent out without staff having to manually call or message patients. Fewer reminders, fewer missed appointments, and less back-and-forth overall.

Across the board, online booking has been shown to reduce administrative workload and improve efficiency for clinics, while also making the experience smoother for patients. Even small shifts, like reducing call volumes or cutting down on manual reminders, can free up meaningful time for clinic staff.

Concern: “Online booking systems are expensive and they lock you in”

This concern usually comes from experience. Many clinics we meet with have tried a booking solution that didn’t quite fit and it was both expensive to setup and then painful to cancel. 

At Ocean, free setup and transparent, clinic-friendly pricing have been our philosophy since the beginning. When it comes to setup, we won’t leave you hanging! Our team of technical support and practice consultants work directly with clinics to help map workflows, answer questions, and make sure their schedules are set up just right. Plus if you prefer to explore Ocean at your own pace, Ocean Academy has a full library of courses that walk through Online Booking workflows showcasing different features and best practices.

And when it comes to pricing, we pride ourselves for that fact that there is no fine print or usage limits to the number of appointments or bookings. You can review all the costs on our pricing page, and best of all there are no contracts. And finally, Ocean is billed daily so if it ends up not being the perfect fit, you won’t have to pay for a product you didn’t use.