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Tag: email reminders

Telephone reminders

We’ve written before about the way in which telephone reminders can help to cut down the number of no-shows but it is always a pleasure to be able to report on a practical example.  Earlier this year the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust introduced a reminder service for those with outpatient appointments.

Since the reminder service started the trust reports that no-shows have reduced by a third and the trust is therefore expanding the service to its physiotherapy departments.  Using a mixture of texts and automated calls the trust decided to adopt the appointment reminder service as a way of cutting down on the 39,871 appointments missed in 2012.

In announcing the extension of the service the trust’s deputy general manager responsible for outpatients told the Wiltshire Times: “The reminders seem to making a real difference. I hope that patients find the service helpful and it makes it easier to cancel or rearrange. If we know a patient won’t be attending, we can offer the appointment to someone else. By making sure all of our appointments are used, we can see more patients and patients will be seen sooner.”

Patients who fail to show up for appointments are not just a problem for NHS trusts.  Health practitioners everywhere from osteopaths to physiotherapists and from beauticians to specialised health clinicians all need to run with as full a schedule as possible if they are to remain competitive.  Not only can missed appointments lead to delays in treatment times for the patients concerned and others, for those who rely on the appointment to generate income, every gap is a loss.  The Wiltshire trust estimated that for them each missed appointment cost some £108 and the opportunity cost charge can easily be higher for those in private practice.

It is hardly surprising therefore that telephone appointment reminders are increasingly becoming a necessary feature of health practice.  This writer has received reminders within the past few months from their optician, dentist and doctor, all of whom have adopted versions of the reminder system.  Set alongside a virtual assistant service which can also take calls and arrange bookings, even the smallest of health practices can move towards a fuller diary with fewer no-shows.  This in turn means that health practitioners can keep their prices competitive whilst maximising both their income and patient treatment times.

Reaching out

A study in the USA has revealed the benefits of automated telephone calls for patients with hypertension.  Taking a sample of 64,773 hypertension patients, half were sent a recorded phone message inviting them to have their blood pressure monitored at a clinic whilst the rest received no such invitation.

After four weeks it was found that 32.5% of those who had received a call had controlled their blood pressure against a base of 23.7% for those who had not received a call.  Although researchers did not collect data on measures taken by patients to control blood pressure it is believed the calls played an important part in raising patient awareness.

Certainly this study mirrors the findings of other surveys in the way in which patient care can be improved by a simple call.  Whether by encouraging patients to have a check up or replacing costly health visits with a simple call, the telephone is increasingly playing its part in enhancing health care.

One particularly successful way in which phone calls are being brought into the front line is in reminding patients about their appointments.  Whether issued via automated phone message or by text, a simple reminder can make a substantial contribution towards reducing the number of “no shows.”

This has two benefits.  Firstly it encourages patients to attend booked appointments and secondly it encourages them to notify the health practice should they be unable to attend for any reason.  With an early warning of a cancelled appointment the practice has the chance to book in another patient; thus benefitting the practice, the patient and boosting the overall level of patient care.

In our ever busier lives, it is inevitable that we will forget appointments from time to time and an automated phone or text message can be that vital memory jogger which we all need.  Health care practitioners from opticians to physiotherapists and even vets are using messaging for everything from a reminder to pick up some new medication or book a check up to reminders about appointments which have been made.  For example this writer received a text from their vet recently reminding them to pick up a fresh batch of worming medicine for a pet.

In summary, phone reminders can save “no shows, they can ensure patients receive the treatment which they need and they can help to keep health practitioners busy at all times.

Fit for the future?

The 2012 Hospital guide from Dr Foster makes very interesting reading.  The headline statistics about hospital occupancy rates alone paints a picture of an NHS which is full to bursting.  Against an ideal occupancy rate of 85%, the report shows that for 48 weeks a year most hospital trusts have a bed occupancy rate in excess of 90%.

This not only puts pressure on trust staff on a day to day basis, high occupancy levels mean that when a crisis hits there is little spare capacity to meet it.  So, the current Norovirus outbreak which according to the HPA is already 72% up on last year is bad news indeed.

Unfortunately for NHS managers the Dr Foster report highlights one major bed blocker that could easily be avoided.  Apparently 29% of beds are taken up by “patients whose admission might have been avoided if their care was better managed.”  This includes patients who are readmitted shortly after discharge, patients who would have been better treated in the community and patients who could have been seen as day cases.

The report does conclude that efficient hospitals can deliver good quality care but that areas such as missed hospital appointments, unnecessary admissions,  a lack of weekend care and keeping patients in too long (or conversely discharging them too soon) all need addressing.  The report also highlights the number of follow up appointments which could easily have been replaced by a quick phone call or visit to a GP.

When looking at outpatient appointments the report also says that “both primary and secondary care providers can take measures to improve the proportion of patients who attend hospital outpatient appointments.”  We have previously highlighted ways in which some providers are taking steps to address this issue, using simple methods such as sending appointment reminders by phone or text.

Patients failing to show up for appointments is an issue for everyone working in the healthcare field.  For health practitioners who charge their patients direct, a no-show not only prevents another patient from being treated, it also costs the practitioner in lost revenue.  That is one reason why an appointment reminder service can pay for itself in reducing no-shows and keeping treatment rates high.  Allied to a virtual receptionist service which can take calls, make appointments and even manage patient records, a health practitioner can concentrate on treating the maximum number of patients and providing good quality care.

Proactive phoning

A trial of a new telephone system has found that contacting patients by telephone can help to spot early warning signs as well as cut down on unnecessary hospital appointments.  The study into patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease required patients to input answers to a series of questions using their key pads with the results being analysed by doctors.

This regular contact not only alerted doctors to patients who needed urgent attention it also eliminated the need for some three hundred unnecessary hospital appointments, saving both time and money.  Regular contact also resulted in patients being more aware of their condition, enabling them to be more proactive in self-management.

In a way this trial is another step forward in the growth in understanding of how health professionals can use telephone services to improve patient interaction and fill appointment books.  Simple measures such as sending out SMS appointment reminders can not only improve the client attendance rate but will also prompt clients who cannot attend appointments to cancel in good time.  This enables practitioners to re-fill appointment slots and maximise time spent on treatment.

Similarly, taking steps to ensure that calls are answered helps to foster the client relationship.  We all lead busy lives and tend to steal moments from our day to carry out tasks such as making appointments.  If the call is not answered the chances are that the need to phone will slip from our minds for some time or that we will simply telephone elsewhere.  This is where a virtual receptionist service can be so valuable.  With the virtual receptionist ensuring that the call is answered on behalf of the health practitioner there will be no chance that the client will phone elsewhere or that an urgently needed treatment will be postponed.

Whether they be osteopaths or chiropractors, beauticians or physiotherapists, the one thing all health practitioners have in common is the need to maximise time spent with patients.  Interrupting treatments to answer the phone or blocking out diary time to remind patients of impending appointments is simply not a viable option if the practice is to run to its potential.  Calling on the services of a virtual receptionist service means that calls are answered, appointments made and reminders sent without taking up practice time.  And with easy to use diary software which is visible 24/7 the use of a virtual receptionist doesn’t preclude the practice making follow up appointments at the end of a treatment session.

Reducing “no shows”

A recent NHS report revealed that 1 in 10 hospital appointments in 2011 resulted in “no shows”.    This adds up to a staggering 5.5 million missed appointments and costs the NHS £millions each year.  Even if each patient has a genuine reason for missing the appointment, missed appointments have a knock on effect across the NHS.

In announcing the “no show” figures, the then health minister, Simon Burns, said “It is important that people realise that not turning up for their agreed appointments means other patients’ care might be delayed.”  Although the figures were down by 250,000 on the previous year they still have a significant impact on NHS services.

Hospitals are starting to employ a variety of methods in a bid to reduce the number of those who fail to turn up for appointments.   One project in Bedfordshire cut missed appointments by 30% simply by asking patients themselves to write down the appointment time and repeat it back to the receptionist.  Other health providers have started sending reminders to patients by text or e-mail whilst Newham University Hospital doctors now check up on their diabetes patients via Skype.

The problem of missed appointments also affects those in the private healthcare sector.  However with many services such as osteopathy and physiotherapy operating as via comparatively small practices, health practitioners can be torn between the options of treating patients or spending time in administration.  This means that inevitably patient appointment reminders are not sent, raising the chance of missed appointments.

Whilst some private health practices have a policy of charging patients for missed appointments these fees can prove hard to collect and may endanger the patient/practitioner relationship.   There is no point in trying to collect a missed appointment fee if that means missing several other fees in the future.

This is where a virtual receptionist service comes into its own.  Answering the phone, making appointments and sending reminders via text or email, the virtual receptionist service takes the appointment strain, leaving the clinician free to maximise patient time.  Interestingly a study in 2008 showed that those in the 20-24 age group are the most likely to miss appointments followed by the 25-29 and 15-19 age groups. The most tech savvy groups are therefore the worst offenders and a reminder system which takes advantage of text or e-mail could therefore have a significant effect.

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