Question

How can I block patients from booking online at my practice?

Solution

You can block or prevent certain patients from booking by creating Patient Alerts. These allow you to control a patient's access to online appointment bookings and Kiosk Check-ins. You can control whether the alert is used for Bookings, Check-in or both.

• For Bookings: any time a patient with a 'Patient Alert' makes an appointment using HotDoc, you will be notified via the Sidebar where you will have the ability to confirm or dismiss the appointment.
  
  
• For Check-ins: when a patient with a 'Patient Alert' tries to check in via the Kiosk, they will be directed to complete their check-in with reception.
  

You can now create patient alerts using the patient's last name and date of birth, or using the patient's mobile number.

See below for how to do this:

• How to create a Patient Alert using their last name and date of birth
• How to create a Patient Alert using their mobile number
• What is the Patient Experience?

How to create a Patient Alert using their last name and date of birth

1. Log in to your HotDoc Dashboard and navigate to Bookings > Patient Alerts > New Alert:
   
   
   
   
2. At the top of the page, select the option Last name and Date of Birth. This will bring up the fields you will need to fill in before clicking Save.
   
   - Make sure you enter the patient's last name and date of birth correctly as we will use these details to identify the patient
   
   - You can use the Internal Note to explain the reason of the alert. This will display in your Sidebar but it will not be shown to the patient. 
   
   - Select whether you want to activate this alert for Bookings, Check In or both.
   
   
   
   

   ⓘ Important

   When setting up a Patient Alert, please ensure that only the patient's surname is entered into the 'Last Name' field and not their full name.

    

3. All of your alerts will appear in a list on the Patient Alerts page, where you can edit or delete them as you wish. If the list is long, you can search using the 'Filter by name or phone number' search bar:
   
   
   
   
4. Once a Patient Alert is set, if a patient with a matching last name and date of birth requests a booking via HotDoc, the appointment request will go to the Sidebar for approval or dismissal.
   • If approved, the patient will receive a confirmation message.
   • If rejected, the patient will receive an email to let them know their request was declined. Note that the patient will never be told if there is an alert in place matching their details.
     
     
     

How to create a Patient Alert using their mobile number

1. Log in to your HotDoc Dashboard and navigate to Bookings > Patient Alerts > New Alert:
   
   
   
   
2. At the top of the page, select the option Mobile number. This will bring up the fields you will need to fill in before clicking Save.
   
   - Make sure you enter the mobile number correctly as we will use this to identify the patient
   
   - You can use the Internal Note to explain the reason of the alert. This will display in your Sidebar but it will not be shown to the patient. 
   
   - Select whether you want to activate this alert for Bookings, Check In or both.
   
   
   
   
3. All of your alerts will appear in a list on the Patient Alerts page, where you can edit or delete them as you wish. If the list is long, you can search using the 'Filter by name or phone number' search bar:
   
   
   
   
4. Once a Patient Alert is set, if a patient with a matching last name and date of birth requests a booking via HotDoc, the appointment request will go to the Sidebar for approval or dismissal.
   • If approved, the patient will receive a confirmation message.
   • If rejected, the patient will receive an email to let them know their request was declined. Note that the patient will never be told if there is an alert in place matching their details.
     
     

What does the patient see? 

1. When a patient attempts to make a booking at your practice and a Patient Alert has been successfully setup, the patient will be notified that their appointment request has been sent:
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. When the appointment is Rejected from the sidebar an email will automatically send to the patient informing them their booking has been declined and to call the practice for more information. The appointment status will update to Appointment Declined in their HotDoc account: