HotDoc recommends that you log into the Results section of the Dashboard daily or more and check on your To Action and Unresolved screens. This ensures your patient's non-urgent Results are actioned within a timely manner and your patients do not encounter a delay in receiving their messages.
| While Results sending can be automatic, it is important that you check if there are any outstanding Results in the dashboard that need your attention, or if the patient has opted out of receiving SMS communication. |
This guide will take you through the various actions we recommend to keep your HotDoc Results up to date. If regularly maintained, the action checklist won't take much time to complete and will ensure your patients are being notified efficiently.
We recommend that this guide is passed onto all members of your team who will help to manage your Results/Recalls.
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1. Check for any Paused Results
| Action: Paused Templates occur as a result of setting a Template to manual actioning. Check for any Recalls in a 'Paused' state and select 'Resume' to send out if appropriate. |
If your Results template is currently still set to send manually, any new result HotDoc syncs will remain paused and will require you to manually 'resume' the result to start sending.
To view paused Results in your HotDoc Dashboard, navigate to Recalls > Results > Activity then filter by the status To action - Paused:
Select each patient's name, then hit Resume to start sending the Result message:
Alternatively, when you are ready, you can activate automatic sending via the templates section. See Pausing a template when a patient makes a booking to learn more about manual and automatic sending modes.
2. Check for upcoming appointments
| Action: Review any Results in 'To Action - Patient has Appointment' and check if the patient has made the right type of booking for their Recall. |
In your HotDoc Dashboard, navigate to Recalls > Results (To Action tab) > Filter by the status To Action - Patient has appointment:
If you are using our pause on booking feature, you will need to check if any patient's Result has been paused due to making an upcoming appointment which does not match the appointment type set on the template.
For this status, you can either:
- Update the patient's appointment type in your management system to match your Recall/Results appointment type
- Manually verify the patient's appointment by selecting the green Verify Appointment button:
It's important to check this as you will need to select Start Again if the patient has booked an appointment which is not regarding their Results. This will then start the communication to the patient.
Click here to learn more about the To Action - Patient has Appointment status.
3. Check for patients that cannot be sent an SMS
| Action: Check for patients who cannot be sent SMS via HotDoc. Choose to either remind the patient by post or mark as done and contact the patient directly via phone. |
Because of your settings, you may find that there are some patients who HotDoc is not permitted to send an SMS Result. This will be due to:
- The patient is out of the age range
- The patient not having a mobile phone number in their patient record
- The patient is opted out of receiving SMS communication
It's important to check these patient's Results as HotDoc is unable to use SMS to alert the patient to their Result on your behalf. You will need to choose to remind these patients by post or call the patient directly.
We recommend leaving a comment on the Result each time you call the patient, as this will then be entered back into the patient's file.
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Patient invalid age This patient is outside of your chosen age range for Results. To view these, in your HotDoc Dashboard, navigate to Recalls > Results > Activity (To Action tab) > Filter by the status To Action - Patient invalid age:
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Patient invalid mobile number The phone number on the patient's file is either incomplete or may not be a mobile number. If possible, update the mobile number on the patient's file. In your HotDoc Dashboard, navigate to Recalls > Results > Activity (To Action tab) > filter by the status To Action - Patient invalid mobile.
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Patient opted out This patient has chosen to opt-out of SMS communication. You can opt the patient back in if required. In your HotDoc Dashboard, navigate to Recalls > Results > Activity (To Action tab) > Filter by the status To Action - Patient opted out.
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4. Check the unresolved tab
| Action: Review the Unresolved tab to check for any patients who have attended an appointment but still have an unresolved recall in their file. |
If you are using our pause on booking feature, you will need to check if any patients have since been seen by the doctor but have a Result/Recall still unresolved on their patient file.
HotDoc will sync if a doctor removes a Recall/Result from a patient's file and will move this to 'Done'. Checking for any Results in the Unresolved tab will allow you to make sure the Result is notified and if not, provide a list for you to follow up with the patient's doctor.
In your HotDoc Dashboard, navigate to Recalls > Results > Activity (Unresolved tab) > Filter by the Doctor > select Print > provide the doctor with the list to 'remove the clinical reminder if it was discussed in their recent appointment.
Alternatively, if the doctor is unable to update the recall to notified, you can mark the Result as done. To do this click on the patient's name to expand the patient reminder details and click 'Mark as done'. See How to leave a comment and mark the Recall as done for more information.
If the Result was not discussed, you have the option to restart communication to the patient. To do this click on the patient's name to expand the patient reminder details and click Start again.
5. Check for new letters to print
| Action: Head to your 'To Post' screen for letters that need to be downloaded and sent to your patients |
The To Post section shows all Results which require a letter to be sent. Items will appear here if:
- The Recall/Result type has a template that is only ever set to send as a letter.
- The patient has not responded to the final SMS attempt.
- You have manually selected a patient as ‘Remind by Post’
To view these in your HotDoc Dashboard, navigate to Recalls > Results > Activity then select the To Post tab:
For additional steps on how to print your Recall letters see How do I print a Recall letter in HotDoc?