HotDoc Results is a system that allows you to send a secure message to a patient alerting them of their non-urgent results or correspondence.  Results  handled through HotDoc can:

• Automate your contact attempts with push notifications or SMN messages, replacing manual calling and saving your staff time and effort
• Update the patient record automatically with the HotDoc contact attempts, saving time and effort to create a manual note for accreditation
• Increase patient engagement by encouraging your patients to make a booking with their usual practitioner to follow up on their reminder

This guide covers the essentials of setting up your non-urgent results and correspondence to be handled by HotDoc. Please complete all sections below if you are setting up or learning how HotDoc Results works for the first time.

1. The Patient Experience

We understand that using an automated SMN or push notification recalls system may be a different experience for your clinic and patients.

Reviewing the patient journey will allow you to be in control as you will always know what to expect. A strong sense of the patient journey will also enable you to educate your staff and patients, as well as preempt any concerns or questions. 

Alongside the patient journey outlined in the link above, it's also helpful to know the following:

• Patients can receive a push notification for their recall, and it will be sent by the name of your clinic like below:

For more information about push notifications, see What are Push Notifications? 

• HotDoc sends SMN recalls from a 'sender' that is either a generic sender name (such as Your_GP) or a shortened version of your clinic's name. In the case of the example below, the sender is called 'GenMedical': 

• HotDoc sends the SMN to the mobile number listed on the patient record associated with the result. 
  
  
• The message copy we use in the SMN refers to a 'result message' rather than the exact result the patient is due for. We have found that this language is most effective for increasing patient engagement with the SMN.

We recommend you share the above with your wider team so everyone is informed and ready to assist with any questions you may receive from your patients.

2. Review your settings

Now that you know how your patients will receive their result message, we can start to review the Recall settings associated with your HotDoc account. To access your Recalls Settings, log in to your HotDoc Dashboard and navigate to Recalls > Settings

Please review the following settings:

1. Confirm the time of day and the days of the week that you'd like your result messages to be sent out. See Configuring when your Recalls will send to learn more.
   
   
2. Confirm if you would like HotDoc to restrict sending messages for patients of specific ages. See How can I stop Recalls from sending to specific age groups? to learn more.
   
   
3. Confirm if you would prefer to respect your practice management system's opt-in status for SMN communication. If you believe your patient database is not up to date (or that updating SMS opt-in settings is 'a work in progress') you may decide to allow HotDoc to send to all patients regardless of the opt out status in your clinical software. Patients can still opt themselves out and you can opt-out a patient out of HotDoc Recalls.
   
   
4. Select if you would like to show the practitioner's name in your Dashboard view. If activated, this will show the related practitioner's name in the Results and Clinical Reminders list in the dashboard and also show to the patient when they're reading the message. Also, if you are offering online bookings, the patient will be linked directly to the related practitioner's booking page. We generally recommend that you turn this feature on as it's helpful for your daily workflow. See Linking your recalls to doctors in HotDoc to learn more.
   
   
5. Decide if you would like to sync Correspondence/Documents from your practice management system. See Correspondence Sync to learn more.
   • For clinics using Best Practice, if activated this will sync Correspondence In from the Follow Up Inbox.
   • For clinics using Medical Director, if activated this will sync Documents and Letters from the Actioned Items list.
      

3. Understanding how HotDoc syncs results and correspondence

HotDoc will sync results and correspondence into the HotDoc Dashboard only after a practitioner provides an action from their inbox in your clinical software. 

In addition to syncing the details of the result or correspondence and the related action, HotDoc also syncs and displays the following:

• Patient name
• Mobile number
• Date of birth
• Performed date
• Patient's next appointment date (if any)

HotDoc will group results by patient name and the 'performed on' date. This allows us to send the patient just one message for all the tests performed on the same date.

Example of a non urgent test result synced into the HotDoc Dashboard

4. Review your Template Groups

HotDoc Recalls is designed to only send messages to patients who have tests or correspondence with a Non Urgent Appointment action (for Best Practice) or Discuss action (for Medical Director).

For this reason, there are usually only two templates that will be available to use - one for test results and one for correspondence or documents.

To review your result templates:

1. Navigate to Recalls > Template Groups from the dashboard menu and click the Results Templates tab at the top of the page.
   
   
2. Click the Edit Template button underneath either of the templates.
   
   
3. Refer to Template Settings for more information about how to edit templates.

Example of the Template Groups - Results tab in the HotDoc Dashboard

5. Educating and training your Team

Congratulations! You have now fully set up and learnt how HotDoc Recalls handles your results and correspondence.

With more patients being informed by HotDoc Recalls, you will not only save time and resources but find more patients coming back as making an appointment that suits their schedule is easier to do. 

To educate your team and ensure they are ready for HotDoc Results:

• Please ensure they are familiar with the following guide so they know how to manage your result actions moving forward: Action Checklist for Results
  
  
• Make sure your reception team are across HotDoc Recalls so they can assist with educating your patients by showing them the videos and resources here.
  

To educate your patients and to ensure they are informed about HotDoc Recalls:

• Place HotDoc Recall Results information around the clinic and on social media. You can request additional posters from the HotDoc team or print additional resources here 

Go ahead and check out our HotDoc Recall Results Support Centre for further resources and to search for frequently asked questions.