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 SMS messages, push notifications to the patients HotDoc app and emails, replacing manual calling and saving your staff time and effort
• Save your clinic money on sending letters as sending SMS, push notifications & email are more cost efficient
• Update the patient record automatically with the HotDoc contact attempts, saving time and effort to create a manual note for accreditation
• Encouraging your patients to make a booking with their usual practitioner to follow up on their results

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 SMS, push notification & email 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 to open their result message, 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 GP_Clinic) or a shortened version of your clinic's name. In the case of the example below, the sender is called 'GenMedical': 

• Email Recalls will be sent 'From your clinic' with both the patients first name, and your clinics name in the subject line letting them know they have a results message. In the case of the example below, the patient is '' and the sender is '':

• Once the patient clicks the push notification or opens the link in the SMS, they will need to verify their surname and date of birth before they can view the message. 
  
  

  Verify details

  View their result message

  If you've enabled doctor comments to be visible to the patient

  
  
• HotDoc sends the SMN to the mobile number, or email to email address; listed on the patient record associated with the result.
  
  
• The message copy we use for recalls is 'health 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 SMS, push notification & email.

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 as well as if you want results to send on public holidays.
   • See Configuring when your Recalls will send to learn more.
     
     
2. Confirm if you would like HotDoc to restrict sending messages to 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 SMS/Email communication.
   • If you believe your patient database is not up to date (or that updating SMS/Email 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 software. 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.
     
6. Show practitioners comments on a patients result and correspondence in the HotDoc Dashboard
   • This allows us to sync when a practitioner leaves a 'comment' when checking a result in their practice software, and to appear in the patients 'result activity' to give you visibility.
   • See How to display doctor comments in a patients result message and in HotDoc for more information. 
      

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 or 'No action' 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 to view the template settings. Here you can edit:
   
   1. Template name
   2. The contact attempts we'll send to the patient (Remind patients via)
   3. The copy in the patient's message
   4. Add a direct booking link to the message
   5. Option for HotDoc to send the recall automatically once we sync this
   6. When HotDoc should stop sending the recall to the patient (if they book an appointment or read recall)
   7. Add practitioners comments left when checking a result, to the patient's message

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5. Maintaining your Results

The Recalls Summary section takes you through the actions we recommend to stay on top of your recalls activity and keep your HotDoc Recalls up to date.

• You can find this by going to Recalls > Summary 
• We recommend you check the Recalls Summary section in the Dashboard at least once a week.
• If regularly maintained, the checklist won't take much time to complete and will ensure your patients are being notified efficiently.

We recommend that this guide is passed on to all members of your team who will help to manage your results. 

6. 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: How do I action my Results? (Action checklist)
  
  
• If you want to read more about displaying doctors comments in the HotDoc Dashboard and in a patients result message, please see: How to display doctor comments in a patients result message and in HotDoc
  
• Get familiar with the template settings and the information within these by checking out: How to add, edit and remove Recall Templates
  
  
• Make sure your reception team are across HotDoc Recalls so they can assist with educating your patients by showing them the videos and resources in the Support Centre section: Using Recalls (Clinical Reminders) & Results 
  

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.