- Bookings
- Can my clinic use HotDoc for our COVID-19 vaccine management solution?
- How will patients find out if my clinic offers COVID-19 vaccine appointments?
- What do I do if my clinic does not have a booking button on HealthDirect OR my clinic is not listed on HealthDirect?
- Can we allow multiple bookings in one appointment slot for Dose 1 and Dose 2 appointment types?
- Will patients be able to book a vaccine appointment if they are not eligible?
- Will patients be able to book an appointment with a nurse and doctor at the same time?
- Will new and existing patients be able to book a vaccine appointment online?
- Can patients book their first and second vaccine dose appointments at the same time?
- Can we allow COVID vaccines to only be booked at certain times of the day?
- If a patient books Dose 1 and Dose 2 at the same time, then tries to cancel Dose 1, what happens?
- Does HotDoc have a waitlist option?
- Screening Eligibility Questions
- Forms
- Will HotDoc have a process of obtaining and recording informed consent?
- How do I edit my consent form?
- If patients are new to the clinic, will they receive a New Patient form and a Consent form?
- When will patients receive a prompt to fill in the consent?
- Will the consent forms save into my clinical software?
- Will consent forms come through to the Sidebar once submitted?
- Will the consent form be provided for both Dose 1 and Dose 2 appointments?
- Can a QR code be generated for Consent forms, so that patients can easily access the form in the waiting room?
- How will patients sign the consent form?
- Pre and post-appointment communications
- Reminders
- Stock Management
- Broadcasts
- Resources
Bookings
Can my clinic use HotDoc for our COVID-19 vaccine management solution?
Yes! Compatible clinics are Best Practice, Medical Director and Zedmed.
If you already use HotDoc, you will receive everything you need to allow your patients to book and manage their vaccine appointments at your practice. We will release our specific COVID-19 vaccine features soon and everything will be included in your monthly per-practitioner fee.
How will patients find out if my clinic offers COVID-19 vaccine appointments?
We will show which clinics accept COVID-19 vaccine appointments on our HotDoc bookings website and mobile application. If you have setup the COVID-19 Vaccine appointments and made them bookable online, we will apply a green ✓ COVID Vaccine tag on your HotDoc profile to make this obvious for patients. Participating HotDoc clinics will also appear on the National Booking System hosted by HealthDirect.
What do I do if my clinic does not have a booking button on HealthDirect OR my clinic is not listed on HealthDirect?
If your clinic is participating in the EOI, the following was stated in the GP onboarding pack: "You do not need to contact NHSD or HealthDirect. The practice information received through the registration process will be provided to HealthDirect, and they will contact your vendor directly to enable this to occur."
Can we allow multiple bookings in one appointment slot for Dose 1 and Dose 2 appointment types?
Yes! You can set this up in your appointment type settings by following the instructions in this article Multiple Bookings in one Appointment Slot.
Will patients be able to book a vaccine appointment if they are not eligible?
Patients will not be able to book a vaccine appointment online if they do not meet the criteria in the vaccine screening questions. This criteria will be kept up to date in accordance with government guidelines.
Will patients be able to book an appointment with a nurse and doctor at the same time?
Yes. HotDoc will have a tandem appointment option that will allow for nurses and doctors to be booked at the same time. Please see how to create a tandem appointment for more information.
Will new and existing patients be able to book a vaccine appointment online?
Yes. You can edit these settings in your HotDoc Dashboard based upon your preferences however, the preference from government appears to be not to prioritise existing patients. Please confirm with your PHN or key COVID-19 vaccine contact to ensure you would still be compliant if you decide to restrict booking access.
Can patients book their first and second vaccine dose appointments at the same time?
At the end of the patient online booking journey for a first vaccine dose, the patient will prompted to book a second vaccine dose appointment. We will only allow patients to book a second dose within the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) guidlines. This process is optional and you can edit this in the COVID-19 Dose 2 appointment type settings in your HotDoc Dashboard. See Vaccine Management features for more information.
Can we allow COVID vaccines to only be booked at certain times of the day?
Yes. You can allow for only vaccine appointments at specific times of the day by following the instructions in the article: How to customise your practitioners sessions.
If a patient books Dose 1 and Dose 2 at the same time then tries to cancel Dose 1, what happens?
The patient will not be able to cancel their Dose 1 appointment without cancelling Dose 2. They will see a message informing them to cancel their Dose 2 appointment first. Please see step 10 of The Patient Journey to see what this looks like.
Does HotDoc have a waitlist option?
We are currently considering this option however we do not yet have a release date for when this feature would be available.
When patients book a Dose 2 appointment, no availability shows up. How do I fix this?
Please review Why is there no Dose 2 availability showing online? for some helpful information.
Screening Eligibility Questions
Can I customise the vaccine eligibility screening questions?
The screening questions will be based on the government guidelines. If you would like to add a custom message you can do so in your appointment types settings. See Creating alert messages using screening mode for more information.
Will HotDoc provide vaccine eligibility screening questions in accordance to the government phase requirements?
Yes. Patients will be required to answer a series of screening questions when they make an online booking to ensure their eligibility. Please see COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility Screening Questions to see what the screening questions look like to view these.
Forms
Will HotDoc have a process of obtaining and recording informed consent?
Yes. HotDoc can send patients a digital consent form after they book an appointment. This process is optional, and it is not mandatory for patients to complete.
How do I preview or edit my consent form?
Once you've completed the self onboarding flow in the Vaccinations section, you can then preview or make any edits or changes to the consent form in the Forms section of your Dashboard. Please see How to edit a Form for more information.
If patients are new to the clinic, will they receive a New Patient form and a Consent form?
Yes. If the patient is new, we can also send a New Patient Registration Form at the same time if your clinic has enabled this to send.
When will patients receive a prompt to fill in the consent form?
Once the patient books their appointment, they will receive a prompt to fill in the consent form. This will also be in the HotDoc app under Current Appointments, attached to their appointment confirmation email and in the appointment reminder once the patient clicks the link to confirm their appointment. If the form is still pending completion, we will send patients an additional email or SMS form reminder.
Will the consent forms save into my clinical software?
Yes. The consent forms will be downloaded in the same place as new patient registration forms. See Downloading PDF form submissions to see where this will save depending on the clinical software your clinic is using.
Will consent forms come through to the Sidebar once submitted?
Yes. Any fields that could not write back into the patient file automatically will require your team to copy and paste these manually into the patient record. See Forms Sidebar Workflow for instructions including a video tutorial.
Will the consent form be provided for both Dose 1 and Dose 2 appointments?
If the patient completes the consent form before their Dose 1 appointment, we will not send them a consent form for their Dose 2 appointment.
Can a QR code be generated for Consent forms, so that patients can easily access the form in the waiting room?
Yes. There are a number of services that you can use online that convert a link into a QR code such as QR Code Generator. Simply input the URL link of your form to generate the QR code. You can find the URL link of your form by navigating to the Dashboard > Forms > Forms > Edit and copying the text found in blue.
How will patients sign the consent form?
Patients will sign the consent form through an electronic signature at the bottom of the form, eliminating the need for a print out and physical signature.
Pre and post-appointment information
Can I edit the pre and post information copy that is sent to patients?
Yes. You can edit this copy in the Vaccinations section of your Dashboard. Please see Appointment Communications for COVID-19 Vaccine Appointments for more information.
Reminders
Will HotDoc send appointment reminders for vaccine appointments?
Yes. We will send appointment reminders the day before an appointment, or immediately if booked within 24 hours. Patients will also receive an appointment confirmation email after they book their appointment. Please see Appointment Communications for COVID-19 Vaccine Appointments for more information and screenshots of what these reminders look like.
What will appointment reminders look like?
Appointment reminders can be sent either via a push notification, email or SMS. Please view the page Appointment Reminders for COVID-19 Vaccine Appointments to see what appointment reminders look like and how they will be sent to a patient.
Stock Management
How do I adjust my stock levels?
You can adjust your stock levels as your clinic receives more stock in the Vaccinations section of the Dashboard. Please see Vaccine Stock Management for more details.
Will patients be able to see if we are out of stock?
Patients will be able to see whether you are accepting COVID-19 Vaccine Dose 1 or Dose 2 appointment types online. If you would like HotDoc to automatically turn off your online bookings once you reach your appointment limit see How to adjust stock levels and appointment limits.
If I book appointments over the phone, will this deduct my stock levels in the Dashboard?
The available slots will be deducted when a patient books an appointment online and directly through reception or over the phone at your clinic.
Broadcasts
Will HotDoc provide a COVID-19 Vaccine Broadcast template that is compliant with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) guidlines?
Yes. We will provide an approved HotDoc broadcast template that is compliant with TGA guidelines that clinics can use to communicate COVID-19 vaccines to patients. This can be found in the Broadcasts section of your Dashboard.
There are strict guidelines enforced by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on advertising that your practice accepts COVID-19 vaccine appointments. We recommend you do not edit this Broadcast message or send it to your patients with any additional advertising material.
Changing it in a way that breaks TGA guidelines could result in your practice facing penalties. COVID-19 vaccine advertising must only include factual information such as whether an appointment is required at your practice, the location of your practice, times vaccines are administered, your opening hours and how to make an appointment.
Resources
Where can I find updates on HotDoc’s COVID-19 vaccine solution?
Please visit our COVID-19 Vaccine Hub to stay up to date with the latest information.