Accurx Self-Book is no longer free. Now what?
On 30th June, NHS England funding for Accurx Self-Book is coming to an end.
That means that to continue using it, individual practices and/or ICBs will need to pay extra for it. If they don’t then in little over a month, many will lose the ability to offer appointment self-booking to their patients.
Worried?
Don’t be.
Did you know that Patchs offers the same Self-Booking feature as Accurx? What’s more, it’s free to all current Patchs practices – and available at just a fraction of the cost of Accurx to those practices choosing to join Patchs now.
In this article, we’ll explain a bit more about how Appointment Self-Booking with Patchs works, and why practices should be using it.
Introduction to Patchs Appointment Self-Booking
Patchs Appointment Self-Booking is designed to:
- Save practice staff time by reducing the manual processes involved in scheduling appointments with patients
- Increase patient satisfaction by providing them with a range of appointment slots, that can easily be booked into online.
With Patchs Appointment Self-Booking, staff can send individual patients and/or large cohorts of patients self-booking invitations via SMS or email. Each invitation contains a unique link, enabling the patient to select and book an appointment slot that suits their schedule, up to six weeks in advance.
What is Patchs Appointment Self-Booking?
Self-Booking allows GP practices to:
- Simultaneously invite large cohorts of patients to book an appointment (especially useful during vaccination campaigns)
- Offer patients a range of appointment slots to choose from through a link sent directly to the patient through SMS or email
Self-Booking means that:
- Practices don’t need to telephone patients to complete the booking process, saving huge amounts of time
- Patients can choose a slot that fits their own schedules, increasing patient satisfaction
How does Self-Booking work?
- Invited patients receive an email/SMS containing a unique booking link
- Patients click on the link and are asked to verify their identity by entering their date of birth
- The patient then chooses a time slot, up to six weeks in advance, that works for them
- Once the patient confirms their appointment, they are automatically booked into the practice’s clinical appointment book in EMIS or SystmOne
Especially useful to GP practice staff during vaccination campaigns, Patchs Appointment Self-Booking helps reception staff to save huge amounts of time, because they don’t have to complete patient bookings on the telephone line.
Key advantages of Self-Booking
⭐ Saves huge amounts of time
⭐ Streamlines workflows
⭐ Reduces manual processes involved in scheduling appointments
⭐ Frees up phone lines, as patients can book online
⭐ Results in fewer ‘Did Not Attend’s for GP practices
⭐ Decreases staff stress
⭐ Cheaper than Accurx (pricing starts from: FREE)
Getting started with Patchs Appointment Self-Booking
Patchs Appointment Self-Booking feature is integrated with both EMIS and SystmOne. To use it, practices first need to enable it from their Feature Settings page:
Once enabled, practices are able to send Self-Book invitations to both individual patients, via the Patchs Toolbar, or to whole cohorts of patients, via Patchs Bulk Messaging.
What Patients See
When a staff member sends a patient an Appointment Self-Booking invitation, patients receive a message notification by SMS or email, depending on how staff have chosen to send the message. The patient should then follow the instructions on-screen to select an appointment.
Once the patient has confirmed their choice, their appointment will appear in the practice’s clinical system’s appointment book.
Convinced and want to switch?
Great choice. Remember, NHSE funding for Accurx accuBook and Accurx Self-Book is ending on 30th June, so we recommend getting started with Patchs Appointment Self-Booking now.
Pricing
Patchs’ Self-Booking feature is free to current Patchs practices.
For those practices joining Patchs now, it’s available at just a fraction of the cost of Accurx:
- 25p per patient per year for Patchs’ full suite of features
- 12p per patient per year for outgoing messaging only
Right now, we’re offering new practices a 3-month free Patchs trial: email us to claim.
Remember, if your practice is already a Patchs user, Patchs Appointment Self-Booking is available to you at no extra cost.
To learn more about Patchs Appointment Self-Booking, or if you want to claim the free 3-month Patchs trial for your practice, drop us an email.
