How do I request a photo from a patient using the Phonebar?
The Photo Request feature allows users to send photo requests to patients, via the Active Patient or through the Appointments list
Photos can be sent back to the requester or, another user can be nominated to receive the photo. This functionality allows admin users to request photos for GPs
The Communications window gives visibility of all photo requests sent and photos received by the user
All photos are kept in the patient Contact History for 28 days and can be viewed from there and filed to the patient record if required
This guide will take you through how to send photo requests, view requests and photos received and file photos
Step by step guide
Sending a Photo Request from the Active Patient
With a Patient Record open, click on the Active Patient icon
This will bring up the Active Patient communication window
To send a photo request either click on the Photo Request icon on the active patient window to send the SMS photo request to the mobile number listed for that patient
Or, hover over the Photo Request icon for the active patient, you can click on the number in the list or type an alternative number/email address into the box and then click the Photo Request icon
When you have actioned a photo request the Photo Request (sending window) opens
Contact number
You can still change the contact number if required, by using the contact box
The default will be to send the photo request to the patient if no alternative name is selected
Photo recipient
You can change the recipient, for example, if you are requesting a photo on behalf of a clinician you can select their name from the drop-down
Message body
You can also add additional notes to the message body at the bottom of the photo request window
The recipient of the photo request receives guidance notes on acceptable photos and photo quality
When you are happy with your photo request, click SEND REQUEST
The patient has 12 hours to respond to the link before it expires
You will receive a confirmation notification when the request has been sent, and either yourself or the named practice recipient will receive a notification when the photos have been sent in
Sending a Photo Request from Appointments
From the Phonebar select the Appointments icon
From the Appointments window select the name of your appointment session from the left hand drop-down menu
When your appointments list is loaded, you will see the Patient details listed
Click CONTACT to open the contact options
Then, either click on the Photo Request icon on the appointments window
By clicking directly on the Photo Request icon the SMS photo request will be sent to the mobile number listed for that patient
Or, hover over the Photo Request icon for the active patient, you can click on the number in the list or type an alternative number/email address into the box and then click the Photo Request icon
When you have actioned a photo request the Photo Request (sending window) opens
Contact number
You can still change the contact number if required, by using the contact box
The default will be to send the photo request to the patient if no alternative name is selected
Photo Recipient
You can change the recipient, for example, if you are requesting a photo on behalf of a clinician you can select their name from the drop-down
Message body
You can also add additional notes to the message body at the bottom of the photo request window
The recipient of the photo request receives guidance notes on acceptable photos and photo quality
When you are happy with your photo request, click SEND REQUEST
The patient has 12 hours to respond to the link before it expires
You will receive a confirmation notification when the request has been sent
The Communications Window
The Communications Window creates visibility of photo requests and photos received from within the Photos tab
From this tab you can see outstanding photo requests you have sent to patients and any photos you have received
To add the Inbox icon to your Phonebar, open the User Menu, select Phonebar, and toggle on the Communications option
To open the Communications Window, either click on the icon on your Phonebar
Or access it via the User Menu
The Window is split into 2 columns; Received and Requests
In either the Received or Requests Tabs users can see the patient details when the message is selected
To search your Communications Window for a specific patient you will need to know the patient's clinical integration number (this is NOT their NHS number)
Once you have opened the details of the message you can View image, Delete or File to Record
To select an individual message click on the box next to the entry in the Communications window
Or, you can select All
Each entry needs to be clicked on to open the details in the right hand side
When first opening the Communications window and there are no messages (either new or accessed) we will show the message You have no messages under the Received tab
When you first open the Communications window and there are messages available but no message has been chosen, we will display You have no message selected
For more information, see our Communications Window guide here
Received
When the patient submits the photo the nominated recipient will be notified. This will either be a dot on their Phonebar Communications window icon
Or, via a notification dot in the User Menu
Any photos not yet read/actioned will have an orange notification dot next to them
When you select the Received tab from the left hand menu there will be a list of photos that have been submitted to you
Click on the box to open the message details, the message will turn blue and the details will be displayed on the right
In the right hand window you will see the Patient ID number, this is their clinical integration number NOT their NHS number, together with details of when the photo was sent (date and time)
Underneath is the name and Date of Birth of the patient who submitted the photo(s)
Below that, in green, you will see the details of the photo request which initiated the response; date, time, number request sent to, name of requester and any additional comments around the request
When the patient information turns green the patient has been selected
This means their record has been opened in the background and Active Patient contact is available via the Phonebar if necessary
You may receive one photo or multiple photos from the patient
If an image is old you will see a warning
Select the image and click View Image to view the photo(s)
When viewing the image you can zoom and rotate the photo
If there are multiple images to view you can scroll using the left and right arrows, no need to close one image and select another
Click the X in the top right hand corner to close the image
From this window you can select the photos you wish to Delete or File to Record
In the unlikely event that a photo cannot be filed you will receive an appropriate warning message
Requests
When you select the Requests tab from the left hand menu there will be a list of Photo Requests that have not yet received a response
These will be listed by the patient's clinical integration number (not NHS number)
When you select a request to view it will turn blue and you will see the request details on the right hand side
When the request was sent
How long until it expires
The user that requested the photo
The text that was sent with the Photo Request
The patient details including the standard contact methods
If the Photo Request has expired, a red triangle warning appear next to it. (These expired messages will be available for 28 days)
If a Patient actions a photo request, the request will not longer be visible in the Requests Tab, instead the response will appear in the Received tab
See our full Communications Window Guide here
Patient Contact History
Viewing a photo
Any photos submitted and not yet filed for that patient will be available via the patient Contact History for a period of 28 days
You can access the patient Contact History via the Active Patient or your loaded Appointment list
With a Patient Record open, click on the Active Patient icon
This will bring up the Active Patient communication window
Select the Contact History icon
Or, if you are in Appointments
Select the Contact History icon
When you have selected the Contact History icon, a window of the Contact History not yet filed for that that patient will appear on your screen
To view the submitted photo click on View photo
The photo will open in a new window, you can rotate it and zoom in and out
Any photo submitted that is more than 24 hours old at the time of submission will carry a warning triangle to alert you that the photo is not a new picture
Photos taken within the week will show the date and time they were actually taken, photos over a week ago will not specify the date and time only the warning triangle
The ability to view all submitted photos, including those where the User was not the direct recipient, is a default setting. This can be turned Off/On on an individual basis. For more information, see our Editing Users Guide here
Filing a photo
Any photos submitted will be available via the patient Contact History for a period of 28 days
If you file them to the patient clinical record they will be kept in your clinical system indefinitely and they can be viewed from there
You can access the patient Contact History via the Active Patient or your loaded Appointment list
With a Patient Record open, click on the Active Patient icon
This will bring up the Active Patient communication window
Select the Contact History icon
Or, if you are in Appointments
Select the Contact History icon
When you have selected the Contact History icon, a window of the Contact History not yet filed for that that patient will appear on your screen
You can use the scroll bar on the right hand side to move up and down the list. Calls, call recordings, messages, photo requests and submitted photos will be listed in date order
Select the communications you would like to file to the Patient Record, you can do this individually or file several at the same time
When you are happy with your selection click on the FILE TO PATIENT RECORD button
Once you have done this the clinical record will update and you will see all the filed communication history from within the patient record
The Patient Experience
The patient will receive a text message from the surgery stating that the GP has requested a photo
There will be a link in the body of the message that the patient needs to click on
They do not need to download an app
A window will open, asking for them to confirm their Date of Birth
They must enter this correctly to proceed NEXT
Once this is confirmed as correct, the Photo request window will open
This window includes general guidance for the patient
The patient can upload up to 10 photos or 15MB
To start uploading the patient must click on CHOOSE PHOTOS
The patient can choose whether to select a photo from their gallery or take a new photo using their mobile phone/tablet camera
Selecting Camera will open the camera for the patient to take a new photo
Selecting Files will allow the patient to select previous photo(s) from their gallery
Once they have chosen their action, the patient will see a list of guidance notes on acceptable and unacceptable photos
They can also click on a link to see tips for good photos
Once the photo(s) have been taken or selected they will appear on the screen
They can ADD COMMENT to each photo or delete the photo from here
When the patient is ready they need to click AGREE & SEND PHOTOS
Finally, they will receive a notification when the photo/s have been sent
