Check and Cancel
Check and Cancel offers patients the ability to check their upcoming appointments, reducing DNAs, and can also give the option to cancel them without the need to speak to a member of staff
The Check and Cancel block is where the configuration and logic for the Check and Cancel feature is found and must be used in conjunction with the Patient Identifier Block
We recommend adding the Patient Identifier and Check and Cancel blocks after a menu to stop all your patients from being routed through the Check and Cancel option
This guide will take you through everything you need to know about the Patient Identifier and Check and Cancel blocks and how to manage them in X-flow:
Step-by-step guide
Adding the Patient Identifier Block
The Patient Identifier block contains the patient identification logic, by matching the patient CLI (the number they are calling from) and the caller's DOB to search for patients in your practice's clinical system
The Patient Identifier block has two outputs; Identified and Not Identified
Adding a Patient ID Block
Step 1:
Drag and drop the Patient ID icon onto the X-flow workspace
Your Patient ID block will be created in your workspace
Editing a Patient Identifier Block
Step 2:
Double-click on the Patient ID block on your workspace to access the properties
Step 3:
Patient Identifier Properties
Prompt Voice
Set the Text to Speech voice for this feature, this allows you to match it to the same voice used in the rest of your call flow
Patient Identifier Prompt
The message the patient hears is:
“Please enter your date of birth as a 6-digit number in the format Day, Day, Month, Month, Year, Year… For example, if your date of birth is the 15th June 1978 you would enter 1, 5, 0, 6, 7, 8…”
The date the patient entered will be read back in full and they will be asked to confirm that it is correct
At this point, we will check the Clinical Record for the patient's CLI and DOB
If we find a unique match the call will come out of the Identified output and can therefore be routed through to the Check and Cancel Block
If the patient enters their DOB incorrectly three times they will be routed through the Not Identified output
If there is no unique match the call will come out of the Not Identified output and it is up to you to decide where those patients will route to, the most common route would be back to the main menu, see example below:
Adding the Check and Cancel Block
Step 1:
Drag and drop the Check and Cancel icon onto the X-flow workspace
Your Check and Cancel block will be created in your workspace
Editing a Check and Cancel Block
Step 1:
Double-click the Check and Cancel block to access the configuration options. You will see that there are 3 tabs containing all of the configuration options for the block
Properties Tab
Name Change the name so you can identify the block easily in your call flow
Prompt Voice Set the Text to Speech voice for this feature, this allows you to match it to the same voice used in the rest of your call flow
Check Tab
Appointment Timescale
Set how far in advance you want the patient to be allowed to check their appointments (90 days is the maximum)
Allow SMS Request
Request SMS is set to Off as default
Set to On - this will give the patient the option to receive an SMS containing the details of their appointment
NOTE: The this SMS is not configurable
Appointments That Can Be Checked
Use the drop-down menu to select the slot types that can be checked with this feature, or select Include All Slot Types
The Refresh Slots button will check for all of the active Slot Types you have configured in EMIS and make them available to select from the drop-down menu
So, if you have created a new Slot Type in EMIS you need to click the refresh button before it becomes available in the Check and Cancel configuration area
If no appointments are booked in a particular slot type within the last 30 days the appointment type will not be retrieved
Check Prompt
We will tell the patient how many appointments we have found and cycle through them giving options against each appointment, for example -
"We have found 3 appointments for you. Your 1st appointment is on Tuesday 23rd August 2023 at eleven thirty am"
Cancel Tab
When the Cancel feature is active, patients can cancel each appointment they are checking. If they do cancel, this will immediately release the slot in the clinical system and a notification can be sent to practice staff to make them aware of the available slot
Allow Cancelling
Set Cancelling to On to allow patients to cancel their appointments, Having this Setting Off only enables patients to check their appointments
Disable Cancellations
Set the timescale after which patients can no longer cancel their appointment(s). Off means that patients can cancel appointments right up to the actual appointment time
Cancellation SMS
SMS is set to Off as default
Set it to On for patients to receive an SMS Cancellation notification
NOTE: This SMS is not configurable
Appointments That Can Be Cancelled
Use the drop-down menu to choose which appointments are acceptable for patients to cancel themselves or, select Include All Slot Types
The Refresh Slots button will check for all of the active slot types you have configured in EMIS and make them available to select from the drop-down menu
So, if you have created a new slot type in EMIS you need to click the refresh button before it becomes available in the Check and Cancel configuration area
Notify of Appointment Cancellation
Add as many email addresses as needed, each email address must be separated by a comma
Each email address will receive a cancellation notice detailing which appointment was cancelled for each patient
If no appointments are booked in a particular slot type within the last 30 days the appointment type will not be retrieved
Please see our Guide on SMS charges related to this feature, please click here
Save and Deploy
You must save the changes you have made to your Check and Cancel Block
Step 1:
Click Save
Any changes you have made to your Menu Block will be saved
Step 2:
At the top of your call flow you will now see the undeployed version warning
Step 3:
If you are happy with your call flow - Deploy your call flow to make it live
NOTE: Deploy should only be actioned when you have completed all of the edits to your call flow and saved the changes made to each block