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Check and Cancel - An Introduction
Surgeries can choose to offer their patients the option to check for their upcoming appointments without necessarily speaking to a member of staff. They can also choose to offer patients the option to cancel their appointments
This self-serve feature is configured in X-flow and reduces DNAs as patients are less likely to forget an appointment if they have double-checked the date(s) and time(s) of their upcoming appointment(s). The ability to cancel without queuing means patients are more likely to cancel an appointment, freeing it up for someone else
The patient is identified with a combination of their CLI (the number they are calling from) and their date of birth, for them to progress we must identify a unique patient matching those details within your clinical system
Cancelled appointments automatically update the patient record and the slot is immediately made available for booking. You can choose to have notifications of any cancelled appointments emailed to specified email addresses within the surgery. This ensures that key staff can monitor patients who are regularly cancelling appointments
Both Check and Cancel can be offered either as a dedicated line call flow or at any point in your existing call flows, whether that be during work hours, out of hours or even over the weekend and Bank Holidays
It can even be added as an option throughout the call flow for specific clinics you are running
You can choose whether to offer patients an SMS confirming their checked or cancelled appointments
See our guide on Implementing Check and Cancel
Check and Cancel
Check and Cancel
The Patient Experience
The Staff Experience
The Patient Experience
The patient will be instructed to enter their DOB on their telephone keypad. If the CLI (the number they are calling from) and DOB match the patient record they will be directed to listen to their upcoming appointments, which will be read back to them, for example -
"We have found 3 appointments for you. Your 1st appointment is on Tuesday 23rd August 2023 at eleven thirty am"
If Cancel is also configured, the patient will have the option to cancel that appointment via a key press. The system will confirm whether the appointment cancellation has been successful
If the patient is not able to be identified by CLI and DOB they will be told and they can be routed as per your choosing, which during opening hours could take them back to the main menu or through to the Appointments Team
Surgeries can choose to send an SMS to patients confirming their checked appointments
and/or cancelled appointments
The Staff Experience
Staff will receive fewer calls asking them to double-check or cancel booked appointments
A notification email can be sent to specific staff members or group emails when a patient has cancelled their appointment
The appointment slot that has been cancelled is immediately and automatically made available removing any admin overhead and ensuring that your patients have access to the most recent appointment slots.
The patient who cancelled the appointment also has their record updated to log the fact that they cancelled an appointment using the automated method