VOS – Online registration process
Holbrook Surgery started offering its patients the ability to book their appointments using the internet in February 2011. They have seven GPs, two GP Registrars, four Practice Nurses and 14,000 patients.
Practice Manager, Heather Heatley, explained how the practice is utilising Vision Online Services (VOS); “It’s still early days, but it is proving very popular with a steady stream of patients registering. It is very easy to register and we have set it up, so it is totally electronic, using nhs.net email.”
Being able to add certain criteria and restrictions to make administration even easier is one of the benefits of VOS, Heather says; “All the admin staff have been trained to be able to register patients. We have put in certain criteria for registering, for example over sixteen year olds have to register independently, unless we have written consent for a parent to do it on their behalf. The surgery has reserved the right to terminate the registration if it were to be abused - although we can restrict the number of appointments that patients can make online. We do not foresee this as being a big problem but felt it necessary to put some restrictions in place.”
Heather tells us that VOS is perfect for all patients; “Of the 400 registered the oldest is 75 through to parents registering their children – it’s very evenly spread throughout age and gender and about 20% are using the service to book and cancel their appointments so far. The feedback from our patients has been very positive to date and patients are very happy to book and cancel their GP and Nurse appointments online.”
What benefits does Holbrook Surgery expect to see in the long-term? “We would like to see a reduction in telephone calls but ultimately see this as being an extra service for the patient, effectively extending 'access' to appointments. I do not see the demise of the receptionist, as patients still value being able to speak to someone, but it is useful to make, cancel or change appointments outside surgery hours. The internet is being used more and more by everyone and the installation of VOS seemed a logical way forward for the surgery.”
Want to know more?
- Give your patients the ability to manage their own appointments with Vision Online Appointments
- Reduce administration time with Vision Online Repeats