InterSystems COVID vaccination booking system saves providers time and resources while increasing accessibility and engagement for patients
SYDNEY, Australia and ETON, United Kingdom, February 18, 2021. InterSystems today announced that users of its InterSystems TrakCare® unified healthcare information system now have access to an appointment booking system to schedule COVID vaccinations that has already saved one regional health board more than 500 hours of call centre time over 16 days when booking NHS staff vaccination appointments.
Created in response to the overwhelming demand for vaccinations, the solution automates the booking of appointments and is designed with choice, flexibility, and security in mind. It offers significant savings to health services avoiding the need to manually book every appointment. The system can also be configured easily to track and schedule other appointments.
NHS Lothian registered 7,055 members of staff and booked vaccination appointments for 6,100 of those through this system in just 16 days. The process saved more than 500 hours of call centre time, avoided lengthy telephone queues and as a result has reduced delays in deploying vaccinations.
“While costs are always an important consideration, on this occasion our priority was speed, safety and security,” said Martin Egan, Director of Digital for NHS Lothian. “To ensure every member of staff could book an appointment to receive a vaccination as quickly and efficiently as possible was paramount. Providing greater choice, flexibility to amend bookings and making the process more user-friendly has played a big part in achieving that.”
The vaccination appointment service generates the appointments through patient notifications with date, time, and location and integrates the information with each patient’s record. Once booked, the individual can manage their appointment via a secure portal, ensuring convenience to the citizen and minimizing no-shows.
On average, booking appointments in a call center takes five minutes (plus call waiting time). By employing the scheduling tool, healthcare organizations can completely automate the process. Doing so not only saves valuable time but frees call center staff to book appointments for those residents who need additional support.
“COVID vaccination booking is the largest administrative operations many health services have ever had to undertake,” said Don Woodlock, Head of Healthcare Solutions for InterSystems. “This solution frees resources for essential roles and will ensure the majority of bookings can be done online, saving significant time and costs.”
The COVID vaccination appointment system can be programmed to ensure second appointments are booked within the requisite time and reminders are sent.