Easily keep track of patient recalls.

Create and name your own recall types, then add and manage recalls for each individual patient. You can also take it a step further. For example, you can define a recall type for contact lenses as every 12 months, and once you dispense contact lenses, the recall will automatically kick in.

And you are not limited to one recall type per patient. Whether it be a consultation every year, a six monthly script pickup or routine and regular blood tests, once you have created your rules, they are implemented automatically.

Upcoming recalls for all patients are listed in a report as well as recalls that have not been triggered and are missing a patient encounter.

Once the recall comes due, the mail merger takes care of the rest. Recalls can be mailed, emailed or sent via SMS.

Why recalls matter in a medical and optometry practice

A recall is how your practice brings a patient back at the right time, for a check-up, a repeat script, a blood test or an eye examination, instead of leaving it to the patient to remember. In optometry it is also a clinical matter. Optometry Australia says recalls should be based on clinical need, for example diabetes, follow-up after an eye injury or infection, or a significant test result, with intervals that reflect the best evidence for each case. Patients with glaucoma or macular degeneration, or who need special testing, are often seen every 4 to 6 months, while routine patients come back once a year. A practitioner writing in Review of Optometry adds that missed follow-up lessens the odds of keeping a treatment plan on track.

Recalls work because people forget. Forgetfulness is one of the main reasons for missed appointments, and reminders help. A Cochrane review of eight trials with 6615 participants found that text message reminders increase attendance compared with no reminders or postal reminders, and work as well as phone calls. A wider review of reminder systems found them consistently effective at reducing missed appointments in any setting. For you, that means patients who stay on their treatment plan, a diary that stays full, and patients who keep coming back. As one optometry article puts it, next year’s recall starts during this year’s eye exam.

How to put a recall system in place

Decide who needs to be recalled and when. Base it on need: contact lenses every 12 months, an annual consultation, a six monthly script pickup, regular blood tests, or a follow-up for a patient with a condition that has to be watched.
Explain it at the visit. Tell the patient why you want to see them again and book the next visit before they leave, if you can.
Set the recall when the patient is seen. A recall that is set while the patient is in front of you does not depend on anyone remembering later.
Record how each patient wants to be contacted. Keep a cell number and an email address on file, along with their preferred way of being reminded.
Choose the way you remind. Use a letter, an email, an SMS or a call, whichever suits the patient. Say why the patient is being recalled, and make a safety alert look different from a routine reminder.
Check the recall list regularly. Run the report, for example once a month, to see who is due and who has not booked, and follow up with those patients.

How flexible Eminance makes recalls

You decide what a recall is. Create and name your own recall types and set the rules once. Eminance links the recall to the tariff code, so contact lenses every 12 months can kick in the moment you invoice the lenses. There is no limit on the number of recall types, and the multiple levels of recalls let you target any group of patients, from contact lenses to frames to examinations. Recurring recalls are handled for you too.

A patient can have as many recalls as they need. One patient can have a yearly consultation, a six monthly script pickup and regular blood tests, each with its own rule. You can let the recalls run automatically, add a recall to a patient yourself, and move the patients who did not turn up. Recalls are added and managed for each individual patient, right in the patient record.

Eminance keeps track of recalls in more than one way. A report lists the upcoming recalls for all your patients, and another lists the recalls that have not been triggered and are missing a patient encounter. You can produce call lists and order lists on demand, and your patients can see a reminder to book a consultation when they log in to the Patient Portal.

You can reach patients in more than one way too. When a recall comes due the mail merger takes care of the rest, by post, email or SMS, and an SMS goes out with a single button click. Send WhatsApp reminders from the diary, send bulk messages by SMS or email, or target a specific group of patients by something like a stock item purchased or an ICD10 code used.