The customer

EMIS Health is the leader in connected healthcare software and services. It provides over 5,000 healthcare organisations across the UK, from GP practices and out-of-hours services, to community care and sexual health services, with innovative technologies to improve patient outcomes.

The challenge

EMIS needed a faster, more efficient way to communicate between doctors and patients for their clients.

The solution

Using aql’s SMS services, EMIS is able to provide GP practices with advanced patient communications that deliver appointment confirmations, reminders, recalls and abnormal results messages automatically.

These SMS messages can reduce a practice’s do-not-attend (DNA) rates by up to 50%. Even a low DNA rate of 5.9% represents 22 hours of lost surgery time in a single month – the equivalent of one doctor being absent for a week. In this example, aql’s SMS services could help save 11 hours of surgery time.

aql’s SMS services can also help GP practices achieve quality outcomes framework (QOF) and DES targets, increase patient awareness of services, and improve clinic attendance.