A new automated appointment booking service for Covid-19 vaccinations is being rolled out for members of staff in the healthcare sector in the Lothians.
A new appointment system is being rolled out for members of staff in the healthcare sector in the Lothian area specifically
NHS Lothian registered 7,055 members of staff and booked vaccination appointments for 6,100 of those through the automated system in just 16 days using InterSystems TrakCare unified healthcare information system.
The service allowed access to an appointment booking system to schedule vaccinations with a case study estimating that the system saved NHS Lothian more than 500 hours of call centre time, avoided lengthy telephone queues and as a result has reduced delays in deploying vaccinations over 16 days.
Created in response to the overwhelming demand for vaccinations, the solution automates the booking of appointments and saves staff from manually booking every appointment. The system can also be configured easily to track and schedule other appointments.
The vaccination appointment service generates the appointments through patient notifications with date, time, and location and integrates the information with each patient’s record.
Martin Egan, Director of Digital for NHS Lothian said: “While costs are always an important consideration, on this occasion, our priority was speed, safety and security.
“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.”
Don Woodlock, Head of Healthcare Solutions for InterSystems said: "Vaccination booking is the largest administrative operations many health services have ever had to undertake.
“This solution frees resources for essential roles and will ensure the majority of bookings can be done online, saving significant time and costs.”
The vaccination appointment system can be programmed to ensure second appointments are booked within the requisite time and reminders are sent.
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