This section is a tour of the Contact Manager. The Contact Manager is the first step to properly adding a Patient to the Safety Net. The settings and options checked in the Contact Manager will determine where the Patient goes in the Safety Net and how staff will access that Patient information in the future. This section will cover the areas of the Contact Manager in detail – however using the Contact Manager in your daily operations is very fast. There are three simple steps in the Contact Manager to ensure successful use of the Safety Net (they are highlighted in bold in the following descriptive area): Contact method, Action method and Call Patient Again In option. 

1. Patient Information Area: contact information for Patient, may also include Patient Profile picture if attached to Patient.
2. General Information Area: contains Patient notes from Profile, Appointment Ledger, Care Details, Transaction Ledger and previous Safety Net details. This area is displayed for easy reference.
3. Contact Method: one of the methods of communication must be selected when adding a Patient to the Safety Net.
4. Action Method: user must select one of the methods from this box to properly include Patient on Safety Net
5. • Recall: if Patient needs to be recalled later in regards to this situation. If the user chooses to Recall they must also make a selection in the 'Call Patient again in:' box.
   • Make New Appt: to schedule a new appointment for the Patient.
   • Confirm Appointment: if reason to be on Safety Net is to confirm future appointment, check this to drop Patient from Safety Net after confirming (see Confirm Appointment section later in this manual).
   • Drop From Safety Net: if no contact is needed or reason is no longer valid, Patient can be simply dropped from the Safety Net. A User might select this option if Patient is usually good at keeping Appointments and has Future Appointments booked.
   • Never Recall Patient: if Patient should not appear on Safety Net in the future, Never Recall will stop them from appearing again and drop them for this instance. Ex: staff or family / friends
   • Make Patient Inactive: if the Patient has become inactive in the clinic
   • Other: various reasons not listed above. This will display a short text box to add details
6. Call Patient Again In: date or timeframe to determine when the Patient should appear on the Safety Net in the future for contact (see Continued Action section below).
7. Safety Net Notes: area for notes related to why Patient is being put into the Safety Net.
8. Previous Safety Net Activity: details of previous contact through Safety Net.
9. Safety Net Reasons: previous reasons Patient was listed on Safety Net.

One of the other options accessible in the Contact Manager is to Email patients. This gives the clinic an alternative to calling Patients. Emailing only works if the outgoing email settings are configured in Clinic Details (refer to the User Manual for more information). If you would like to email messages related to Patients missing or cancelling Appointments or leaving without scheduling Future Appointments refer to the section later in this manual covering TEMPLATES. A Template can be created to help create uniform communication in your office.

(Continued Action) Referring back to our Scenario and applying that information to Jim’s Contact Manager, our CA checks off that the 'Patient Phoned' and adds the note about him being called to work and selects to Recall the Patient in a few days. NOTE: Jim indicated that he would call to rebook when he returns from his trip, however the CA noted that he is a relatively new Patient and the CA wants to ensure proper follow up. As Jim doesn't yet have a history of regular attendance the CA opts for a reminder follow up. These selections would put Jim into the Safety Net under the FUTURE tab (see overview image). Remember, the FUTURE tab is like the Safety Net queue – holding Patients until the selected ‘Recall’ date and then moving them from the FUTURE tab into the yellow, ACTION tabs (in this case under the Cancelled tab and also included in the group under Summary). When the Safety Net is opened on the selected ‘Recall’ date, Jims name would appear and the staff would contact him and follow up.

To follow up on 'Action' cases; the User clicks on the Patient name which opens up the Contact Manager. The User can recap the situation (read the notes, check for scheduled Appointments, etc) and determine the best options for follow up. If Jim had not scheduled his Appointment, the User would call him to follow up. The call may go like this:

CA: Hi Jim, just following up to see when you would be available to come in for your cancelled Appointment.
JIM: Oh yeah, I forgot when I returned from my work trip - I have been so busy.
CA: Remember the Doctor recommended regular treatment for a few weeks to begin your recovery.
JIM: Certainly. Are there any available Appointments this afternoon?
CA: Yes, the Doctor can see you at 2pm.
JIM: Great! See you then.

At this point, Jim sounds like he was 'forgetting' about his Care Commitment and this gentle reminder ensured he continues his care.

In the Contact Manager, the CA would once again enter a few quick details:
How they communicated with the Patient (Talked to Patient) and What they are doing with the Patient now (Make new Appointment). These actions would save the information to the Patient file and clear them from the Safety Net for this instance.

 

In another scenario, the Patient may be a regular wellness Patient who doesn't normally miss or cancel. One day they do Cancel an Appointment but have future appointments booked. The same process would apply (right-click on Appointment, choose Cancel and enter details into the Contact Manager) but instead of scheduling the Patient for a recall, the CA could simply DROP the Patient from the Safety Net. This creates a record of the Cancelled Appointment but since the Patient regularly comes into the office they probably don't need a follow up call.

Patients added to the Safety Net via this method (Cancelled or Missed Appointment) will stay on the Safety Net until manually removed.

Previous Page: Adding Missed/Cancelled Appts

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