Savience gives Canadian hospital network clarity of patient appointments

3 min read

A major hospital group in Canada has seen a sharp fall in missed appointments after installing a patient registration, booking and check-in solution from Savience.

Serving 1.3m residents in southern Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area, William Osler Health System has also cut queues in outpatient receptions, leaving staff with more time for people who genuinely need help and for other jobs.

At the outset, a key objective for William Osler was to provide patients with a seamless interaction between their home and hospital care. A better pre-appointment experience for patients was paramount, with improved communications, appointment reminders, and ability to confirm or cancel appointments online. Additionally patients can change demographic details online, send a request to reschedule appointments and complete appointment registration questions, saving time at reception.

William Osler

‘No shows’

Cutting ‘no show rates’ was another priority as this is a major cost for any hospital. The issue is particularly acute in Canada due to the geography, distances patients need to travel, and potentially severe weather.

Sending appointment reminders has had a dramatic impact on ‘no shows’.
At PMC, reminders are sent for all outpatient clinics, which averages 150 reminders a day in line with patient preferences. Two-thirds of patients receive voice reminders, 29% text and 4% emails.

On the flip side, reducing no shows has led to a comparative increase in traffic at registration. But with the technology bearing the brunt of the extra workload, staff numbers have not increased.

With appointment tracking boards in each clinic, staff have an instant ‘at-a-glance’ view of appointments with details such as time, location, exam, doctor and so on. The real time view shows whether the patient has checked in, giving staff visibility of workflows to better plan and prepare.

James Moolecherry, CTO at William Osler, says Savience’s solution has pushed the care process beyond the traditional hospital walls. ‘Appointments start at home.

‘Staff and patients have welcomed the transformation,’ he said. ‘Clinical and administrative staff have embraced the system and see real value in terms of time- savings and improved patient experience.

‘The Clarity application does exactly that; it gives staff a clear picture of their workload to track patients and plan their clinical workflow. Most check their patient load via the dashboard at the start of the day and then constantly refer to this to monitor patient arrivals and plan for any changes.

‘This improved visibility of patients and workload allows clinical staff to properly prepare the paperwork and charts so there’s no waiting once the patient arrives at the clinic. Again, this leads to a more efficient service, seamless workflows and improved customer satisfaction,’ Moolecherry added.

The investment has also changed patients’ perception, with a survey in early 2019 showing improved satisfaction and confidence. Seventy-five per cent said they were “very confident” that they know what to do to take care of and manage their health.

‘Patients embrace technology as an enabler of exemplary quality of care,’ Moolecherry said. ‘Technology truly enhances responsiveness and provides more time for patient-provider communication and connection.’

Other developments

As well as having Savience’s Check-in, Clarity and Clarion modules, PMC and Etobicoke now also use its CareExpress Lite at the respective minor injury unit and emergency department. It enables the registration team to call the patients to complete registration and is fully integrated with William Osler’s hospital-wide emergency system and with the Ontario wide triage system, eCTAS.

Also in the pipeline are new modules for virtual consultations and payments at kiosks.

*Figures recorded in the three months May-July 2019 – 44,995 appointments, 33,621 kiosk check-ins

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