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UNIVERSITY Hospital Kerry (UHK) is excited to announce the launch of a two-way SMS text messaging reminder service to enhance patient engagement and reduce missed appointments.
Roll out of this new service has now commenced and will serve to remind outpatients of their upcoming appointments and allow them to confirm or cancel directly via text message.
Patients will continue to receive their initial outpatient appointment details via letter. Ten days before the scheduled appointment, patients will receive their first SMS Text reminder.
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If there is no response to the first reminder, a second SMS Text reminder will be sent five days before the appointment.
Upon receiving the text message, patients should reply: ‘Y’ to confirm attendance or ‘N’ to indicate they will not be attending.
Patients who do not respond or who respond with ‘N’ will be contacted by the hospital to reschedule or to remove them from the waiting list if the appointment is no longer needed. This service will be implemented across all outpatient specialties.
UHK has introduced this service to improve patient engagement and address the issue of missed appointments.
Many patients forget their appointments, leading to significant costs for the HSE and wasted time for medical staff. Missed appointments also prevent those time slots from being offered to other patients, prolonging wait times.
Studies have shown that appointment reminders significantly reduce the number of missed appointments. By improving clinic utilisation, here at UHK, we aim to shorten wait times for patients on the Outpatient Waiting List and enhance overall patient experience.
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