3rd October 2024
We understand the challenges NHS Trusts and Boards face in ensuring that important letters are read by patients in a timely manner. This requires not only a high rate of digital uptake, but also for the letter read rates to also be high.
At Netcall, we’re committed to constantly improving and listening to the feedback of our healthcare customers to ensure better outcomes and experiences. After working with numerous customers, we saw that letter read rates were not on a par with the overall digital uptake in our online patient engagement portal, Patient Hub. Cost savings were therefore not being achieved as expected.
Our response rate for patients overall was tracking at 70%. But letters were not being read in the patient portal at the same rate. We identified two main issues – the lack of cost savings (as unread letters were still having to be printed and sent out) and the risk associated with safety information not being consumed by patients who needed to attend appointments.
Committed to improving the accessibility to digital letters, we made significant improvements to Patient Hub, based on customer feedback.
Thanks to these changes, the average read rate has increased from 51% to 65%. We aim continue making improvements until we reach 70%, to equal the uptake rate.
29% increase in letter read rates
Already, these improvements have resulted in a 29% increase in letter read rates, with 57,000 more letters being read each month across our NHS customer base!
“We’ve seen the impact of these improvements on both new and mature customers, with more patients opening their letters and acting as needed. We are proud to have a community of active users who provide valuable feedback, and we will continue to listen and improve our products to ensure that our customers get the best value for your investment. Working in true partnership with our NHS customers, we can achieve better outcomes for all.”
John Clarke
Head of Client Solutions – Health, Netcall
In his latest blog post, Richard Higginbotham discusses how many Trusts are having to take a proactive approach to embrace tech, such an automation and patient engagement portals, to address the mounting waiting lists.
In his latest blog post, John Clarke discusses the vicious circle when it comes to handling patient communication in the NHS and how making more effective use of the data that Trusts hold about patients holds the key to breaking the chain.
90% of outpatient appointments require some form of diagnostic test, so any delay in these tests can lead to postponed treatments. This impacts patient outcomes. Against the backdrop of waiting lists of 7.6 million, diagnostic performance emerges as a critical concern.
Keep up with regular news from Netcall – you’ll hear about cut-through process automation and communications solutions to help you achieve your business goals faster.
Provide patients with convenient, 24/7 access to letters, documents, hospital location maps and much more.