When patients are sent Patient Reminder emails, staff can also use this opportunity to have patients confirm their upcoming appointments, which can then be synced back to the EMR and the Ocean eReferral (if applicable).
How to enable appointment confirmations for Patient Reminders
-
- Log into the Ocean portal. Click the "Menu" button in the top left corner and select "Patient Reminders".
-
- Click "Settings" in the top right corner. Create a new Reminder Rule by clicking Add Reminder Rule or Edit an existing one.
-
- In the Edit Reminder Rule page, under the "Appointment Confirmation" heading, use the drop down to select enabled. Remember to Save your changes.
-
It is highly recommended to include the @apptDate, @apptTime and @providerName keywords. You can still send a template lacking these values, but for patient clarity and continuity, it is highly recommended your reminder template includes this information.
How patients confirm their appointments via Patient Reminders
1. Reminders via Email
- When appointment confirmation has been enabled, the hyperlink in the email body will appear as 'Confirm Appointment'.
-
- The hyperlink in the email will take the patient to the Ocean Health Messenger, where they will be required to validate their identity before proceeding.
-
- The relevant appointment details will be displayed, and the patient can click the 'Confirm My Appointment' button. Once clicked, the appointment status in your EMR will be automatically updated to 'confirmed'.
-
- The patient will be prompted to continue to the Health Messenger to access any secure messages or outstanding forms.
-
- If a secure message and/or eForms were included in the email template, the patient can now access the message and complete any forms.
-
2. Reminders via Text Message
- If a reminder has a secure message and/or attachment and/or eForm and/or appointment confirmation and the patient has an email on file, the text message will instruct the patient to check their email.
-
- If a reminder has an appointment confirmation enabled and the patient doesn't have an email on file, the patient will receive a link in the text message to confirm their appointment. After clicking the link, the patient will be presented with a screen confirming their most recent upcoming appointment date, time, and provider.
-
How appointment confirmations appear in the EMR
- When a patient confirms their appointment, the status for their appointment will changed to "Confirmed" in PS Suite. This is commonly denoted by a green circle icon (by default).
-
- When a patient confirms their appointment, the status for their appointment will changed to "Confirmed" in Med Access.
-
Accuro has the ability to create a custom status to indicate when an appointment reminder was sent to the patient by Ocean. For information on how to set up your custom status in Accuro, please refer to: Set Your Custom Status.
- If a custom status is set, Ocean will change the appointment status when the Ocean reminder is sent.
-
-
When a patient confirms their appointment, the status for their appointment will changed to "Confirmed" in Accuro.
Note: The icon displayed for the 'Confirmed' status can be customized by an Accuro EMR administrator within the 'Manage Priorities, Reasons and Statuses' Accuro EMR settings area.
-
Optional customization options exist for OSCAR Pro users. Individuals can set the appointment status to a specific code to indicate when an appointment reminder was sent to the patient by Ocean and also when a patient has confirmed their appointment through an Ocean reminder. For information on how to configure this appointment status, please refer to: Set your Appointment Status Setting.
- In this example, when the Ocean reminder is sent, Ocean changes the appointment status in OSCAR PRO to code e.
-
- In this example, when a patient confirms their appointment, the status for their appointment has been changed to code h, "Confirmed" in OSCAR PRO.
-
Patient Reminders are only available for integrated EMRs.
How appointment confirmation appears in the Ocean eReferral
If the appointment that the patient is confirming corresponds to the appointment that is scheduled within their eReferral, the referral appointment will be confirmed.
- The 'Confirmed' checkbox within the eReferral becomes enabled.
-
- This automatically moves from referral from the 'Booked Unconfirmed' status folder to the 'Booked Confirmed' status folder.
-
