EMIS Access has saved Marple Cottage Surgery £871 in the first 12 months

March 2004: Patients book appointments online at Marple Cottage Surgery

At Marple Cottage Surgery, Stockport, more than ten per cent of patient appointments made each week are booked online using EMIS Access.

Marple Cottage Surgery has been offering its patients an online booking facility since 2001. An increased demand for the service and the necessity for real-time availability updates meant that the practice took the decision to move to EMIS Access in February 2003.

The number of patients currently registered for EMIS Access stands at almost 15 per cent of the practice population, and continues to increase. Approximately 250 patients regularly log on to take advantage of the advanced Internet services.

The system is used by all patients, young and old, and throughout all hours of the day and night. Practice Manager Johan Taylor explains, "Our patients have been very supportive of EMIS Access and once converted they rarely go back to using traditional booking methods. This has meant our reception staff have noticeably more time to concentrate on developing other areas of our service."

Analysis undertaken by Marple Cottage Surgery has shown that online booking contributes a marked reduction in telephone calls and visits from patients wanting to book appointments. On average, it is estimated that it costs the average practice 67p to book an appointment. Using these figures, EMIS Access has saved Marple Cottage Surgery £871 in the first 12 months.

User friendly system

Introducing EMIS Access into Marple Cottage Surgery has been hugely successful, causing relatively little disruption to daily practice life.

"Obviously there was a learning curve involved" says Johan. "The largest challenge was educating the patients on how to use the system and how it would benefit them. But with the right amount of time, patience and training from reception staff we were able to help them through technical difficulties, in particular those with poor IT skills.

"Reception staff are also thoroughly delighted with the move to EMIS Access, because being a real time system it requires less direct involvement from them.

"I would advise anyone interested in EMIS Access to take the opportunity and reap the rewards. As for concerns regarding online bookings wreaking havoc with advanced appointment schedules, these are unnecessary worries. We have found that patients booking online, take appointments a few days in advance and do not book more appointments just because they can book online."