Content
Introduction
The aim of this guide is to support your practice in creating an announcement page/information page for the practice website. The purpose of an announcement page is to educate your patients and encourage them to utilise the eConsult platform in the best possible way - ensuring that the practice receives correctly completed online consultation templates. The page will be a clear message for your patients on how your practice would like your patients to behave.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us via our Operations team on - practice.support@econsult.health
Benefits of adding an announcement page
Having an announcement page on your website can be beneficial for both the practice and for your patients.
Benefits for the practice
Educating patients that they can access alternatives via the platform, i.e. administrative queries, travel forms & long term condition reviews
Decrease in amount of patients coming through to the practice for advice on their condition, as they have utilised the self help route available to them on the practice website
Decrease in patients misusing the platform
Decrease in patients calling the practice
Decrease in the length of time patients are on the phone or in the practice itself
Benefits for your patients
One clear message on the use of eConsult
Setting patients expectations
Educate patients on the required practice process
Educate patients on the best practice
Inform & educate patients on all the platform features
Educating patients on the benefits of using eConsult correctly
Inform & educate patients on what is meant by a response
Providing patients alternative options for their care, health & conditions
Allowing patients to be kept in the loop with the practices’ process changes
Offering patients clear information and/or instructions for using & benefiting from the platform
Different ways to use an announcement page
Some alternative ways to incorporate this announcement on the practice website, could be;
Creating & publishing news articles on the website
Having a stand alone website page
Creating short videos (by the practice staff)
Having a bullet point list with interactive buttons/areas
Create a guide for how best to use the platform/follow the practice process
Incorporating the announcement within any FAQs that may have been previously created
Areas to consider when designing your announcement page
There are a few key areas to consider prior and post creating and implementing an announcement page.
Language
Limit the use of harsh or pushy wording
Think about what message you want to give to your patients and what you want to achieve
Think about the language you are using, positive & upbeat wording
Keep instructions concise and straight to the point
Utilise video materials and other marketing resources created by eConsult to encourage engagement and accessibility
Roll out
Once you have created your announcement page, there are various way you can let you patients know:
Create a text message campaign: send out the announcement page link to different cohorts of patients or to all patients in one batch (see example of text message campaign)
Link the announcement page to your practice social media accounts
Add a QR Code to your next Practice Newsletter (or a link if its a digital newsletter)
Receptionists/Care Navigators can signpost patients to find out more by visiting the website during calls into the practice
Clinicians can signpost patients to the website/page during consultations
Here is a list of recommendations for ways you could inform your patients about the announcement page:
Pull a report from your system of different age groups and target specific age groups at a time
Pull a report from your system of different conditions. Think about approaching it based on the most non-urgent conditions. The practice could create a list of the most common issues & target those specific patients
Pull a report from your system of the patients that typically have a lot of contacts to the practice on a weekly/regular basis
Pull a report from your system of patients that request a lot of administrative documents/paperwork
Pull a report from your system of different long-term-condition patients
Divide the patient list size into 4 groups and send it to them in weekly/monthly batches
Create & send separate communications out to your patient participant group (PPG)
During the mobilisation period (before live):
Prior to going live with eConsult;
Create the announcement page
Send a text message campaign to all your patients (with the link for the announcement page)
If already live with eConsult:
Create the announcement page
Create a plan for text message campaign
Send out text message campaign to patients
Quarterly/half year announcement:
Create the announcement page
Create a plan for a text message campaign roll out
Create a plan for time frame for regular (i.e. quarterly) text messages to be sent out
Create text message examples (wouldn’t necessarily always want it to be the same message)
Send out planned text message campaign
Text message campaign examples:
The practice can create their own announcement page wording and their own text messages, however, to make things a little easier, we have created a few examples that the practice could utilise, below:
Prior to going live
“Dear [INSERT PATIENT NAME],
We are going live with eConsult on [INSERT GO LIVE DATE]. You’ll be able to complete a form for any non-urgent conditions that yourself or your child are facing. There’s also an option to request any administrative requests.
If you would like more information, please review this page - [INSERT ANNOUNCEMENT PAGE LINK]
Many thanks,
[INSERT PRACTICE NAME]”
Post going live
“Dear [INSERT PATIENT NAME],
We utilise eConsult for online consultations, we wanted to share an update with you to ensure you understand how to best use the service. We ask that you read our update here: [INSERT ANNOUNCEMENT PAGE LINK].
Many thanks,
[INSERT PRACTICE NAME]”
Other text message examples
“Dear [INSERT PATIENT NAME],
As you may know the practice uses an online consultation service, eConsult, to enhance the accessibility to the practice. We wanted to share an update with you to ensure you understand how to best use the service. We ask that you read our update here: [INSERT ANNOUNCEMENT PAGE LINK].
Many thanks,
[INSERT PRACTICE NAME]"
Live website examples
There are lots of practices that have incorporated announcement pages on their practice website. Please see examples below:
Example website text
“[INSERT PRACTICE NAME] have changed their way of managing our patients in the most suitable way possible.
As a GP practice, hundreds of people come through our doors every day – many of whom are already more vulnerable to disease and illness.
So, where possible, we’d like to limit the number of people that visit our GP surgery – if there are other ways to give you the care and advice you need.
We have an exciting new platform available to help protect our staff and our patients - it is called eConsult.
eConsult is an available online consultation provider - available to help manage your conditions & symptoms, from the comfort of your own home.
The platform has many key features, such as;
Self help resource:
You can read up about your condition/symptoms from a trusted resource and be certain that the information that you are reading is correct.Pharmacy advice:
You can read up about the different medications that can be taken for any symptoms/conditions you may be experiencing. In addition, find a local pharmacy that is near you.Administrative request option:
Submit any type of administrative request or query directly to your GP surgery to action & send back to you.Condition templates:
Specifically created condition templates for non-urgent conditions. Complete the set of questions & submit the form to the practice to then respond to.General advice template:
A template specifically created in case you are unable to complete one of the many specifically created condition templates.Local services embedded:
When you select on a relevant condition template, the platform will give you the option to seek advice from local services where appropriate (giving you the option & choice)Paediatric content:
If you have a child or are under 16 years old, there are specific condition templates available for them.Photo uploads:
Within the eConsult templates, you have the option to submit an image (where appropriate) to ensure your GP has the most accurate understanding of your condition.Search feature:
If for any reason you are unable to find your condition within the condition templates, there is an option to search for your symptoms/condition. For example; if you are unaware of what your symptoms are related to then you can search for something along the lines of ‘belly pain’. The platform will then create a list of all the condition templates that are relevant to your search.
TOP TIPS for using the eConsult platform:
Try to choose the specific medical condition you wish to consult about - if you know or are fairly certain what condition you are suffering from. Please select “Adult health problems” for example. Once this has been selected, you can search for your specific condition template or select “All problems A-Z”. If you can’t find your health problem, you can choose “request other advice”.
By completing a specific condition template, this provides us with the most appropriate information for your condition. Please answer as fully as possible - they help inform the doctor, who is reviewing your consultation.
Please include nominated pharmacy if a prescription is likely to be required - If you think the doctor may prescribe medication for you please include the name of your preferred pharmacy when answering this section. This will help us to direct your prescription to the pharmacy of your choice.
Equalling in one less visit for you - avoiding you from having to come to the practice before going onto the pharmacy.
To attach a photo you must pick a specific condition. Please include a photograph whenever you think it will be useful. This is especially important if you have a rash so we can more easily reach a diagnosis. Read this article to find more information on how to attach a photo to an eConsult!
Try to only select the ‘Request other advice’ ONLY when you are unable to find your condition from the condition list or if you are unsure on what your condition is.
Key ideas
Some other suggestions for your announcement page:
Add a banner with any practice opening & closing times
Add a message about the practice opening & closing times (if you want your patients to know when it is available)
Add the eConsult main banner on the announcement page (if you are educating patients on this platform that is available, you may want to include the banner for easy access)
Create a top tips bullet point list on best ways to use the platform
Create a visually appealing page
Avoid bulking the page out with too many words/paragraphs (try to stick to bullet points for each section)
Incorporate videos - review our resources on our help centre:
Add three simple step by step instructions for how to access the platform
Adding banners, colour & prominent sub headings makes it a lot easier on the eye and easier for information to be obtained where appropriate and necessary.
Think about incorporating a FAQs section for patients to easily access for specific questions, rather than having them feel as though they need to read through the entire announcement page. FAQs can be incorporated in many different ways, so, we ask for the practice to think about this beforehand.
It may be worth also adding the benefits of the platform - the benefits for the practice and for the patients.
Again, this may encourage patients to use the platform (but in a better way this time).
Patient examples:
Try to have a think about what you would think your patients would want to see or would benefit from seeing on the announcement page.
Some areas to consider perhaps:
Who is going to respond to them
The complexity of that response
When responses are due (depending on when it was submitted)
What a response means & what to expect
Tips or suggestions for completing an eConsult
(For example - ensure you don't open any received text messages from the practice, so you have a reminder to complete that eConsult (when you’re actually available - 10mins)Where to find certain templates
How to upload images & the benefits of doing so
Why it is important to complete the long term condition templates when requested to
Support with your announcement page
If you have any questions, concerns or would like support - please contact the team on practice.support@econsult.health