For many patients, the long wait between being referred and their initial appointment can be a time of stress, made worse if they’re left wondering whether their referral was even accepted. Silence not only heightens patient anxiety but can trigger a flood of calls and extra work for hospital booking teams - with as many as 30% of calls attributed to referral queries in some trusts.
PKB is leading the implementation of NHS England’s eMeet & Greet initiative with a model designed to close the communication gap and systematically empower all patients to wait well from the outset. Our solution equips trusts to promptly acknowledge referrals, providing patients with immediate confirmation and engaging them in an automated self-management workflow to prepare while they wait.
Welcome & engage everyone
Our eMeet&Greet solution swiftly welcomes all patients into the system, significantly reducing the need for reassurance calls:
Multi-channel welcome notification- immediate notification to patients that their referral has been received alongside a digital copy of the referral letter, accessible via the NHS App.Early onboarding - notify unregistered patients via SMS with a prompt to register for PKB with NHS login, engaging new patients earlier in their care management
Failsafe communication - a hybrid mail workflow in place ensures no patient is left behind. For any digital communication marked unread, after a specified period a printed referral letter is automatically issued
Automated speciality team referral - add patients to their speciality team and give immediate access to essential and specific information about both their condition & the process
Patient triage - use questionnaires to understand patient preferences and willingness to travel to optimise waiting list management across the region
Wait well & prepare
Once engaged, trusts can activate our enhanced solution to support all patients to wait well and prepare for clinical engagement:
Early health screening - send questionnaires to assess a patient’s health situation or preferences. For example, this can be used to understand suitability for a pre-operative surgical hub and provide data to inform or reduce time for pre-assessment appointments.
Shared Decision Support Tools care plans- PKB has converted nationally validated NHSE Shared Decision Aids into PKB care plans. Use these condition specific aids to prepare patients for their appointments, inform decision making and ensure a robust consent process.
Waiting Well and Prehab - speciality specific education resources are available within PKB’s Library function to support all patients to wait well. Offer Prehab care plans with week by week guidance to ensure patients are ready for surgery
Waiting List Validation (WLV) - add patients to a WLV team for the hospital to regularly validate a patient’s status on the waiting list using our advanced questionnaires
Benefits of PKB eMeet&Greet
Deliver a better patient experience - the trust can inform, support and keep in touch with the patient at every stage
Free up team time - early patient outreach reduces unnecessary calls to GP and Secondary Care admin teams
Optimise resources - workflows, questionnaires and patient resources ensure efficient use of appointment time
- Reach all patients - multichannel communication enables engagement with 100% of patients on the waiting list
Reduce Did Not Attends (DNAs) - patients are more involved in their care management and less likely to miss appointments
Increase use of the NHS App - elective pathway patients are directed to sign up earlier in the process and use the NHS App while they wait
Sussex ICS user case
Selected by NHS England as a pilot site, Sussex ICS had the distinction of being the first to trial eMeet&Greet in Autumn 2023. Implementing a workflow with hybrid mail partner Synertec, early results indicate a 80% read rate within 48 hours by registered patients receiving a digital confirmation letter
Since starting eMeet&Greet, alongside their WLV programme, Sussex has seen a 7% rise in patient registrations, demonstrating how positive outreach is encouraging patients to engage in their care management. With a validated referral workflow, the ICS is now progressing with the enhanced phase.