Is it back yet?
A patient had a blood test last week. They were told results take a few days. On day three they ring to ask. Reception checks the system, sees the result has arrived but has not been reviewed, and says to try again tomorrow. The patient rings tomorrow. Now it has been reviewed, but reception cannot tell them anything about it, so they are told a clinician will be in touch. The patient rings again the next day to ask when.
Multiply that by every patient waiting for a result, and a meaningful part of the phone queue is people asking a question the clinic could have answered without being asked.
Why the calls keep coming
Patients are anxious, and silence reads as bad news or as something forgotten. Without any update, the only way to find out is to ring.
Inside the clinic, the status of a result is often unclear too. Some results arrive electronically, some by post, some from external labs by email. Some sit in a clinician's inbox waiting to be reviewed. There may be no simple list of results requested but not yet received, which is the list that catches the ones that never arrive.
Reception are stuck in the middle. They can see partial information, they are not allowed to discuss the content, and they have nothing to offer the patient except the advice to call back.
Clinicians, meanwhile, often end up making short phone calls whose only purpose is to say a result is fine or to ask the patient to book in. Each of those calls needs the patient to answer, which frequently takes two or three attempts.
What the chasing calls cost
| Cost | Effect |
|---|---|
| Phone time | Calls that could have been an automatic message |
| Repeat calls | The same patient ringing several times for one result |
| Missing results | Tests requested but never received, spotted only when a patient chases |
| Clinician interruptions | Reception passing messages to clinicians to ask about status |
| Patient worry | Days of uncertainty that could be reduced with a simple update |
The missing results row matters most. When nobody tracks tests that were requested, a result that never arrives is only noticed if the patient thinks to ask.
How we build results status tracking
- A tracking record created when a test is requested, from your clinical or practice system where it allows, recording what was requested, when and from which lab or service.
- Incoming results matched to the tracking record, whether they arrive electronically, by email or scanned from post.
- A daily list of results requested but not received after a time you set, so the team can chase the lab rather than the patient chasing you.
- A status visible to reception: requested, received, awaiting review, reviewed. That lets them answer the admin question accurately without discussing content.
- Patient notifications by SMS at the points your clinicians choose, using message templates your clinicians approve. For example: your result has been received and is waiting for review; or your clinician has reviewed your result and would like you to book an appointment.
- Clinicians select the outcome message after review in a single click, and the system sends it. The system never chooses or writes the outcome itself.
We do not display result values to patients or interpret them. If you want patients to see results, that belongs in a properly governed patient portal or an existing service such as the NHS App, not in a text message.
After the change
Patients get a message when their result arrives and another after review. Many never need to call. Those who do ring get an accurate answer from reception about where things stand. Results that have not turned up are chased from the clinic's side.
Clinicians still decide what each patient is told. The difference is that telling them takes one click instead of a note to reception and a phone call.
The practice manager also gains a view they rarely have: how many results are outstanding, how long they are waiting for review, and which labs are slow to return them.
Is this your clinic?
- A good share of calls are patients asking whether results are back
- Patients ring more than once about the same result
- There is no list of tests requested but not yet received
- Reception pass notes to clinicians to ask about result status
- Clinicians phone patients just to ask them to book a follow-up