Mum's appointment, my phone number
A patient in her nineties is seen at home every seven weeks. Her daughter books the appointments and wants the reminders. Her son pays the invoices. A carer lets the podiatrist in on Tuesdays. The daughter holds a lasting power of attorney for health and welfare. The patient herself likes a letter.
The clinic system has one phone number and one email. Reminders go to the daughter, invoices to the daughter, who forwards them to her brother, and the carer is phoned from the podiatrist's mobile. When the daughter goes on holiday, everything stops.
Why one contact per patient does not work
- Different people handle booking, paying and access for the same patient.
- Clinic systems often hold one phone number and one email per patient.
- Formal authority, such as an attorney's, is noted in free text, if at all.
- Updates after a visit go to whoever happens to answer.
- When a contact changes, the old one keeps getting messages.
The root cause is that the system models the patient as the only person involved, when for many podiatry patients a small team manages their care.
What it costs
Missed appointments because reminders went to the wrong person. Late payments because invoices sat with someone who does not pay them. Podiatrists unsure who they can talk to about the patient. Families frustrated by messages going astray. And a data protection risk when information goes to people who should not receive it.
| Role | Receives | Recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Patient | Letters if they want them | Preferences |
| Booking contact | Reminders and booking links | Name, relationship, channel |
| Payer | Invoices and receipts | Name, payment method |
| Access contact | Visit day notice | Name, phone, access notes |
| Attorney or deputy | As your policy sets | Type of authority and evidence seen |
How we build contact roles
- Each patient can have several contacts, each with one or more roles: booking, paying, access, updates, and any formal authority.
- Reminders go to the booking contact, invoices to the payer, and visit day notices to the access contact, each by their preferred channel.
- Formal authority is recorded with its type and the date your team saw evidence, as your policy requires. Your policy decides what that allows.
- The patient's own preferences, such as wanting a letter as well, are respected.
- The podiatrist sees on the visit screen who they can speak to about what.
- When a contact changes, the role is moved or ended in one place, and the old contact stops receiving messages.
- Contact roles sync with Cliniko, WriteUpp or your system where it can hold them, or sit alongside it in a linked record.
What each person may be told or may decide is set by your clinic's policy and the law as your advisers interpret it. The system records the roles and applies your rules.
Home visits need particular care. The access contact receives notice of the visit day in time to arrange being there, and the podiatrist sees any access notes, such as a key safe or a neighbour with a key, on the visit screen rather than in a text message from months ago.
What changes
Each message reaches the person who acts on it. Payments arrive from the person who pays. Carers know when to expect the podiatrist. Podiatrists know who they can speak to. And changes in a family's arrangements are made once and take effect everywhere.
Does this sound like your patient list?
- Many patients have a relative who books or pays for them.
- Your system holds one contact per patient.
- Invoices go to someone who forwards them on.
- Attorney or deputy arrangements are noted in free text.
- Messages keep going to a contact who has changed.