The Patient Management Centre is where the team who get in touch with you about your appointment is based. 

Hannah Pither from the PMC shares the different ways they’ll communicate with you and how you can be sure it is them contacting you. 

You’ll hear a mock phone call demonstrating how call handlers assist patients through the booking process, explaining procedures, and making sure all patient preferences are addressed.

If you have any extra questions about your appointment or referral to PML you can get in touch with the team via the Physiological Measurements website physiologicalmeasurements.com

Episode 3 Understanding PML's Communication with Patients.

Welcome to the Physiological Measurements podcast for patients who've been referred for an appointment for a scan. I'm Charlotte Foster and I've been taking a look behind the scenes at head office in Shropshire, as well as speaking to one of the sonographers who works in one of the clinics run by PML. Throughout this series, I'll be finding out about who PML are, the work they do and what you can expect as a patient.

And I'm back at head office for this episode and I've managed to get a few minutes with Hannah Pither from the Patient Management Centre to find out more about how they deal with patients and what you, as a patient, need to know. I began by asking her how her team gets in touch with patients.

So initially, we contact patients via SMS, which is an automatic text message sent from our system, providing the patient has provided mobile number with their GP surgery. Alternatively, we can contact patients via phone ,via letter, but we also have the option to contact patients via email as well.

And that referral comes down to you guys, you're getting in touch with people. What's the process there?

So the referral comes from the GP practice and that can be received via email or the electronic referral service. Once the patient has been accepted onto our system, they've gone through a clinical triage process. It's then our responsibility to contact that patient to ensure that they're being reasonably contacted and offered an appointment that is reasonable, but in a timely manner for them. So the reason we're contacting patients is to ultimately book their appointment, offer an appointment that is local, that's convenient and suitable for the patient's needs.

How can patients be confident that it's you getting in touch with them? Because we all get those phone calls, those texts. How can we be sure?

Yeah, we definitely get this ourselves. Our office is based in Shropshire and a lot of our services run across the country. So as a service, we do, for patient confidentiality reasons, we do have to ask patients to confirm their name, their date of birth, their postcode and the first line of address. We aren't asking for that information for any untoward activity. But if patients are ever unsure, we give them our website. We can give them our telephone number where they can call through and go through the IVR, which will give them the whole script of who the company is to provide that ultimate assurance.

We can also confirm the GP practice that's contacted us, their referring doctor, if needs be, to provide that added assurance as well.

And you don't mind if people are questioning, do you?

Not at all, it's completely understandable

Because I do that. I'm like, who are you really, though? And it's natural because especially something like your own personal medical stuff. It's personal and it's private and no one wants to be scammed.

And that's it. And I think it's providing that assurance for the patients and, you know, coming down to their level and understanding what they're really wanting out of this phone call, but just providing that full care and attention that they are in complete trust of our service.

Fabulous stuff. And when you're ringing up and you're trying to speak to the patients, you're booking them in. How does the conversation go so typically?

Like I said, it starts with the data protection. And then we'll go through what tests you've been referred for. We'll go through the test and if there's any preparation required. So for some of our abdomen or pelvis ultrasound scans, you may need to starve for 6 hours, may need to have a full bladder to ensure they get the optimal images. So we'll discuss the preparation for the scan and then we'll go through the dates that are available for the appointment, locations, times available. We'll also provide information of the address of the location. If there's any specific information, such as, you know, you need to go up on the first floor. So any specific information around that appointment to make sure that appointment is completely convenient and suitable for the patient's needs.

And I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll have a listen to a phone call as well, shall we? Now, this has been mocked up, this phone call. So there's no patient confidentiality issues or anything like that. It's not a recorded call or anything like that. So we can. We'll have a listen to that in a minute.

Definitely.

Good morning, patient management centre, Mairead speaking. How can I help?

Hi there. I've received a text message. I think it's via my GP, for an ultrasound scan. So I'm just calling up to check that out and see what I need to do, please.

OK, lovely.

Can I please get your postcode to find you on the system?

Yes, of course. So it's M9 6S... [fades] ... Avenue.

Lovely. Thank you.

OK. Yes. So I can see here that your GP has referred you for a pelvis scan and that does include an internal transvaginal scan.

Is that all ok?

Yeah, that's fine. I've never had an internal before. They didn't really explain that to me in the appointment.

OK, so that's just like a small probe that goes inside the vagina and scans from inside. It's not as invasive as a smear and they don't go up as far as the cervix. It's just a little scan from the inside, that's all.

OK, that's fine. Yeah.

Yeah. OK, so for this scan, you do have to have a full bladder, so you need to try and finish drinking a litre of water an hour before the appointment and then hold that in.

Yep. OK.

And can I just check, because obviously there is an intimate part to the scan. Would you prefer a female clinician or do you mind if it's a male clinician? If he has a female healthcare assistant present?

Yeah, I'm absolutely fine if there's a HCA present.

OK, lovely. Thank you.

OK, so my next available appointment would be this Thursday, but that would be in Salford. Is that a little bit far for you to travel or are you able to get there?

What kind of distance is that coming up for me?

So it says here it's about 2 miles away from your house.

Oh, that's fine. I can do that.

Yeah. OK, so I've got appointments this Thursday and I could do anywhere between 10:00 a.m. And 03:00 p.m. If there's a time of day that's better for you.

Yeah, well, due to my working hours, could I take. Is there a 12.30 or a 1.30 available?

Yeah, I could do 1.30 for you.

Yeah, that's great.

Lovely. And just to let you know, this one is with a male clinician, but like I said, it'll have a female healthcare assistant present.

That's absolutely fine.

Yes, lovely.

OK, so I've got that booked in for you. Just remember, like I said, you need to have the full bladder. So finish the litre of water an hour before. You should receive a text message shortly to confirm the appointment. But I can send you a letter or an email if you'd like.

Yeah, if I could have that emailed to me as well, please.

Yeah, I've got an email address here on file [fades] ...@gmail.com.

That's correct.

Yeah, lovely.

So I'll get that emailed over to you. Can I just check? Do you use hospital transport to get your appointments?

No, I drive.

Wonderful. OK, so that's all booked in. So we will see you this Thursday at 1.30 at the Newbury Place Health Centre in Salford.

That's brilliant. Thank you so much.

No problem. You take care.

And you. Thank you.

Bye bye.

So that doesn't sound like there's any nasty surprises along the way on that phone call. It's pretty straightforward, isn't it? Just what you're trying to do?

It definitely is. The purpose of the call is to get that appointment booked as soon as we can for that patient, putting the patient's needs first. And our call handlers, they're all experienced call handlers. They have knowledge and experience of our services and they can answer any question that you may have.

Great stuff. Is that it, though? The appointment has been made. Is that the end of your job?

No, definitely not. So we want to make sure our patients can attend their appointments. So we courtesy call our patients. We want to make sure that our patients know where they're going. Do they need that address re-reading? Do they need the postcode re-sent? And that's just to ensure that our patients fully understand where they're going. Is that appointment location still suitable for you? We do have DNAs which is a do not attend and we want to keep that as minimum as possible. We have a waiting list of patients. We want to make sure that patients can attend their appointment because we wouldn't want any appointments being wasted.

And it's so important that patients contact us as soon as they know that appointment is no longer convenient. They can call us, they can email us, and we'll always make sure that we get that appointment rebooked. We also have, you know, we appreciate that sometimes our phone lines can be busy and patients don't always have the time to wait. We have introduced a callback feature which allows patients to enter their number and a call handler will call them back the same day once they're available. So we'll always be able to contact you.

So when a patient has got this phone call, they're making the appointment with you. Is there anything that they should be highlighting to you? If they've got accessibility needs or any additional needs that they have?

It's so important that patients inform us of any limited mobility or additional needs that they require for their appointment. This means we can ensure that they're requiring those additional requirements. We can put specific measures in place to ensure that they're receiving the healthcare and the service they deserve, but they also need

And staying in touch as well. You mentioned about how it's important to make sure that if you can't make an appointment or something's changed to tell you no one's going to get in trouble, are they? If they tell you that you need to rearrange the appointment, not at all.

We're all human and you know, we all have lives outside of these appointments. But the importance is, so that if you can't attend an appointment that you let us know so we can offer that appointment for another patient who needs it. It's completely OK to reschedule. Just contact us either via phone or via email and we can get that appointment rebooked for you.

Working in the patient management centre, it's probably from my tours of the head office. It's probably the busiest, buzziest place.

Our plates are always spinning. It's an exciting role. Although every day is very similar, every day is very different. Every patient is different and we always ensure that we treat our patients as individuals and not another number. And it's so important that is ingrained in all of our call handlers that work within the patient management centre.

Fabulous. Hannah, thank you so much for talking to me.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Physiological Measurements podcast. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. You can find out more and get in touch with the team by visiting the website physiologicalmeasurements.com.