How Do I Prompt Patients to Fill in My Forms?

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So, your page is all set up, and your forms are ready for completion by your patients. How, then, do you prompt your patients to complete them? Getting the ball rolling is simple. All they need to do, is visit your page. Once you’ve motivated your patients to visit your profile page, the hard work is done.

And we make it even simpler, still…

We provide a shortlink for your page, which makes it even easier for your patients to access it. Your shortlink will follow a very straight forward format, such as anaestheticgroup.com.au/surname

What’s more…

If you’re a Premium Plan member, you’ll have your own domain name. This could, if you like, follow the format of drmyname.com.au, much easier for your patients to remember, and very handy for getting them onto your profile page.

Forms are compatible with any device your patient might be using. Smartphone, tablet, or computer, you can be assured it’s responsive, and there will be no need for your patients to dust off, and fire up, their desktop PCs. With no password requirement, all your patients need to do is search for your name, and click on your pre-op questionnaire, or post-op form.

Which website address do I give my patients?

  • Your shortlink (e.g anaestheticgroup.com.au/gasman) or
  • Your Premium website address (e.g drmyname.com.au)

The profile page we set up for you will be at a website address that looks like: https://anaestheticgroup.com.au/doctor/dr-garry-gasman/. As this can be too long for patients to remember (or to send in a text message), we provide all paid plans with a shortlink address.

You can use or leave off the www. at the beginning – both work (e.g . www.anaestheticgroup.com.au/gasman or anaestheticgroup.com.au/gasman will go to the same page). Older people tend to like to see www however leaving off results in a shorter link and is easier for smartphones.

For example all the below links will work and redirect to the same page:

Do patients need an access code or login details?

No. We do everything we can to ensure it’s as easy as possible for patients to access your profile and forms. All they need to do is visit your profile page. There’s no need for them to type in any access details. We make sure our site is as user-friendly as possible

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How to get patients onto your page?

To encourage patients to visit your profile, and fill in your form, you have several options:

1) Surgeon’s Rooms – A letter given to patients when they book in their surgery

You could supply surgeons with a letter (template here) to give to patients when they book in for their surgery. This is the easiest, and simplest, way to get them to your profile. How so? It’s simple because they usually book in for surgery weeks in advance. This means they’ll fill in the questionnaire weeks, and sometimes months, ahead of their operation. This allows you plenty of time to prepare, and chase, other reports or provide IFC. Being completely automated, this method requires no effort from you to obtain the pre-op form. You can also mention your post-op form, requesting feedback after the operation.

2) Text / SMS message – For last minute additions or ad-hoc lists

You could advise the patient directly. Once you have your operating list, usually days before the op, you can text your patients, and ask them to visit your page, to complete your form.

You can do this via your mobile phone (more info here), or an online text messaging service such as Smsbroadcast, SMSGlobal or TextMagic.

An example text message would be:

“Hello – this is Dr Gasman your Anaesthetist for your procedure with Dr -Surgeon-Name-. Please complete my pre-op health questionnaire at anaestheticgroup.com.au/gasman as soon as possible to assist me in planning the safest anaesthetic for your surgery. Kind regards, Dr Gasman“

Tip: Supercharge your text message by creating a shortcut key. Visit your phone’s Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement and paste in your shortcut (e.g pq and the phrase above) More info here

Our forms are responsive, and can be completed on smartphones, or saved, ready to be completed later, on a desktop PC. This method is perfect for last-minute additions, or even a last-minute list.

Our Anaesthetists tell us it’s common to pick up a list, or for a surgeon to add patients onto a list, the afternoon before. In these situations, they just send a quick text to their patients and, generally, before they finish their dinner, they have all their questionnaires back.

3) In your profile

On your page, you need to encourage patients to fill in your forms. Patients will be more likely to complete the form if they can see the direct benefit to them. So, you might want to say something like:

“Not all anaesthetics are the same. To ensure I provide you with the very safest and most effective anaesthetic, it’s very important I have your full medical and surgical history. To help me with this, I ask all patients to complete my Pre-Op Questionnaire.”

4) On your Surgeon’s website

You can ask your surgeon (or even your group) to include a link to your page on their own website. This could be included in your ‘about me’ section on their site. That way, patients can opt to know more about their Anaesthetist, and complete your form while they’re getting to know you.

To find your direct link visit your profile page and copy the address in the URL – it should look something like https://anaestheticgroup.com.au/doctor/dr-garry-gasman/ – give this address to the webmaster.

5) Google

As we optimise each Anaesthetist’s profile, your page will show up if a patient searches for you. As such, it’s a very quick process for patients, from searching for you, and clicking on your profile, to selecting and completing your form.

Alternatively Google yourself and see where else you show up online and then simply update your details there so patients can easily click through to your form.

In summary…

Just as it’s quick and easy for your patients to complete your forms, it’s also quick and easy for you to ask them to do it. That’s why we make it so simple to get patients access to your forms. With responsive form design, adapted to all platforms, custom URLs, and shortlinks, all you need to do, is get the link to your patients.

What about the PES / Post-Op Form?

The operation is done, but you still need your patients’ cooperation, in completing your post-op form or patient experience survey. How to encourage their assistance? You could prompt them to complete it by:

a) Popping a note on their bill

The idea is for this feedback to occur automatically, requiring no effort on your behalf. This is a very low-effort way of encouraging patients to complete the post-op form, as it’s automated. Keep it short and sweet. You could say something like:

“I hope you’ve had a pleasant experience with your recent surgery and you are recovering well. When you have a moment I would appreciate it if you could please complete my Patient Experience Survey at anaestheticgroup.com.au/yourshortlink.“

b) Asking patients on your profile 

You could add a paragraph onto your profile, to let patients know that their cooperation after the surgery would be of use to you. Many patients will visit your profile page after the surgery to read your post-operative instructions (if you provide them or extra pages to download). A simple request there can increase the feedback you receive. Say something like:

“After your procedure, I would appreciate you taking just a few minutes to fill out my Patient Experience Survey. Your answers are 100% anonymous, and will help me to improve the way I care for future patients.“

c) Asking patients by email

For example, if you send patients IFC, or a quote email when they have completed the pre-op form, you could mention your post-op form.

d) Mentioning the form on the day of the surgery

When you chat to the patient in recovery, you can say how helpful it would be if they could fill in your post-op form.

e) Via custom confirmation emails

For Premium Members, we can customise the confirmation email received by your patients, and request them to fill in the post-op form after their surgery.

f) Batch contacting past patients

You could get back in touch with past patients, and retrospectively ask them to complete the post-op form.

g) Sending a text message

When you check on your patient in the days after the operation, you could mention the patient experience survey.

Never fear…

Even if some patients slip the net, or the above methods take a while to become second nature, there are many ways you can remind yourself to get in touch with patients. Once a month, you could go through your old pre-op questionnaire, and email the patients then. This is also a good way to keep on top of deleting forms when you’re done with them.

Alternatively, you can set up a reminder by using your email’s “Snooze” function or via an app, such as the Boomerang app for Gmail. This will return your patients’ details to your inbox on whichever day you select. For example, you could set the app up to do this exactly one week after the operation.

Whether you get in there early and mention the form at the beginning, enlist the help of the surgeon to pass on the link, or send them a reminder a week or two after the op, you will have plenty of options available to get the word to them. Even if they’re an old patient, their feedback is still valuable. Our Anaesthetists find it very easy to pass on their profile link to their patients, and are using their feedback on a daily basis to improve and tailor their service. Importantly, too, it goes that one step further to show your patients that you care about the quality of their treatment.