What are practice policies?
Practice policies are practice related information that patients can see when they book an appointment via the Healthengine app, website or web plug in for your practice. We will show the standard billing policy by default, but you can make changes to it and add policies under the other sections if necessary. You can use the templates or write your own policy. These policies can sit under a number of categories, including:
- Billing policy
- Cancellation / Non attendance policy
- New patient policy
- Drug prescription policy
- COVID-19 policy
- Other Practice policy
How do I change my Practice Policies?
Practice policies can be or edited via Practice Admin, and then immediately published on the Healthengine network, ensuring your patients always get the most accurate information.
To edit or set a practice policy, go to Practice admin > Appointment Setup > Policies > Practice Policies
Find the section you want to write a policy for, and enter that text in the free text box. You will receive a warning if your message goes above 600 characters and you won't be able to publish these changes online. This is because patients tend not to read longer messages, and the user experience decreases.
Once you've updated your policies, make sure you click "Save and Publish" at the bottom of the page.
How do I set my Cancellation / Non-Attendance policy to mandatory acceptance?
The practice policies are normally shown on a single page in the booking flow to keep the relevant information for patients in one place. However, your practice might wish to set the Cancellation / Non - Attendance policy to mandatory acceptance to help ensure patients understand the consequences of a DNA at your practice.
Activating this setting means a patient cannot successfully make a booking unless they click "Yes, I agree" to your policy.
To set this policy setting to ON, go to Practice admin > Appointment Setup > Policies > Practice Policies and scroll to the Cancellation / non-attendance policy section. Write or edit your copy for the policy, and then click the toggle to set the policy mandatory setting to ON.
Once you've updated your policies, make sure you click "Save and Publish" at the bottom of the page.
Guidelines for what to include and exclude
While these policies can be updated by you at any time, Healthengine monitors the policies to ensure they comply with our Terms of Use and with the Acceptable Use Policy. In order to ensure your policies are compliant, the below are some guidelines to ensure your policies are suitable:
- Do not include any phone number or website external links
- Do not direct patients to book outside of Healthengine
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Includes text which does not relate directly to the services and practitioners provided by the practice
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Markets the products and services of another business
- Messaging should be short and concise, as patients tend to skip and not read long messages
What do patients see?
Patients in the web or mobile web view will see the practice policy at the start of the booking flow on a single page.
Patients in the app view will see the practice policy at the end of the booking flow on a single page.
Patients who are visiting a practice who have the mandatory Cancellation / non-attendance policy setting on will see the original practice policy page, and also the mandatory policy question in the booking flow regardless of if they are in the app or web view.
If you have any questions, or need any assistance on Practice Policies, please contact Healthengine support
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