Why 

When a patient sees their GP or optician and a referral to the hospital is required, the patient is not always aware that the referral has been sent or if it has been accepted. There is often little or no engagement with patients during the referral process and subsequent waiting time, which can lead to anxiety and phone calls to the referring service requesting to know where the referral sits within the system.

What

eMeet and Greet is an NHS initiative aligned with the Elective Recovery priorities. Its purpose is to provide patients with timely and proactive notifications regarding their referrals to NHS services.

To support this, hospitals can use PKB as a digital platform to contact patients, welcome them to the hospital, and onboard them into their PKB record.

PKB enables hospitals toV

• Notify patients when a referral has been made and accepted.

• Send patients referral letter digitally

• Engage with patients during the waiting period.

• Offer additional features that enhance the patient experience.

To learn more, please view Enhanced eMeet and Greet.

Referral Notification Process Via PKB

When a hospital accepts a new referral, it sends a referral document (letter) to the patient through their PKB (Patients Know Best) record. This letter can be delivered in one of two ways:

• Via a hybrid mail provider (e.g., Synertec), or

• Directly by the hospital using APIs to upload documents to PKB.

Regardless of the method used, the referral letter is always accessible to the patient via the NHS App.

SMS Invitation to Join PKB

An SMS invitation to join PKB can be triggered upon receipt of the referral letter, whether sent via hybrid mail or direct API integration.

Patient Experience

Once the letter is sent:

• The patient receives a notification via the NHS App and email, informing them of a new document in their PKB record.

• They are also notified that they have been added to a speciality team.

• By clicking the link or opening the NHS App, the patient can:

  • View the referral confirmation letter,

  • Access key information about the referral, and

  • Learn about any upcoming hospital appointments.

The SMS content used for the invitation will be agreed upon with each sending hospital. It will direct the patient to their speciality team within PKB, where they can receive future updates, documents, and essential information throughout their care journey.

Example Notification

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Email notification: Patient clicks on the link in the email or in an SMS if the hospital use that method

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Logs into PKB and clicks View

 

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Referral letter attached to Message

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Reads referral letter

PKB eMeet and Greet Workflow

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Use Cases

Sussex ICS

Two acute hospitals within Sussex went live with PKB's Standard eMeet & Greet solution. They worked with their Hybrid Mail Partner to automate adding patients into a speciality-specific team within PKB. This not only informs patients of their referral letter and which team they are on the waiting list for, but it also gives patients a range of information about their condition, living well and FAQs about the hospital they have been referred to. 

They aim to target patients to enable further digital-enabled functionality to meet Enhanced eMeet & Greet functionality.

Key Features 

Hospitals will use PKB 's Events and Messaging feature when choosing PKB as the eMeet and Greet solution. Click here to view a full list of enhanced eMeet and Greet features.

Sending eMeet & Greet SMS

PKB will send SMS notifications for new referrals if all the following conditions are met: 

1. The organisation has enabled the SMS referral flow 

2. The organisation sent a new referral letter to the patient via HL7  (HL7 MDM T02 with the document type in TXA-2 marked as RL (Referral letter)

3. The patient’s record has a mobile number but the patient has not registered 

4. The patient is aged 16 or over

To learn more about how to use the PKB SMS functionality, click here.

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Automatically Adding Patients to Teams

 

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HL7 Workflow

When sending referral documents, hospitals can use HL7 messaging to add patients to the relevant specialty team on PKB.

Events and Messaging 

• Patients view any referral letter

• Appointment letters and appointments

• Patients have access to message their healthcare team (saving time on the phone)

• The Admin team can triage messages. Either resolving or passing onto another speciality team

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Events and messaging through the NHS App

Patients can access letters the hospital sends directly from within the NHS App via the events and messaging jump-off point (specific to PKB) via any web-enabled device.

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Further Information

• PKB's enhance eMeet and Greet: a list of key features hospitals can use with all patients on any pathway.

• SMART Goals for PKB Implementation: Example SMART goals for PKB eMeet and Greet.

• Hybrid mail and PKB: solution to reduce postage costs and increase access.

• Example care plans can be found on PKB’s care planning toolkit, including examples for enhanced recovery after surgery.

• Consent Care Plan Templates: informed consent care plan examples.

• Shared decision tool care plan: PKB has converted these decision support tools into digital, editable and shareable care plans.

• Elective Recovery: how PKB can digitally support teams and patients at every stage of the pathway.

• Waiting well: Prehab, staying well while waiting for surgery/treatment, including resources and information to check the patient’s situation.