Accurx is a messaging service that we use to contact patients. Using Accurx we are able to text and email patients information, links, questionnaires (aka Floreys), and receive responses (including pictures) back directly from the patient if needed.
Getting started
Opening Accurx
The Accurx Toolbar should automatically open when you open EMIS Web. If it doesn’t, make sure you only have one session of EMIS Web open or try turning your PC off and on again. If this doesn’t help, you can download the Accurx Toolbar here, or ask the IT team to help.
If your Accurx fails to link to EMIS Web
If Accurx fails to link with your EMIS Web account:
- Click on your initials in the Accurx toolbar → select Settings
- Check Organisation ID is correct
- If the Organisation ID is wrong, change to the correct Organisation ID (they can be found on Our Sites) and click ‘Refresh from Server’.
If this doesn’t resolve the issue, get in touch with the IT team.
Our templates
We’ve created lots of templates that you can use for contacting patients! When sending a text or email to a patient, click on the ‘Search for a template or questionnaire’ dropdown to see all of the templates available.
You can click on the ‘Browse’ button to see all of our templates more easily, and see a preview of what they contain. If you click on this, just click ‘Back to message’ to go back to the message screen.
Florey questionnaires
Floreys allow you to send a patient a unique link to a pre-made questionnaire. The patient can then fill it out and the response comes back to your Accurx Inbox.
Pathways
Pathways allow you to schedule one or a series of messages for a patient. When you click on a Pathway template, it will automatically create one or more messages that are scheduled to send at a certain interval.
- If a patient has died or moved practices, Accurx automatically cancel any future messages to that patient.
- If their mobile number changes, the message will be delivered to their new mobile number.
Using Accurx
When you open EMIS Web, the Accurx toolbar should open automatically (it looks like this):
How to send a text or email
- Open the patient that you want to contact.
- Click the message icon in the Accurx toolbar.
- The patient’s information (name, DOB, NHS number, gender) are automatically pulled from EMIS Web. Double check you’ve opened the right patient!
- Either type the message you want to send, or select a template from our library by clicking in the ‘Search for a template or questionnaire’ box:
- Click the ‘Allow response’ tick box if you want the patient to be able to respond to your message.
- Click the paperclip icon to attach documents to the message. You can either attach documents from your computer or directly from EMIS Web.
- Ensure that the ‘Save to record’ box is ticked to make sure that this communication is saved on the patient’s record.
- Click ‘Send now’ to send the text. You can also click the arrow next to ‘Send now’ to schedule the text to send at another time.
The patient’s phone number is also automatically pulled from EMIS Web. You can see if the patient is happy to be contacted by text next to their phone number.
To send an email to the patient instead of a text, just change the method of contact from ‘Mobile’ to ‘Email’.
Managing your responses
You can view responses to your messages by clicking on the ‘Inbox’ icon.
Responses that you may get include:
- Patient responses (including photos) to specific text messages. These are replies to text messages that you've ticked the 'Allow response' box on.
- Florey responses (e.g. our new patient health check questionnaire).
- Failed delivery receipts (click here for more info about why a message may fail to send).
You can save responses, including relevant SNOMED codes, straight to the patient’s record by clicking the ‘Save to record’ button in the response.
Once you're done with a message, mark it is 'Done' to remove it from you inbox.
You can always find it again by clicking on the 'Done' tab, and ‘Re-open’ the message again if needed.
