Engage Consult Now Fully Assured for NHS Notify: Smarter, More Cost-Effective Patient Messaging 

Back in July, we gave you an update on how we were working with the NHS team to improve our online and video consultation tool, Engage Consult. We’re thrilled to announce that Engage Consult has now achieved full assurance with NHS Notify! 

Now that we have achieved full assurance, it means that practices can notify patients of bulk and individual messages using NHS App push notifications.  We also offer push notifications using our Engage Consult app for those patients who do not use the NHS app.  This makes us one of the first consultation suppliers to offer this functionality, helping practices cut SMS costs while improving patient communication.

What is NHS Notify?

NHS Notify is a messaging service that allows healthcare providers to send emails, text messages, letters and NHS App notifications to patients. By integrating Engage Consult with NHS Notify, we’re providing practices with a cost-effective and efficient alternative to traditional SMS messaging – without compromising on reach or effectiveness.

Why this matters for your practice

Sending appointment reminders, health campaign updates, and administrative messages via SMS can be expensive. With NHS Notify, Engage Consult enables practices to:

  • Send messages directly to the NHS App inbox, reducing reliance on costly SMS
  • Use push notifications to ensure patients receive timely alerts
  • Improve efficiency by reaching patients in a way that’s integrated into their existing NHS App experience

How it works

By using NHS Notify integration, Engage Consult can help you communicate with patients via free push notifications. However, we understand that not everyone will use the NHS app, so we’ve got fallbacks in place to ensure that you still communicate with your patients effectively. Here’s how it works:

Responding to a request

When a patient submits their request via the NHS app, you can respond via two-way message. Engage Consult will send an NHS app push notification to notify the patient of the response.

 

When the practice member responds to the patient’s message, they can select a fallback method. If the patient doesn’t read the message within 3 hours, Engage Consult will notify the patient via email or SMS, depending on the user’s chosen fallback method.

Sending outbound messages

When you create an outbound Engage message for a patient or group of patients, you can choose to notify them by email or SMS. If we can, we’ll notify them via the NHS app.

 

The patient will receive a push notification to their NHS app which will take them to a message in their NHS app inbox. The message will contain a link to the message in Engage Consult. 

 

Using Engage Consult to send messages this way means that you can send messages of any length with attachments, appointment booking links and questionnaires.

 

If the patient doesn’t read the message within 24 hours, Engage Consult will send them a fallback notification using the method you chose when you created the message. If you think the message is more urgent, you can change the fallback to 3 hours.

 

Appointment reminders

Currently, you can configure Engage Consult to send SMS appointment reminders 1-7 days before the patient’s appointment. If the patient has the NHS app installed with push notifications turned on, Engage Consult will send the appointment reminder as a message to the NHS app instead. It will include a link allowing the patient to cancel their appointment if they need to.

 

If the patient doesn’t read the message within 24 hours, or 3 hours if the appointment is the next day, Engage Consult will send a fallback notification by SMS.

The next step in smarter healthcare communication

Engage Health Systems has always been committed to enhancing digital healthcare solutions that benefit both patients and providers. Achieving full assurance for NHS Notify means we’re at the forefront of cost-saving, NHS-approved patient communication technology.

This is just the beginning. We’ll continue working on further improvements to streamline patient interactions and support NHS practices in delivering seamless, effective care.

Want to learn more about how NHS Notify with Engage Consult can save your practice money and improve patient engagement? Get in touch today.