Better ways to communicate

HosPortal is designed so that it can be the single point to manage both the on-call roster (generate the roster, manage changes), and the process of call-backs (who is on call right now, and how do I contact them?). For the latter, HosPortal has a powerful ‘Notify’ function that many hospitals are not using to its full potential.Most people know that HosPortal keeps preset distribution lists, such as people on a particular call type, or all doctors of a certain type, that are always up to date and always accessible. But many hospitals could get more value from our ability to manage custom distribution lists, for instance for obstetric emergencies, or for doctors or nurses available for extra work on weekends.Some of the useful features of using custom Notify lists include:

• The ability to allow users to subscribe and unsubscribe from certain lists, so that they only get the messages relevant to them
• Doctors to nominate to opt-out of messages altogether
• The ability for hospitals to nominate a message as an emergency, and therefore override a doctors ‘do not disturb’ preferences (as anyone with a doctor’s phone number can do anyway)
• The ability to configure each list to be visible to only certain users
• As with all HosPortal functions, fine-grained permissions that can permit certain people to be able to administer the lists.

When it works well, these custom lists are powerful ways to maximise the impact of outbound messages, because only the most relevant and responsive people will get them. It can also save money – some hospitals use it to contact nurses for additional work, thereby reducing agency fees.