Automated Recalls: Setup Guide

Jump to: Identify your population · Recall schedule & frequency · Direct links · Top Tips · Further reading

🎥 Check out the video tutorial, or scroll down for the full guide!

🔍 Before you begin: identify your patient population

1. Open your Proactive Monitoring Tool
2. Navigate to Population View – here you’ll find all the filters you need.
3. Choose your indication (e.g. Diabetes)
4. Select the task you want to monitor (e.g. foot check).
5. Select task status such as Opportunistic and Overdue 
   ⚠️ Always include a task status - this ensures the recall target the correct cohort of patients.
6. Add any exclusion (e.g. housebound, palliative care)
7. Optional: Click Groups (bottom-left) for extra filters like Age or Days Overdue.

➕ Add Recall

When you're happy with your patient list, click + Add Recall at the top of the page to begin setting up your recall. 

🧩Step 1: Patient filters

Your selected filters are shown here - review them to confirm you're targeting the right cohort. The total number of matching patients is displayed in the green banner at the bottom.

⏰Step 2: Recall schedule and messaging limits

• Run recall on these days - select the days of the week and time you'd like the recall to run (e.g. Tuesdays only or Wednesday, Thursday and Friday).
• Maximum new patients to contact on each run - use the slider to set a limit between 1 and 500
• Patient prioritisation - decide who gets contacted first for example Most overdue first. 
  Leave as No priority to contact patients in no particular order. 

🔄Step 3: Recall frequency

How often should patients be contacted for this specific recall?

• Recall Interval - set the minimum number of days between each attempt.

• Maximum Attempts - up to 6 messages per patient
  
  

Reset Recall

By default, recalls will automatically restart on 1st April each year, so patients receive their eligible invites at the start of each financial year without you needing to manually recreate them. See our guide to Reset Recall for more details.

• On by default for all recalls, including existing ones
• To turn it off for existing recalls: User Management Portal → Automated Recalls → Configuration

🚫Step 4: Recall constraints

Toggle ON to skip patients who already have an appointment booked. You can specify:

• Appointment slot type
• A specific staff member
• A time range

 When the time range expires, patients who still meet the recall criteria will be contacted again. Consider your recall type when setting the timeframe. 

💡 SystmOne users can currently only skip by staff member. EMIS users can also skip by slot type. 

🔗Step 5: Direct links

Choose whether to include a link in your recall messages. You can select:

• Appointment booking - patients are directed to book an appointment. Configure slot types, booking window and appointment description.
• Questionnaire link - patients are directed to complete a questionnaire.
• No - messages are sent without a link. This can be useful when your message already includes a website link, for example to lifestyle or condition information.

✉️Step 6: Patient messaging

1. Choose your patient communication method:

• ✅Email
• ✅SMS
• ✅Both - set a preference for how patients are contactede.g. SMS if available, otherwise email.

2. Write your message:

For example: "Our records show you are due a Foot Check. Please use the link below to book your appointment. If you've already booked, please ignore this message"

🖋 Step 7: Writing to EMIS / SystmOne

This step ensures everything is properly documented in the patient’s electronic health record (EHR).

1. Decide how the invite will be saved:
   • Free text note
   • Attachment
2. Add optional details for completeness:

• • Patient needs summary – a quick overview for your team of what the patient requires at the point of sending
  • SNOMED codes – for accurate clinical coding.
  • Staff notes – any additional context for your team.

Click Next.

✅Finish & Create

Once you've reviewed the steps, click FINISH, name your recall, then select either:

• Create and activate - enabled your recall immediately
• Create - saves the recall in the portal without activating it

💡Top tips

• Reach patients before they're overdue. Toggle on the Days Overdue filter under Groups in Population View to catch patients before they're due.
• Work through your list faster. Picking up patients early means fewer left waiting until they're overdue.
• Match invites to your capacity. Spread recalls out to fit your team's availability and appointment slots, rather than sending them all at once.
• Catch new registrations early. Bring recently registered patients in at the right time, rather than waiting to mop them up at the end of the year.
• Set recall interval based on urgency. Some checks, like medication monitoring may need shorter intervals, while others, such as certain long-term conditions or smear recalls, may work better with a longer gap between message attempts.
• Explore rules management. Check your rules are configured correctly before building a recall, so the right patients are picked up for the monitoring you need — don't worry, you can always switch these on later.