Digital access · Spreadsheet / Python
Check whether digital triage works for everyone
Compare how patients reach a useful response online, by phone and in person.
What you’ll have at the end
A comparison of access routes and one tested improvement.
How to begin
- Define first contact and meaningful response. Keep all routes visible; an automated acknowledgement is not a clinical response.
- Agree operational fields: route, request category, arrival time, meaningful-response time and final disposition. Assess the completeness and disclosure risks of any subgroup data.
- Combine aggregate measures with patient conversations, including people who could not successfully submit online. Involve the patient participation group.
- Test one change: clearer instructions, supported telephone completion or a better reception-to-triage handoff. Preserve clinical escalation arrangements.
- Re-measure weekly and review outliers. Compare similar request types and show missing data. Differences between channels do not by themselves establish discrimination or causation.
What to measure
- Outcome: median and upper-percentile response time by route.
- Process: requests correctly routed first time.
- Balancing: repeat contact, workload, safety incidents and accessibility complaints.
Before using real data
Build an improvement dashboard, not an AI urgency classifier. Averages can hide long delays. Digital-only feedback excludes people unable to use the service.
Agree scope, data handling, supervision and escalation with your practice. Use approved systems. Do not upload patient information to this website or a public AI tool.