First Nations / Aboriginal health network
Multi-site · Urban Indigenous primary care
A First Nations / Aboriginal health network serving Indigenous communities in a major urban area was constrained by manual scheduling, limited virtual-care access, last-minute cancellations without reminders, and no secure way to send information electronically. Front-line providers, nurses, booking staff, and managers needed a unified patient-access platform that fit the realities of community-based care.
Operational complexity
The network spanned multiple clinics and care models, each with its own providers, appointment types, and patient needs. Any solution had to work across sites without increasing administrative burden, while supporting patients who might not have an email address or a physical health card at hand.
Solution delivered
A phased patient-access platform built around configurable online booking, secure SMS and email messaging, in-clinic kiosk check-in, and analytics-driven outreach - all tied to the existing clinical record.
How the engagement unfolded
1. Discovery with front-line and administrative teams
Aditech spent time with care providers, nurses, booking and clerical staff, administrators, and managers to understand patient, clinician, and staff barriers. The work centred on delays, limited virtual-care access, last-minute cancellations, missing reminders, and the inability to send information electronically and securely.
2. Configurable online booking
The first phase delivered self-scheduling configured for each provider and clinic, with provider and clinic overrides, multiple appointment types including urgent slots, clinic-specific booking links, location indicators and colours, and in-clinic, virtual, and telephone appointment purposes.
3. Health-card validation and accessible registration
After the initial trial, the system was extended to validate health cards at booking and to allow patients to register without an email address, removing a common barrier for the community.
4. Multi-site deployment and secure messaging
Online booking was deployed across multiple sites, and secure messaging was added so staff could send predefined or tailored messages by SMS or email - appointment details, abnormal-result follow-up requests, and electronic care packages - throughout the care journey.
5. Kiosk check-in and analytics-driven outreach
Patients gained the ability to check in at a kiosk using a care card number or date-of-birth and other identifying details, automatically notifying staff. An analytics module then used structured and unstructured EMR exports to identify care trends and enable targeted outreach for patients with different complications.
Adoption & controls
Adoption was driven by direct engagement with front-line care providers, nurses, booking and clerical staff, administrators, and managers. The platform was configured to each clinic's workflows and then rolled out across sites with role-based training and ongoing user management.
The network operated across more than 46 diagnostic clinics using spreadsheets, paper, and disconnected systems to track every referral, booking, patient visit, diagnostic result, report, and payment. Staff spent thousands of hours each month on repeated entry, cross-checking, and manual reconciliation. Scheduling alone required roughly 40 hours to build a single two-week cycle.
A high-volume specialty hospital ran clinical, administrative, and billing work on paper, PDFs, and a 25-year-old in-house billing tool. Patients across the country were assessed at pop-up clinics with no unified record, and intake errors produced thousands of dollars per day in downstream billing rework.
The physician printed and completed a form, then faxed it or manually uploaded a PDF to an online portal. Faxes could fail or encounter busy lines. Manual portal submission added roughly 10 minutes per case and took time away from patient care. On the insurer side, paper and PDF intake required scanning, OCR, manual review, and follow-up for missing information.