We're excited to announce the release of our new availability service that improves the speed and reliability of EMIS/S1 appointment syncs in Hero. We’ve upgraded how Hero reads availability from EMIS/S1 to make booking smoother and more reliable for both staff and patients.

What’s improved

Faster updates

Changes you make in EMIS/SystmOne - creating slots, adjusting times, cancelling sessions - now appear in Hero within minutes, not long delays.

Fewer booking errors

This significantly reduces cases where:

• A slot appears online for a patient to book, but it can’t be booked

• Patients get incomplete bookings - where the booking doesn't sync to the EHR

Automatically self-corrects

If a sync fails or EMIS/SystmOne misses an update, Hero will fix it automatically on the next refresh.

What this means for you

• You can change availability in EMIS/SystmOne and trust Hero to follow almost instantly.

• Online booking becomes more dependable for patients.

• Hero stays in sync throughout the day with no manual intervention.

Other releases

Pharmacierge prescription app

You can now connect Hero to Pharmacierge so you prescribe and send private prescriptions through a single, integrated workflow. The app pulls prescriber and surgery details, supports comments, and captures only the minimal data needed to complete a safe, compliant prescription quickly.

Avoid rekeying, and give patients a better experience from prescription to delivery. Go to Apps → Pharmacierge to connect your account.

Chemist4U prescription app

You can now dispense private prescriptions via Chemist4U directly from Hero. The integration streamlines prescriber lookup, ensures accurate GMC and surgery details in the payload, and keeps medication and codes aligned to practice standards.

This matters because you save time and reduce errors, with reliable updates on prescription status. Go to Apps → Chemist4U to connect your account.

Improvements

• QuickConsult V2: You can conduct and record faster, lighter consultations with a streamlined editor and better defaults

• SignatureRx: You can configure and manage SignatureRx with a clearer layout and fewer clicks

• Consultation coding: You can add SNOMED and attachment codes so records stay consistent across systems

• Admin Portal: Give admin option to deselect prescriber (nullify) so you can clear the prescriber when it no longer applies

• Admin Portal: Managing prescription states on a table so you can view, sort, and act on prescriptions at a glance

• Admin Portal: Revamp SignatureRx app page for clearer setup and faster navigation

• API: Add default attachment code for consultation adapter to keep records and external systems aligned

• API: Add default attachment code for xml in Emis so attachments save with the correct code

• API: Add EMISProxy client to availability service so you can route slot checks via a dedicated client

• API: Add check_ehr_direct and check_hero_unavailable flags to /api/v1/slots/available/:uid so you can control direct EHR checks per request

• API: Check slots_for_session if check_ehr_direct is true to confirm real-time availability

• API: Create availability service client in Typescript and Ruby to standardize access across apps

• API: GetPatientDemographics - call errors/timeouts investigation to improve reliability and timeouts handling

• API: Logic to check slots_for_session in EMISProxy to ensure bookings use current EHR state

• API: update XML for new consultation element to keep EMIS records structured and current

• API: Add code element for attachments in consultations xml so downstream systems can classify files

• Stripe: Remove “Subscriptions” and rename “Invoicing” to “Stripe” for clearer billing navigation

• Database: Refactor patient object for tasks inside episodes list to simplify loading and reduce queries

• Database: Refactor preload taskable associations for episodes to improve list performance

• Database: Remove slots from the past to keep scheduling data current

• Database: Remove unavailability from the past to declutter diaries and searches

• Database: Store oc_submission_type on care_nav_submission for better reporting and auditing

• Element: Prescription builder only needs minimal info on screen so you can prescribe faster with less clutter

• Element: QuickConsult V2 delivers a streamlined consultation flow with clearer saving to record

• Element: Add a SNOMED code to the consultation so you can code structured data at the point of care

• Element: Attach a file to the consultation from device to enrich the clinical record

• Element: Review content in quick consult being saved to record to ensure generated outputs meet clinical standards

• Feedback: Front-end improvements from internal feedback for smoother navigation

• Interface: Add loader/spinner to diary page so users see progress while data loads

• Interface: Ensure BP readings display without spaces (e.g., 120mmHg) for consistency

• Interface: Minimise suggested codes panel in quick consult with a collapse control to reduce noise

• Interface: Order Prescription app table by name (alphabetical) to locate users faster

• Interface: Update toast messages to accurately describe errors and next actions

• Interface: Convert over to the new design for a more consistent UI

• Performance: Investigate slow EMIS connections to lower timeouts and retries

• Performance: Measure impact to verify improvements and guide next work

• Performance: Monitor current calls and general performance within server to catch regressions early

• Performance: Remove slots last updated much earlier than peers to prevent skewing sync

• Performance: Synchronous EHR availability slot check to prevent booking into stale capacity

Fixes

• API: Fix the episode’s controller index so episode lists load reliably

• API: Fix file name for attachments in consultation to preserve original names

• API: GetMedicationIssues on prescription resolved to restore end-to-end prescribing

• Appointment Booking: Issue booking appointments after new year now resolved

• Bug: Booking/reservations bug on bookings.herohealth.net resolved

• Bug: S1 – Attachments not saving correctly to record now save as expected

• Bug: SignatureRx accounts not appearing in dropdown in edit mode now visible

• Editor: Fix attachment not saving to record for consultations; files persist with the encounter

• Editor: Quick consult element save-to-record error for S1 resolved

• Forms: Basic health data form validations on patient side corrected to prevent incomplete submissions

• Incident: App crashes from memory leak on api/inbox/tasks#index resolved; stability restored

• Interface: Prescriber PIN dialog adds required terms statement for compliance

• Interface: Empty CSV when downloading appointments fixed

• Interface: Appointments table export restored

• Interface: Stripe showing payment but invoice unpaid corrected