When a patient books, Hero tries to write the appointment into the matching EMIS slot. Sometimes EMIS refuses. The usual reasons are:
The slot was taken in EMIS between Hero's last sync and the patient booking.
Sync delay: the slot changed in EMIS and Hero hadn't caught up yet.
"Slot type not Hero bookable": the slot's type was changed in EMIS, often after a slot was booked or re-used with a different type.
Overlapping sessions in EMIS at the same time.
No matching EMIS slot found.
When you get the alert, find the patient and the time they chose.
Check EMIS to confirm the appointment isn't there.
Book the patient into a suitable slot in EMIS.
Contact the patient to confirm the new time.
If you see the same cause again and again (for example a slot type often reported as not bookable), check how that slot type and its sessions are set up in EMIS.
How you're told: it appears in your Hero inbox as "EMIS: Incomplete booking" with a yellow Incomplete booking label. Its details say "EMIS book failed for appointment ID" followed by the appointment number. We also email you about it.
Why NHS practices don't get these: NHS practices use EHR-confirmed booking. Hero waits for EMIS to accept a booking before confirming it to the patient. If EMIS refuses, the patient is told straight away and can choose another time, so nothing is left half-booked. This rarely happens, so patients almost always get the time they want. On Hero-confirmed booking (usually private practices), the patient is told they're booked straight away, so they may already have a confirmation for a slot that never reached EMIS. That's why the steps above ask you to contact them.
You get several alerts a day for the same reason.
You can't work out why a booking failed.
You think the alert is wrong (the appointment is in EMIS), or you're an NHS practice and get one of these alerts.
What an "EMIS cancel failed" or "EMIS reschedule failed" alert means
"There's a problem with your chosen appointment"
Reconnecting EMIS or fixing a locked EMIS account
