Decision maker guide

How implementation works

A practical guide for department heads and procurement teams — what deploying Diarybook actually requires in time, resource, and disruption.

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The short answer

No software to install. Live in days — or once your data feed is set up.

Diarybook runs in a browser. Your clinical and administrative staff access it the same way they access any website. There is no deployment project, no IT infrastructure requirement on Diarybook's side, and no disruption to how your service currently runs.

In most cases, you can be live within days. The main variable is whether you want Diarybook to work alongside an existing patient management system. If you do, the timeline depends on one task: getting your IT team to set up an automated data export. Once that is in place, Diarybook handles the rest.

Standalone
No existing system. Typically live within 1–3 days. No IT involvement required.
Integration
Existing system in place. Live once your IT team has configured the data export — a well-defined, bounded task.

Path one

Going live as a standalone system

If your service does not have an existing appointment or patient management system, Diarybook provides everything you need as a complete, ready-to-use platform.

What you provide

1
Basic service configuration
Your clinic or department name, working hours, and appointment types.
2
Reminder wording
The message templates you want sent to patients — or use Diarybook's defaults as a starting point.
3
Staff accounts
Names and email addresses for the people who will use the system.
No IT involvement required. Standalone mode needs nothing from your IT team. If you have a browser and internet access, you can use Diarybook.

Path two

Integrating with an existing system

Many healthcare services already have a patient management or hospital information system in place. Diarybook is designed to work alongside these systems — adding automated multi-channel reminders and appointment management without replacing or disrupting what you already have.

The integration works through a daily data feed. Your existing system exports appointment data to Diarybook's secure endpoint each day. Diarybook picks it up, matches each appointment to the correct reminder rules, and sends the right messages at the right times.

What your IT team needs to do

The integration task sits entirely on your side — Diarybook does not require access to your systems. Your IT team needs to complete two things:

1
Build the data export query
A query against your patient management system that extracts upcoming appointment records in a defined flat file format. The format has 6 mandatory fields — appointment date and time, patient name, unique patient ID, mobile number, and a sync code. Up to 17 additional optional fields are supported for filtering by location, clinician, or procedure type. Diarybook provides the full format specification.
2
Schedule the daily upload
An automated process that runs the query and uploads the resulting file to Diarybook's secure SFTP endpoint once per day. This is a standard scheduled task — the kind most IT teams manage routinely.

That is the full scope of the IT task. Once the daily feed is running, no further IT involvement is required. Diarybook manages everything downstream — matching appointments to reminder rules, sending messages, tracking responses, and flagging non-attendance.

About sync codes. Each appointment record includes a sync code — a label that tells Diarybook which reminder rules to apply. A sync code might correspond to a clinic, a department, a service type, or any other grouping that makes sense for your service. You define the groupings; Diarybook follows them. This means different departments or appointment types can have entirely different reminder schedules, message wording, and communication channels — all managed within a single account.

Timeline

The integration timeline is determined by how quickly your IT team can build and schedule the data export. The task is bounded and well-defined — it does not require significant resource — but the speed of delivery depends on your internal priorities and capacity. Diarybook will validate the data feed before go-live to make sure everything is correctly mapped.

Your IT team
  • Write the appointment export query
  • Schedule the daily upload to Diarybook's SFTP endpoint
  • Test the data feed before go-live
Diarybook
  • Provide the file format specification
  • Validate the incoming data feed
  • Configure reminder rules against your sync codes
  • Handle everything downstream from the data feed

Ongoing

Support during and after setup

Every Diarybook account includes free email and telephone support — from initial setup through to ongoing use. There is no implementation consultant to hire, no onboarding fee, and no minimum contract that forces you to commit before you have tested the system.

During setup, Diarybook will help you configure reminder schedules, validate your data feed if integrating, and ensure your team is confident using the system before you go live.

Standalone: Register at diarybook.com — setup takes minutes.

Integration: Register, then get in touch to begin the data feed setup.

HSE services: Use the dedicated HSE registration process at diarybook.com/hse.

Questions before committing? Contact support@diarybook.com or call us directly.

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Most services are live within days. Support is included from day one.

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