Replace posted letters with digitally generated appointment letters — delivered by email from hsebook.ie or accessible to patients via a secure portal link. Built on the DiaryBook platform already used by over 2,500 HSE staff.
The cost of post
Every appointment letter the HSE sends by post costs at minimum €1.80 in postage — before printing, envelopes, and staff handling time. At some hospitals, the annual cost of posting appointment letters exceeds €100,000.
Posted letters are slow, expensive, and give patients no easy way to respond. The appointment letter is the first point of contact with the patient — and in most HSE services, it's still entirely paper-based.
Two services
Service one
Service two
Adopt either or both — there is no dependency between the two services.
The financial case
A hospital posting 55,000 appointment letters a year spends over €100,000 in postage alone. Shifting just 50% to digital delivery saves approximately €50,000 per year — before counting the administrative time freed up. HSEBOOK costs a fraction of the saving. The payback is immediate.