Interview with Dr. Rachel Forgan, GP Partner at Grove Medical Practice

Initial Experience

Q: What motivated your practice to try BetterLetter?

Dr Forgan: There were several factors. We wanted to improve the quality and accuracy of our coding to ensure the information in letters was correctly reflected in our records. Automating this process meant reducing manual data entry for QOF and ensuring we captured all relevant data efficiently. Another key factor was reducing clinician workload—freeing up their time while also supporting our administrative staff, who often found letter processing quite draining. At the time, we also had a coder on long-term sick leave, which made the need even more pressing.

Q: What were your first impressions when using BetterLetter?

Dr Forgan: It has been a journey, as we adopted BetterLetter early and have seen a lot of its development firsthand. But from the start, as a clinician, I found it really helpful. The way it highlights key information draws your attention to the most important parts of the letter, reducing the risk of missing something and easing the burden on staff processing these documents.

How it Has Helped

Q: Has it saved you time in your day-to-day operations? Has it made your workflow more efficient? If so, how?

Dr Forgan: Yes, it saves time. We process letters through Docman, and some can be 15 pages long. In Docman, you have to click through each page, whereas in BetterLetter, it’s pulled into a single scrollable PDF, which is much faster. More importantly, BetterLetter extracts key information and action points, making it easier to determine the next steps. The summary page highlights medication changes and actions, ensuring documents are directed to the right team—whether it's medicines management, a clinician, or just filing.

Q: Are there any challenges the app has helped you overcome?

Dr Forgan: Managing workforce efficiency was a big one. Clinicians are the most expensive resource in a practice, so reducing their administrative workload was a key goal. BetterLetter has allowed us to structure our workflow more effectively, ensuring that tasks are handled at the right level within the team.

Ongoing Support & User Experience

Q: How would you describe the support from BetterLetter?

Dr Forgan: They are a great team and they’ve been very responsive to practice needs. They genuinely want to support general practice and make working with clinical documents easier. I can’t fault them in terms of the support that they’ve given us

Q: Have you used the support tools, such as live chat?

Dr Forgan: Yes, our coders use the live chat, and we also use the quality tab on the website. If we spot something, we can feed it back easily, and the system is very user-friendly.

Final thoughts & Recommendations

Q: Would you recommend BetterLetter to other practices?

Dr Forgan: I would certainly encourage other people to use it. Different teams have different needs, but for us, it has been a significant help. Recruitment and retention in primary care are challenging, and I believe BetterLetter supports administrative teams by making their work more efficient and manageable.

Q: Any final thoughts on your experience with BetterLetter?

Dr Forgan: It’s been a positive experience. The software continues to evolve, the team is responsive, and it has helped us achieve our goals. For practices considering it, I’d recommend looking not just at the cost of the subscription but also at the cost of their workforce time. The efficiencies gained can make a real difference.