A personal planner
Each patient gets a link that opens to their own plan: every step as a clock time, a live countdown, a "can I eat this?" checker, drink trackers and reminders in their calendar. No app and no login.
Open the example plannerPrep instructions your patients can follow half-asleep.
We turn your clinic's prep instructions into a personal planner, a short explainer video and a clear printed guide. In your brand, signed off by your team, so fewer patients arrive unprepared.
For day surgeries, day hospitals and endoscopy units. Starting with bowel prep for colonoscopy.
The night before, as your patient lives it
Margaret is 68 and first on Thursday's list, at 7:00 am. Her handout is two pages of small print, and every word of it is correct.
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7 daysbefore
The blood thinner advice is the last paragraph on page one.
It says to talk to her doctor about warfarin a week ahead. She reads that far on Wednesday night.
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11:00 amWednesday
Two schedules, a line apart.
One is for morning lists, one for afternoon. She follows the afternoon one by mistake and has a light lunch.
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2:00 pmWednesday
Clear fluids only, from now.
Does the milk in her tea count? The answer is in a table on page two.
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9:15 pmWednesday
She has a question.
The clinic closed at five. She keeps going and hopes she has it right.
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2:30 amThursday
Her alarm goes off for the last dose.
The handout says to take it four and a half hours before her admission time. She does the sum twice, half-asleep.
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7:00 amThursday
Her prep hasn't worked.
The procedure is cancelled, or goes ahead with a poor view and has to be repeated. Either way, a slot on your list is lost.
None of this is Margaret's fault, and nothing in her handout is wrong. It was written to be clinically accurate. It's read at the kitchen table, tired and anxious, often by someone managing prep for somebody else.
How many of your patients arrive unprepared?
Use your own numbers. Nothing you enter leaves this page unless you choose to send it to us.
Prep not done properly, the wrong food, or a missed medicine step. Your best guess is fine.
arrive not ready. With clearer prep, 3 of them could be.
- Ready
- Arrives not ready
- Ready with clearer prep
Your clinic
Colonoscopies, or whichever procedure needs the most prep.
$
A cancelled or repeated slot, plus wasted staff and theatre time. Not sure? Use your average revenue per procedure.
%
Your assumption. A pilot measures the real figure.
Staff time on prep calls
$
%
Your estimate
Today, about 240 patients a year arrive unprepared. At $800 each, that's about $192,000 a year.
Could come back to you each year
$61,300
Fewer unprepared patients a year
72
Staff hours back a year
62
A typical pack pays for itself once it helps 15 patients a year prepare properly. At your numbers, that's about 1 in 16 of the patients who arrive unprepared today.
How this is worked out
Estimates only, from the numbers you entered. Dollar figures are rounded.
One approved version. Every format your patients need.
Your team signs off one plain-language version of your instructions. Everything is built from it, so when a time changes, it changes everywhere.
Your instructions
Rewritten in plain language, every step tied to a day and a clock time. Signed off by your clinical lead, with a version date.
A short explainer video
Two to four minutes of clear motion graphics, with captions and a natural voiceover, for patients who'd rather watch than read. The example runs 3 minutes 43 seconds.
A clear printed guide
Two pages: the timeline on one, food, drinks and medicines on the other, with boxes for the patient's own times. For the fridge, the waiting room and anyone who prefers paper.
Open the example guide (PDF)Add what your patients need
- Your community's languages, translated and then checked by certified translators
- Easy Read
- Large print
- An audio guide
- Auslan
- SMS reminders
- Sharing with a carer
The examples are for Tidewell Day Surgery, a fictional clinic. Your pack follows your instructions and your brand.
How it works
About five weeks from your handout to launch.
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Week 1
Send us your current handout
A PDF, a Word file, a photo or a link. Every version you use.
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Weeks 1 to 2
We rewrite it in plain language
We remove repetition, turn rules into steps with clock times, and flag anything unclear for your team to decide.
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Week 2
Your team signs it off
Nothing goes live until your clinical lead approves a dated version.
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Weeks 2 to 4
We build every format in your brand
Planner, video and printed guide, plus any languages and formats you choose.
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Week 5
Your staff send one link
At booking, and again a week before. We train the team and keep everything current.
- You stay in charge of the clinical content. We change how your instructions are shown, never what they say.
- No app and no login. Patients open a link on any phone.
- No patient data stored by default. Appointment times live in the patient's own link and on their phone.
- Accessible by design. Readable type, strong contrast and plain language, aiming for WCAG 2.2 AA from the first draft.
- Kept current. Every version is dated, and every format updates together when your instructions change.
Send us your handout. We'll send back a free review.
Within two business days, you'll get:
- A clarity score across ten checks, including the 2:30 am test: can a tired patient find the next step in ten seconds?
- The three changes that would help your patients most.
- One section of your handout, rebuilt, so you can see the difference.
It's yours to use, whether or not we work together. If it looks useful, we'll offer a 20-minute walkthrough of your instructions as a working planner.
Got it. Your review is on its way.
We've sent a confirmation to . Expect your review within two business days.
While you wait, open the example planner on your phone.
Then, if it helps: a three-month pilot
Start with one procedure. We measure against your own figures from the three months before, and agree what success looks like before anything goes live.
- On-the-day cancellations
- from poor prep, per 100 procedures
- Prep quality
- on the scale your proceduralists already use
- Prep calls
- about food, timing and medicines
- Patient confidence
- two quick questions at admission
- Reach
- links sent, opened, and opened again on prep days
Questions clinics ask
Do patients need to download an app?
No. Each patient gets a link by SMS or email that opens their plan in the phone's browser. There's nothing to install and no account to create.
Do you store patient information?
Not by default. The appointment time travels in the patient's own link, and anything they tick off stays on their phone. If you'd like reminders or reporting that need data, we agree how it's handled with you first.
Who's responsible for the clinical content?
You are. We rewrite for clarity and flag anything ambiguous or contradictory, and your clinical lead signs off each dated version before it goes live. We never change what your instructions say.
What about patients without a smartphone?
The printed guide covers them, with boxes to fill in their own times. SMS reminders and a phone line that reads out the next step are options too.
Which procedures can you do?
We started with bowel prep for colonoscopy. The same approach suits gastroscopy, day surgery fasting, imaging with contrast, eye-drop schedules for cataract surgery, and procedures that need medicine changes beforehand.
Can links go out from our booking system?
Staff can send a personal link in seconds from any system today. Sending automatically from your booking or SMS platform is something we scope with you, system by system.
What happens when our instructions change?
Tell us what's changed. We update the approved version, your team signs it off, and the planner, guide, video captions and translations all update together with a new version date.
What does it cost?
It depends on the formats and languages you choose. Most clinics start with one procedure, and we quote after the free review, once we know what your handout needs.
Who's behind this?
Orbi Labs, a studio that makes video, design and digital tools. We built the complete Tidewell example (planner, video, printed guide and brand) ourselves.