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Blog · Author

David Lara

Tech Mentor · Engineering at Arbol

Bogotá, Colombia

Marathon runner and cyclist when he's not behind the keyboard. Mentors builders on cloud architecture and product engineering, and helps the Arbol team ship systems that stay up when the clinic's phone won't.

Writes about

  • Cloud architecture
  • Engineering mentorship
  • Product systems
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13 articles

Practice operations10 minDavid Lara

Online vs phone booking for NHS GP appointments

The NHS App can cut the 8am rush when practices enable booking and cancellation — but phone remains essential for triage-heavy demand. Verdict inside.

Technology18 minDavid Lara

Region study: build vs buy contact (US/AU/GB/CA)

Build vs buy the clinic contact layer across Anglo markets (US/AU/GB/CA as data points)—non-comparable signals, matrix, and a clear verdict.

Practice operations10 minDavid Lara

Appointment wait times and no-shows are the same problem

Patients in the US wait 31 days on average for an appointment and one in four Australians waits longer than they find acceptable, while booked slots go unused.

Primary care10 minDavid Lara

Medicare Annual Wellness Visit reminders that convert

US Medicare covers a yearly Wellness visit at $0 with assignment — if your practice qualifies people, books the right visit type, and follows up.

Pediatrics10 minDavid Lara

Australia's childhood vaccination coverage: a five-year slide

National coverage has fallen every year since 2020, and the gap is widest in specific cohorts, not evenly. Here is what a general practice can do.

Practice operations11 minDavid Lara

Telephony overflow in UK practices

Why UK GP phone lines still overflow after digital telephony—and how practices redesign queues, callbacks, and first-line capacity without pretending the 8am rush vanished.

Compliance12 minDavid Lara

TCPA for appointment reminders: ops, not panic

TCPA-aware appointment reminders for US practices: treat the FCC healthcare exemption as an ops checklist—purpose, cadence, opt-out, scripts.

Practice operations12 minDavid Lara

Bulk billing and reminders: what patients tolerate

Australian Medicare bulk billing and clinic reminders collide when messages feel like marketing. What patients tolerate—and how consent shapes ethical prompts.

Practice operations11 minDavid Lara

Primary care access across Anglo markets: metrics aren't ranks

CMWF and national series measure different clocks. A RegionGrid guide for leaders who refuse fake league tables across UK, AU, CA, US and IE.

Practice operations11 minDavid Lara

OHIP appointment access in Ontario: an operator’s guide

Health Care Connect attaches patients to primary care; your clinic phone still decides whether OHIP coverage becomes a booked visit. What operators can fix.

Practice operations10 minDavid Lara

NHS 111 vs practice phone: where demand actually lands

NHS 111 routes urgent need; the practice phone still carries day-to-day access. Here is where each channel sits — and why an agent belongs on the practice line.

Practice operations12 minDavid Lara

Flu season fills chairs that unanswered phones never book

CDC puts flu medical visits in the tens of millions; MGMA ranks phone access among 2026 priorities — yet many practices still leave inbound demand unmeasured.

Practice operations10 minDavid Lara

After-hours clinic coverage in Australia: own the first line

Healthdirect took 1.4 million calls in FY25, mostly after hours. RACGP still requires clinics to own access — how a first-line voice agent closes the gap.