Plan Appointments

Walk into every appointment with a clear plan. Advoca can turn your journal, previous appointments, health record and trusted medical sources into focused notes and questions to discuss with your doctor.

Advoca appointment planner showing upcoming visits
Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play4.8 across 35 ratings
Built by NHS doctors Free to use GDPR compliant & HIPAA aligned
Written by Dr Shyam Dhokia, MB BChir Reviewed by Dr Michael Trueman, MB ChB Last reviewed
WHAT IT IS

A smarter way to prepare for every appointment

Advoca's appointment planner helps you turn everything that has been happening into a clear conversation with your doctor. It can look across your journal, previous appointments and health record, search trusted sources, and help you prepare notes that summarise symptoms, patterns, questions and options to discuss.

"Patients who prepare a written list of questions before their appointment ask more questions and recall more of what their doctor tells them — without making the appointment longer or increasing anxiety."
Ey JD et al., British Journal of Surgery, 2023. Supported by NICE NG197 "Shared decision making," 2021 (UK) and Greene & Hibbard, J Gen Intern Med, 2012 (US/NIH).
Chat creating an appointment plan with what, when, who and where details
PLAN AHEAD

A proper plan for every appointment

The moment you book a visit, add it to Advoca by chatting or filling in a quick form. Then it becomes more than a calendar event. Advoca gives that appointment a dedicated place for the doctor, specialty, location, time and notes, so you can start preparing long before you are sitting in the waiting room.

  • Chat or form, your choice — type "I have a follow-up with Dr Smith on Tuesday" and Advoca saves the details
  • Keep the visit, the questions and the context together, instead of scattering them across your calendar, notes app and memory
Appointment plan form showing preparation notes for a biopsy follow-up
YOUR HEALTH STORY

Bring the day-to-day picture into the room

A lot happens between appointments: symptoms change, medication side effects appear, sleep gets worse, a flare settles, or a pattern only becomes obvious after a few weeks. Advoca can look across your journal, previous appointments and health record to help you turn that day-to-day detail into clear notes your doctor can understand quickly.

  • Summarise the symptoms, changes and patterns you have been recording between visits
  • Use previous appointments and your health record to add useful context, so you are not starting from scratch each time
Advoca preparing for a migraine appointment — searching the user's plans and journal, researching management options and reviewing published papers
BETTER QUESTIONS

Prepare questions from trusted sources and your own record

When you are unsure what to ask, Advoca can help you think it through. It can search trusted medical information, look at what has already been discussed, and suggest questions or topics to raise with your doctor. The goal is not to tell you what decision to make — it is to help you have a clearer, more useful conversation.

  • Find questions to ask about symptoms, results, options, next steps or things you do not understand
  • Ground preparation in trusted medical sources and your own appointment history, not random searching at midnight
Preparation notes appearing in a pop-up the moment recording starts, listing the symptoms to mention and questions to ask
NOTES WHEN YOU NEED THEM

Your plan appears when the appointment starts

Your preparation notes are not left behind in another app. When you start recording, they appear in a small pop-up so you can glance at the symptoms to mention, the questions to ask and the options to explore. After the appointment, those notes stay linked to the recording and summary, so you can see what was covered and what still needs follow-up.

  • See your key points while recording, without interrupting the conversation or searching through old notes
  • Keep the plan, recording and summary together, so the next appointment starts with better context
HOW IT WORKS

From booking to a clearer conversation, in three steps

  1. 1Add your appointmentTell Advoca the doctor, time, location and specialty, either by chatting or filling in the form. It takes less than a minute.
  2. 2Build your planAsk Advoca to pull together symptoms from your journal, context from previous appointments, and questions from trusted sources.
  3. 3Walk in readyOn the day, your notes appear when you start recording, so you can explain what has been happening and ask what matters.
WHO IT'S FOR

Helpful for anyone managing ongoing care

Whether you see specialists regularly or have a one-off visit coming up, find the page built for your situation.

REAL PATIENT STORIES

See how Advoca helps people

Real video stories from people using Advoca to understand their care and feel less alone with their health.

Milla @millal40

Living with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and IBD

“It records your whole conversation and summarises the key points, making it easier to understand.”
TikTok
Transcript

I think the most frustrating thing about having a chronic illness is having your symptoms flare up or you're developing a new one. So you go to your doctors and then boom, you get overstim ulated, the brain fog kicks in, and then you're stuck trying to understand all this new information that they're firing at you. And quite frankly, you just get confused. And then through all of this, you're not actually sure what the next step is. For example, I literally have a phone call appointment with my IBD nurse and literally forget half of what's been said. And having crippling health anxiety, this makes the problem ten times worse. But, there's a but. I've actually been informed about this app called Advica. Here we are. And wow, it is a game changer. So it essentially records your whole conversation with your doctor or your nurse and summarises all the key points, making it easier for you to understand. And then also what the actual next steps are. And on the topic of next steps, it gives you the resources to learn. Great, right? So like in simple terms, it gives you a link to your problem or like problems that you may be facing. And in turn, how's best to tackle it? Or you may just want a little bit more information regarding your appointment just to put your mind at ease a little bit. So, if you're facing any of the challenges that I've mentioned so far, why not give it a go? It's on Apple, it's on Android. And the best part of it all, it's completely free. None of this, it's free for a month and then you've got to pay $12.99 afterwards. You don't lose anything. If anything, it's going to make your life easier, less stressful and just overall better. In my opinion. I'm going to be trying it out. And if you do, let me know how you find it. I'll catch you later. Bye.

Coral @cookiemonster3302

Living with Chronic illness and FND

“Record the conversation so you never have to worry about forgetting anything again.”
TikTok
Transcript

Are you tired of feeling like this after your appointment? Oh my goodness. What did they say? What do I have to do again? What medication am I taking again? What did they say? I want you to call someone with me. Don't worry, girly. I got you. Have you heard of this new app called Advocat? Advocat is basically an app where you can, on your doctor's appointments, record the conversation so you never have to worry about forgetting anything again. Wait, what? That's amazing. So I never have to worry about remembering anything from a doctor's appointment again? And as long as I tell them that I'm recording, it's perfectly fine? Exactly that. It is super simple. Wow. All you do. So you click on your Advocat app and once it opened with Face ID, it will go to your profile. You fill out all of your medical information. After that, you press the record button and it will come up with what you have to do. You want to see what you've recorded. You go into appointments and there's your information. So if you've got a phone call coming through, all you have to do is just press the record button on the normal phone and then it will send it to your notes app and then you just transfer it from your notes app recordings to your Advocat app. And there you go. All of your information is stored in the Advocat app. You can never be gaslit again and you never have to worry about taking anyone again. You're welcome.

Jade @chronicallyiconicx

Living with Chronic illness

“It has made me feel so much more confident going into appointments.”
TikTok
Transcript

We all know being chronically ill comes with multiple doctor's appointments, seeing different consultants for different things, and it can be so hard to keep up with all the information that's said. Quite often there are important details we miss, and a normal recording doesn't break down the key points of the conversation. But I recently came across an app called Advocat, and it's completely changed how I manage my appointments. With Advocat, you can record your doctor's appointments, and the app generates a clear summary that focuses on the most important information mentioned. No more replaying long recordings and trying to figure out what actually mattered. It also pinpoints any medication mentioned and gives you information about it, plus shares helpful resources about any conditions discussed. You can set reminders for upcoming appointments so you don 't forget anything, and write down questions you want to ask beforehand, and the app will remind you during your appointments. You can even transfer full-time recordings into the app to keep a full log of all your medical conversations. I am so glad I found this app, and it's made me feel so much more confident going into appointments. And now I've got all the important information I need, and stored easy to come back to. And the best part about it is, it is completely free and always will be. If you struggle keeping track of everything like I do, I honestly couldn't recommend it more. Go and download Advocat and try it for yourself. Take the stress out of managing your appointments.

Laura @ladylaurauk

Living with Endometriosis and adenomyosis

“It records, transcribes and summarises your appointments, so it's super easy to see what was discussed.”
TikTok
Transcript

A little tip, did you know you can record your conversations with your GPs and specialists? Well, you can. I used to hide doing it because I didn't know I could. And then when I knew I could, I just said, do you mind me recording these conversations? Because sometimes they're like half an hour, an hour, and you don't always remember everything that was discussed. So I normally write myself a list of things that I want to ask and then record the conversations. So when I was contacted a couple of months ago by a company called Advocor, who created an app, which is similar to what the GPs and specialists are using themselves, which basically records the conversations with you in your appointment and then summar ise that information. And then they normally use that to send you a letter to say, this is what we discussed. It's very similar to that, but in an app form that you can use. So you can say, are we okay to record this conversation? And then you just press record and it records it. And what happens at the end, it provides a transcript. And then it also provides a summary. So you don't have to listen to the whole conversation again. Like I used to have to, to find like little snippets of information, like that you want to remember or tell somebody about that was discussed. So you can also put in your questions and it will remind you of your questions when you're recording. You can also set up the appointment. So say who your doctor is and say when the appointment is and it will send you a reminder, which is really good. And then it will say record on the app, which is advocate or advoca, however you want to say it. But I think it's advocate because it's like an advocate for you. So you can opt in to the research as well. So if companies want to reach out to advoca and say, look, we're doing a study or we're going to be looking at creating a medication for people with endometriosis. Can we use your anonymized, anonymous information to, to, to create those, that research and those case studies. So you can opt out of that if you want to. A little off reader. But yeah, so I found it a really useful app. They are in the early stages created by two doctors and they're looking to develop it a little bit further. So they are thinking about including options to say what medications you're on and then also to say what your symptoms are as well. So basically it'll be…

IN THEIR WORDS

Clearer notes, better conversations

This app is helping me understand my conditions and how to self-advocate… I feel more confident now about attending my appointments.
— Sarah, 44, lives with ME/CFS, fibromyalgia and post-sepsis syndrome
It was clear and to the point, and easy to follow… with helpful information and what I could ask or say to the doctor.
— Richie, lives with multiple sclerosis
I struggle to explain what and where I am feeling things… You can use it to help you write emails or prepare for appointments.
— Lynne, lives with chronic pain and is neurodivergent

Why Advoca instead of a notes app or a scrap of paper

Most people try to remember symptoms, questions and past conversations from memory. Here's how Advoca is different.

AdvocaNotes apps / paper
Uses your health contextYes — notes can draw on your journal, previous appointments and health recordNo — you have to remember and rewrite the story yourself
Helps shape questionsYes — Advoca can search trusted medical information and suggest topics to raise with your doctorNo — you are left searching the web or guessing what to ask
Linked to the appointmentYes — your plan is attached to the specific visit, with the doctor, time and locationNo — you have to remember which note belongs to which appointment
Visible when recordingYes — your notes appear during the appointment and stay linked to the summary afterwardsNo — paper questions stay in your pocket; the conversation goes unrecorded

Your questions, answered

Is Advoca's appointment planner free?

Yes. Planning appointments, adding notes and getting reminders are all free when you join our research community. Joining means letting us share your fully anonymised data to help advance research into conditions like yours — you can opt out at any time. If you'd rather not take part, our optional premium tier gives you full access without joining.

Does writing questions before an appointment actually help?

Yes. A 2023 study in the British Journal of Surgery found that patients who used a written question list asked more questions, recalled more medical information, and did not experience increased anxiety or longer consultations. NICE guideline NG197 (2021) also recommends offering patients resources to help them prepare before a discussion.

Can I plan telephone or video appointments too?

Yes. Advoca treats telephone and video appointments the same as in-person visits. You can add the details, write your notes and get a reminder. For telephone appointments, the reminder includes guidance on how to record the call on your device.

What can Advoca use to help me prepare?

Advoca can use the information you have saved in the app, including journal entries, previous appointment summaries, transcripts and your health record. It can also search trusted medical sources to help you think through useful questions or topics to raise. You stay in control of what you add to your notes.

What happens to my notes after the appointment?

Your preparation notes stay attached to the visit. After you record, you can compare what you planned to ask against the summary of what was discussed. You can also go back and update them later, for example to add a question for next time or record something you want to remember.

Does Advoca sync with my phone's calendar?

Yes. Advoca integrates with your phone's native calendar (Google Calendar on Android, Apple Calendar on iOS) so planned appointments appear alongside the rest of your schedule. On the day of your visit, you'll receive a notification reminding you to open Advoca and record.

Medical disclaimer

Advoca helps you record, understand and organise your care. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, and it does not diagnose conditions or make treatment decisions — always speak to a qualified healthcare professional.

How the AI works

Advoca's assistant transcribes, summarises and explains your health information, grounded in trusted medical sources and overseen by our clinical team. It does not diagnose or replace your doctor — and, like any AI, it can occasionally get things wrong, so we always show you the sources and full transcript behind its answers.

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