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How can I manually distribute SMS (text) reminders?

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CREATING THE REMINDER TEMPLATE

The Reminder Template section allows you to create custom reminders for different appointment types and service reminders. Your site will come with a few standard reminders, but you can create as many different Email, SMS, and Postcard reminders as you wish. You can also edit the preset reminders that came with your system.

  • Navigate to Menu > Settings > Client Engagement > SMS Templates.

SMS_Template_Mgt.png

  • To edit an existing or create a new SMS reminder, you will need to fill out the following fields:

Create_SMS_Template.png

  1. Name - This is the internal name that you will see when you choose which template to use
  2. Description - A brief explanation of the purpose of the text message.
  3. Text Editor - This is the body of the text message that your client will see.
  4. Click Save when you are done.

RUNNING THE PATIENT REMINDERS REPORT

Once you have created your reminder template, you will need to run the Patient Reminders Report to distribute your reminders.

  • From the Menu, navigate to Reports.
  • To run and/or edit the Patient Reminders report, click on the Edit pencil next to it.
  • From here you can view past reports by clicking on either the View, Print, PDF, or Excel icons next to the past report, or if you want to create a new report click New Run.

Patient_Reminders_for_SMS.png

 

New Run

The New Run will bring you to the following screen where you can apply certain filters:

New_Run_for_SMS_Reminder.png

  1. Report Run Name - You will need to give the report a name. Typically this would be something like "October SMS Reminders"
  2. Start Date - This is the date you want the system to start looking for reminders due. If you want expired reminders to show up you will need the start date to be a past date that way you can pick up any reminders that were due previously and that are possibly expired so that you can remind your clients again.
  3. End date - The date when the system stops looking for reminders due.
  4. Number of Days past Start - You will need to enter the number of days past start and NOT the end date. The end date is derived entirely from the number of days past start, so even if you put in a date that is a year in the future, if the number of dates past start is only 30 days, the report will only look 30 days past the start date.
  5.  Types - This is where you choose which types of reminders you want to send. For SMS reminders you will only want to choose EXTERNAL (General, Wellness, and Recheck) reminders. Callback reminders should not be sent in a SMS to your client. For more information on external vs. internal reminders please see this article - Reminder System Overview
  6. Classification - You can choose to send text messages to only certain classifications.
  7. Inactive Classifications - Select any classifications that have marked as inactive to be a part of the report.
  8. Client Status - This is where  and/or statuses of clients, if you have these set up.
  9. Sort by - This will allow you to sort your clients a certain way. This is not typically required when sending SMS reminders.
  10. Species - You can choose to only send reminders for a certain species.
  11. Click Generate when you are done choosing your filters

Once you click Generate you will see a list of all your reminders. From here you can send your reminders by clicking Distribute List.

Once you click Distribute List a new screen will appear with the following options:

  1. Reminder Template - You will need to choose which reminder template you want to send.
  2. Message - This is the message that you configured in the Reminder Setup section (defined at the beginning of this article). You can edit the reminder template for this specific run here if you wish.
  3. Check All SMS - This will check off all clients for whom you have an SMS enabled phone number.
  4. Process - This will send out all the text message reminders and mark in the Client Communication Log that your client has been contacted regarding this reminder.

 

RUNNING THE APPOINTMENT REMINDERS REPORT

  • Navigate to Reports on the Menu.
  • To run and/or edit the Appointment Reminders report, click on the Edit pencil to the left of the report.
  • From here you can view past reports by clicking on either the View, Print, PDF, or Excel icons next to the past report, or if you want to create a new report click New Run.
  • This will bring you to the following screen where you can apply certain filters:

Appt_Report_for_SMS_Reminders.png

  1. Report Run Name: You will need to give the report a name. Typically this would be something like "Surgical Appointments 10/5 - 10/10"
  2. Start/End Date: This is the time frame for which you would like the report to pull appointments.
  3. Include incomplete/complete: Typically you would only include incomplete appointments
  4. Appointment Types: This is where you could choose which types of appointments for which you would like to send this text message.
  5. Provider: You can choose to only send it by appointments assigned to a certain provider.
  6. Client Information: You can further sort your report by these fields.
  7. Patient Information: You can pull the report for a certain patient (not typically used).
  8. Click Generate when done.

Once you click Generate you will see a list of all your appointments. From here you can send your reminders by clicking Distribute List.

Once you click Distribute List you can choose your reminder template, check off to whom you would like the reminders to be sent, and click Process as outlined above.

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