How can I manually distribute reminders via email?

Reminders can be sent for patient services and appointment reminders in the form of Nightly Tasks (Setting Up Nightly Tasks); however, these automated reminders are generic because every reminder is sent using the same Nightly Task email format. If you would like to create a specific reminder email for certain types of reminders, then you can create those here.

Creating a Reminder Email Template

The Reminder Templates allow 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 > Reminder Template Setup from the sidebar.
• From here you can edit existing reminders by clicking the edit pencils next to them or create new ones by clicking Add Email Template, Add SMS Template, or Add Postcard Template. 

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

• • Name: This is the internal name that you will see when you choose which template to use
  • Subject: This is the subject of the email that your client will see.
  • Body of the email.
• 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 home page click Menu > Reports from the sidebar.
• To run and/or edit the Patient Reminders report click on the Edit pencil next to it.

• The screen below will appear. From here the practice will have the ability to change the Name of the report, give the report a Description for staff, view, print, download to PDF.
• Click New Run.

• This will bring you to the following screen where you can apply certain filters:

• • Report Run Name - You will need to give the report a name. Typically this would be something like "October Email Reminders"
  • 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.
  • End date / 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.
  •  Types - This is where you choose which types of reminders you want to send. For email reminders you will only want to choose EXTERNAL (General, Wellness, and Recheck) reminders. Callback reminders should not be sent in an email to your client. For more information on external vs. internal reminders please see this article - Reminder System Overview
  • Classification / Client Status - This is where you can choose to send emails to only certain classifications and/or statuses of clients, if you have these set up.
  • Sort by - This will allow you to sort your clients a certain way. This is not typically required when sending email reminders.
  • Species - You can choose to only send reminders for a certain species.
• 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 the following screen will appear:

• Click on the appropriate reminder template from the dropdown list to display the Message Information:

• After reviewing the template text for accuracy scroll down to the Report section.

• Choose the email addresses you'd like to include or utilize the Check All links above the list.
  • Check All Emails: This will check off all clients for whom you have an email address on this report to be included in the email reminders run.
  • Check All Emails Not Already Sent: This will allow you to send emails to clients who have not already been sent an email via the Nightly Tasks.
• Click Process to send out all the emails checked off.

Running the Appointment Reminders Report 

The appointment report gives clinics the ability to print appointment schedules, print mass check in sheets for appointments and send reminders to client regarding appointment via email.

• To access the appointment report go to the Menu > Reports in the sidebar.
• This will open a Reporting Dashboard.
• To run the appointment report click the edit pencil to the left of the Appointment Report.

• The screen below will appear. From here the practice will have the ability to change the Name of the report, give the report a Description for staff, view, print, download to PDF or convert to Excel previous runs.

• To generate a new report click New Run and choose the filters to apply.

Appointment Information

• • Report Run Name: This will be the name displayed when viewing the previous runs
  • Start Date: The date the report will begin generating from
  • End Date: The date the report will stop generating from
  • Include incomplete?: This filter when selected will ONLY include appointments that have not been checked off as “completed”
  • Include completed?: This filter will ONLY include appointments checked off as “completed”
  • Appointment Types: The staff has the ability to filter the report by specific appointment types they see (If you want to include ALL Appointment Types then leave the filter on “—Not Specified—“)
  • Visit Status: Filter by the visit “status” of the appointment while in the hospital *If applicable
  • Confirm Status: Filter by the “confirm” status of the appointment on if the client is coming for scheduled appointment. (If applicable)
  • Provider: the staff can filter the appointments based on the “provider” assigned to the appointments.
  • Virtual Visit Only If this filter is selected any appointments selected as a virtual visit will only appear on the generated report.

Client Information

• • Sort by: the staff will be able to filter by “Date, Client Date, Postal Code”
  • Beginning Value: what the value will start with when the “Sort By” is applied
  • Ending Value: what the value will stop at when the “Sort By” is applied
  • Communication Filter Options: This gives the clinic the ability to generate with the following:

Patient Information

• • Include inactive patients?: This option will have patients with the status of “Inactive” include on the report.
  • Name: Filter by specific names of the patient on the report
  • Species: Filter by a patient species (Ex: canine, feline, equine) that will only show on the report.

•  
• Click Generate.
• Once the report is generated the staff will have a list of the appointments scheduled within the filters and have the option to Distribute List.

• The Reminder Distribution Page will open.
• Scroll down to the Report section.

• Choose the email addresses you'd like to include or utilize the Check All links above the list.
  • Check All Emails: This will check off all clients for whom you have an email address on this report to be included in the email reminders run.
  • Check All Emails Not Already Sent: This will allow you to send emails to clients who have not already been sent an email via the Nightly Tasks.
• Click Process to send out all the emails checked off.