Automated Email and Text Reminders can be sent for patient services and appointment reminders by using Nightly Tasks (Setting Up Nightly Tasks); however, these automated reminders are generic because every reminder is sent using the same formats. To create specific reminders for certain types of reminders, then you can create those using the following processes:

Setup

Creating Custom Reminder Templates

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 > 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. 

Creating Email Reminder Templates

• To 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.

Creating Text Reminder Templates

• To edit an existing or create a new SMS reminder, you will need to fill out the following fields:
  • Name: This is the internal name that you will see when selecting a template. 
  • Text: This is the body of the text message that your client will see.
• Click Save when you are done.

Creating Postcard Reminder Templates

• To edit an existing or create a new postcard 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
  • Message: This is the message your client will see above the reminder due dates.
  • Lines 1-4: These are additional lines of information you can add. Lines 2-4 are optional.
• Click Save when complete.

This will be the result of the message when printed:

Use & Management

Manually Distributing Patient Reminders

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

• Navigate to the Menu > Reports.
• To run and/or edit the Patient Reminders report click on the Edit pencil next to the report.

• The screen below will appear. You have the ability to change the Name of the report and give the report a Description for staff.
• Click New Run.

• From this screen you will name the report and apply all relevant filters:

• • Report Run Name: - Give the report a specific name. Example: October Email Reminders
  • Start Date: This is the beginning range of the service due date. For expired/past due reminders, the start date will need to be a past date.
  • End Date / Number of Days past Start: Enter the number of days you would like to include in the range past the start date. The end date is derived from the Number of Days Past Start. Even if a date a year in the future is entered, if the Number of Days Past Start is only 30 days, the report will only look 30 days past the Start Date. 
  • Types: Select the Types of Reminders you would like to send - General, Wellness or Recheck. (Callback and To-Do Reminders should not be selected for distribution. For more information on external vs. internal reminders please see this article - Reminder System Overview)
  • Employees: Employees should be left unselected. 
  • Classification / Client Status: You can choose to filter by Client Classifications or Statuses if utilized. 
  • Sort by: - By default, will sort by client name. For postcard distribution these can be sorted by Postal Code.
  • Communication Filter Options: If needed, filter by clients with or without specific communication methods enabled:
  • Species: Generate species specific reminders. 
• Click Generate.
• Once the report is generated, you will see a list of all your reminders. To send reminder, click Distribute List.

• Once you click Distribute List, you will be taken to the Reminder Distribution page. 
• Select appropriate Reminder Template from the dropdown list. 
• Within the Report section:
  • Individually check the Include box for the clients you would like to distribute reminders to or utilize the Check All links above the list.
  • Check All: This will check off all clients on this report regardless of the contact information on file. Note: If this is selected and you are running an SMS report, an error message will populate for any clients that do not have an SMS enabled phone number on file. The same is true for email addresses. 
  • Check All Postcards: This will check off all clients on this report with a valid address to be included in the postcard reminders run.
  • Check All Postcards (with no email): This will check off only clients who do not have an email address to be included in the postcard reminders run. 
  • Check All Emails: This will check off all clients on this report with a valid email address to be included in the email reminders run.
  • Check All Emails Not Already Sent: This will check off all clients on this report with a valid email address who have not already received an email via Nightly Tasks to be included in the email reminders run. 
  • Check All SMS - This will check off all clients on this report with an SMS enabled phone number to be included in the SMS reminders run. 
• Click Process to send out all the emails checked off.
• Process: This will send out the reminders based on the template selected and mark in the Client Communication Log that a postcard communication has been sent.
• Generate PDF Only (Postcards Only): This will only print the PDF document of all the postcards and not mark anything in the Client Communication Log.

Manually Distributing Appointment Reminders

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

• 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.

• To generate a new report, click New Run and choose the filters to apply.
  • Report Run Name: This will be the name displayed when viewing the previous runs.
  • Start/End Date: This is the time frame of the appointments you would like to report on.
  • Include incomplete? This should be checked for reminders. 
  • Include completed? This should not be checked to exclude appointments marked as Complete.
  • Appointment Types: This will allow you to send a reminder to clients with a specific appointment type. (If you want to include ALL Appointment Types then leave the filter on -Not Specified-)
  • Visit Status: No visit statuses should be selected.
  • Confirm Status: You can filter by the confirm status of the appointment if you would like to exclude clients who have already confirmed. 
  • Provider: You can filter the appointments based on the provider assigned to the appointments.
  • Virtual Visit Only If this filter is selected, only appointments marked as a virtual visit will appear on the generated report.
  • Sort by: Allows you to sort the report based on Appointment Date, Client Name or Postal Code. 
  • Beginning/Ending Value: Allows you to search for specific values relevant to the Sort by option selected. (Example: If you only want to generate a report for Postal Codes between 45678 and 45680.) 
  • Include inactive patients? Will include any patients marked as Inactive on this report. 
  • Name: Search for specific patient names. 
  • Species: Generate species specific appointments. 
• Click Generate.
• Once the report is generated, you will see a list of all your appointments. To send reminders, click Distribute List.
• Once you click Distribute List, you will be taken to the Reminder Distribution page. 
• Select appropriate Reminder Template from the drop-down list. 
• Within the Report section:
  • Individually check the Include box for the clients you'd like to distribute reminders to or utilize the Check All links above the list.
  • Check All: This will check off all clients on this report regardless of the contact information on file. Note: If this is selected and you are running an SMS report, an error message will populate for any clients that do not have an SMS enabled phone number on file. Same for email addresses. 
  • Check All Postcards: This will check off all clients on this report with a valid address to be included in the postcard reminders run.
  • Check All Postcards (with no email): This will check off only clients that to not have an email address to be included in the postcard reminders run. 
  • Check All Emails: This will check off all clients on this report with a valid email address to be included in the email reminders run.
  • Check All Emails Not Already Sent: This will check off all clients on this report with a valid email address who have not already received an email via Nightly Tasks to be included in the email reminders run. 
  • Check All SMS - This will check off all clients on this report with an SMS enabled phone number to be included in the SMS reminders run. 
• Click Process to send out all the emails checked off.
• Process: This will send out the reminders based on the template selected and mark in the Client Communication Log that a postcard communication has been sent.
• Generate PDF Only (Postcards Only): This will only print the PDF document of all the postcards and not mark anything in the Client Communication Log.