Note that these settings and templates are used for patient reminders. For appointment reminder settings, see Appointment Confirmations and Reminders: Overview and Settings.
To manage these settings, go to Settings > General > Department > Reminder.
The following settings apply to both manual and automatic patient reminders. See also automatic reminder specific settings.
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Reminder default send method: This setting defines the default sending method for patient reminders. The sending method can be changed when creating a reminder manually or setting up automatic reminders.
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Send reminders daily at: This setting defines the time of day when patient reminders are sent to clients.
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Automatic reminder sending enabled: When this setting is selected, rule-based automatic reminders can be sent to clients.
You can combine reminders so that reminders from a specified period of time are sent to the client in one message instead of each one separately.
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Combine patient email reminders: When this setting is selected, multiple patient reminders are combined into a single email message to the client.
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Number of days to combine reminders for: This setting is available when the previous setting is selected. It defines the number of days from which reminders are combined into one email message. For example, if you set this setting to 30, the reminders scheduled for the next 30 days are combined into a single email message to the client.
Removing duplicate reminders is recommended when reminders are used as a patient care status tool. This way, when a patient's service is completed and a new automatic reminder is triggered, existing reminders for the service are automatically replaced by the new reminder with a new expiry date.
For example, if a patient comes in for an annual exam before the current reminder's expiry date, a new reminder with a new expiry date is triggered when the consultation is finalized. Using these settings, the existing reminder for an upcoming expiry date can then be removed. Also, if the existing reminder's expiry date has already passed, the expired reminder can be removed when a new reminder is triggered.
A reminder is considered a duplicate when it includes the same client, patient, and template.
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Automatically remove upcoming duplicate reminders: When this setting is selected, duplicate upcoming reminders are automatically removed when a new automatic reminder with a new expiry date is created. The following setting defines the timeframe from which duplicate reminders are removed from.
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Remove existing duplicate reminders that are due in: This setting is available when the previous setting is selected. It defines the number of days from which upcoming duplicate reminders are removed. For example, if you set this setting to 365, upcoming duplicate reminders due in the next 365 days are removed and replaced by the new reminder with a new expiry date.
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Also remove past duplicate reminders: This setting is available when the previous settings are used. When this setting is selected, overdue duplicate patient reminders are removed and replaced by the new reminder with the new expiry date.
Using reminder templates, you can manage the text that is sent to clients through email, SMS, or other sending method (such as a posted letter). The reminder templates are used for both automatic reminders and manually created reminders.
To create a reminder template:
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Go to Settings > Items & Lists > Reminders.
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Select + Add in the Reminder templates section.
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Add a Title for the template. This title will appear as the name of the reminder on patient pages and as the title in the client messages. Make sure that the title is concise and informative enough to understand for both the client and the clinic staff. For example, 'Booster Vaccine' is not specific enough, whereas 'Rabies 1 year' and 'Rabies canine 1 year' are more informative.
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If your organisation includes several departments, select the Department you want this template to be available for. If you select the empty option, all departments can use the template.
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In the Email, SMS, and Post text fields, add the reminder body text for the different sending methods.
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If sending email or SMS to the client is not possible, you can use the 'post' option as an internal reminder to contact the client in another way. If you want to send a reminder letter by post, note that you need to print the letter separately, for example, from a Word or PDF patient form.
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Using placeholders, you can have some information automatically inserted to a specific place within the message text. Placeholders are marked with double opposing brackets, for example, '[[patient_name]] is due for an annual exam on [[expiry_date]]. Please schedule an appointment at [[onlinebooking_url]] or call us at [[clinic_telephone]].'. Note that you cannot create placeholders freely but only select from the fixed list which you can open from the Placeholders button next to the message fields.
Note
The maximum number of characters in one SMS message is 160. If the message contains more characters, you will be charged for two SMS messages. Note that the content that replaces a placeholder in the message (for example, the client's name) determines the number of characters, not the number of characters in the placeholder name. In other words, if the content includes more characters than the placeholder, this will increase the total number of characters in your message.
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When finished, select Save.
To edit an existing reminder template, select the pen button at the end of the row in the reminder template list. To update your changes to all current reminders that use the template, select the Update existing reminders checkbox.
For examples of reminder email and SMS messages sent to clients, see Create a Patient Reminder Manually and Create and Manage Automatic Patient Reminders.
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