Enable personalized patient reminders by tailoring messages according to the type of material resource or the specific location of a patient’s appointment. This feature provides extensive flexibility, allowing you to create highly targeted communications that cater to the unique needs of different patient groups. By customizing reminders in this way, practices can improve patient engagement, reduce missed appointments, and ensure that patients receive relevant information specific to their visit type or location.
Company preferences
Configure Company Preferences for sending appointment reminders. These settings apply at the company level, but reminders are ultimately sent based on each patient’s authorized communication methods and communication restrictions. For example, if SMS is enabled at the company level but a patient has not authorized SMS communication, the appointment reminder will not be sent to that patient.
Patient reminders are only sent through communication channels that are enabled by both the patient and the company. This applies to the following communication preferences:
- Call
- SMS
- Same-day reminders
- Opt-out of Saturday communications
- Opt-out of Sunday communications
To begin, click Utilities.
Click Patient Reminder, then Company Preferences.
System defaults will be selected for each preference. Update any preference if required.
Preferred Phone Types
Select which phone number type (such as mobile, home, or work) should be used when sending appointment reminders. This helps ensure reminders are delivered to the patient’s preferred contact number.
Mode Of Communication
Choose how appointment reminders are sent, such as email, text message, or phone call, based on both the practice’s enabled communication methods and the patient's authorized communication preferences. A reminder will only be sent through a communication channel when both the company and the patient have that communication method enabled.
For example:
- If SMS reminders are enabled for both the patient and the company, the patient will receive an SMS reminder.
- If the company only has Email reminders enabled, the patient will receive an email reminder only if the patient also has Email reminders enabled.
- If either the patient or the company has a communication method disabled, no reminder will be sent through that channel.
Reply-To Email
Allows you to set the email address that receives replies to appointment reminder emails. By default, reminders are sent from noreplies@rxnt.com, but you may enter a different reply-to email if desired.
Prior Days To Send Reminder
Specify how many days before the scheduled appointment the reminder should be sent to the patient.
Preferred Time To Send Reminder
Select the time of day when appointment reminders will be sent to patients.
Allow Saturday Communication
Determine whether appointment reminders and communications can be sent on Saturdays. If a patient has opted out of Saturday communications, reminders will not be sent on Saturdays regardless of the company setting.
Allow Sunday Communication
Determine whether appointment reminders and communications can be sent on Sundays. If a patient has opted out of Sunday communications, reminders will not be sent on Sundays.
Click Save to save the preferences. Then log off and then back in for your changes to be applied.
Any updates to your preferences will be applied during the next reminder cycle, provided the changes are made before the backend reminder job runs. To ensure patient reminders reflect the most up-to-date settings, all changes must be completed before 2:00 AM on the day the reminders are scheduled to be sent. For example, if a reminder is scheduled to be sent on the day of an appointment (such as 12/12/2020), only changes made before 2:00 AM on 12/12/2020 will be reflected in that day’s reminders.
Update company preferences
Updating the Company Preferences for reminders within the Utilities section will only apply to new appointments. It will deactivate any previously configured reminder settings for all existing appointments.
To apply the updated preference settings and reactivate all previously scheduled appointments, complete the following steps:
Click Transfer Appointments from the Appointment tab.
Enter the dates in the Date From and Date To fields.
The Provider field must be left blank.
Choose the Location from the drop-down menu.
The Appointment Status field must be left blank.
Click Find.
Choose the same location for the Transfer Location from the drop-down menu.
The Transfer Date, Transfer Provider, and Transfer Status fields should be left blank.
Click Transfer.
Reminder composer
Reminder Composer allows you to create and customize patient reminder messages based on either appointment location or material resources, giving you greater control over how and when patients are notified. By tailoring reminders to specific locations or resources, you can deliver more relevant and accurate information, ensuring patients receive messages that align with the details of their appointment.
Navigate to the Utilities.
Click Patient Reminder, then Reminder Composer.
Reminder location
Use a Location Reminder type when you want to send appointment reminders that are specific to a particular office, branch, or facility. This is especially helpful if your organization has multiple locations and each may have different instructions, arrival times, or contact details.
Choose Location Reminder from the Reminder Type dropdown menu.
Select a location from the Location drop-down menu to customize the reminder message.
The system automatically populates default text in the SMS, email, and voice call fields, which you can edit as needed to better suit your communication preferences. For example, you might update the default SMS message to say, “This is a reminder of your appointment at our Downtown Clinic on March 15 at 10:00 AM. Please arrive 15 minutes early.”
After configuring your messages, click Save to apply the changes. Then, log out and log back in to ensure the updates take effect. Once completed, patients with appointments at the selected location will start receiving the customized location reminders.
Material resource reminder
Use a Material Resource Reminder type when you need to notify staff or patients about appointments that involve specific equipment, rooms, or other resources that must be prepared in advance. This is ideal for situations where resources are limited, shared, or critical to the appointment.
Choose Material Resource Reminder from the Reminder Type drop-down menu.
Select a location from the Location drop-down menu to customize the reminder message.
Next, choose a material resource from the Material Resource drop-down menu to customize the reminder.
Once you select the material resource, default text will automatically populate in the SMS, email, and voice call fields. The Enable material resource reminder option will display an "X" to indicate whether it is toggled on or off, with a checkmark showing when the feature is active.
The system automatically populates default text in the SMS, email, and voice call fields, which you can edit as needed to better suit your communication preferences.
Once your messages are configured, switch the Enable material resource reminders toggle to ON.
After configuring your messages, click Save to apply the changes. Then, log out and log back in to ensure the updates take effect. Once completed, patients with appointments associated with the selected material resource will now receive the material resource reminder.
Important information
Voicemail limitation
A voicemail will not be left if the patient does not answer a voice reminder.
Fallback to location reminders
When the Enable Material Resource Reminders toggle is turned OFF, patient reminders will default to being sent based on the location of the appointment. You can easily disable material resource reminders at any time by switching this toggle OFF.
Patient communication preferences
To ensure reminders are sent, patient communication preferences must be set before booking the appointment. Reminders are sent only through communication methods that are enabled by both the patient and company. If either side has a communication channel disabled, reminders will not be sent through that method.
Weekend communication restrictions
If a patient has opted out of Saturday or Sunday communications, reminders will not be sent on those days even if the company reminder settings allow weekend communications. These patient communication restrictions override company-level settings.
Rescheduled Appointments
If an appointment is rescheduled, the system will prompt you to decide whether to send a reminder for the new appointment date, provided the patient is opted in for reminders.
Enabling Reminders for Person Resources
Reminders must be enabled for each person resource individually. To do this, navigate to the Utilities menu, click Company Setup, then Person Resources. Select the intended person resource and check the Enable Reminders box.
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