In order to provide the ability to customize your patient communications, we are building out an Automated Communications feature to enable email and text content and timing to be editable. Automated Communications will be fully developed over the course of several months, with the current functionality being outlined below.
In this article, you will learn:
- How to enable Automated Communications access
- How to configure your email communications & default schedule
- Configured Schedule for Appointment Confirmation Requests and Appointment Reminders
- Unsubscribe from Automated Communications
- How to set up Appointment Notification Emails for Providers and Staff
- How to create custom Automated Communication emails
>View Video Below<
Access Automated Communications
To provide a user with access to Automated Communications, go to User Accounts and edit their Feature Access to activate Automated Communications under Practice Account.
This will enable the following link to display for the user.
Configuring Email Communications & Default Schedule
Enable Email and Text Communication for Patients
In order to make sure that the email/text message will reach the patient you need to meet the following requirements.
1. Check that the email/text Appointment Notification Type is selected for necessary appointment types in Practice Account -> Schedule Settings -> Appointments -> Appointment Notification Type checkboxes.
2. Check that email/cell phone is selected as the contact method for patients in patient demographics.
Note: If patients opt out of occasional emails via the patient portal (see the 1st screenshot below) or ask a staff member to manually adjust their communication preferences to exclude emails (see the 2nd screenshot below), then the patient will NOT receive appointment emails. Because Remedly's appointment communications are mostly via email, it is strongly discouraged to allow patients to opt out of emails.
Default Schedule for Emails/Texts
After selecting the appropriate location for making configurations, you are presented with the ability to customize email content for the following emails:
- Appointment Creation Email is sent to the patient when their appointment has been created.
- Virtual Appointment Creation Email is sent to the patient when their virtual appointment has been created.
- Appointment Status Update Email is sent to the patient when the status of their appointment has changed. The Appointment Status options which trigger this email when changed include:
- Rescheduled
- Cancelled
- Waitlisted
- No show
- Virtual Appointment Status Update Email is sent to the patient when the status of their virtual appointment has changed if Send Update Email is toggled to Yes.
- Appointment Status No Show Email is sent out to the patient as soon as the appointment is marked as No show.
- Virtual Appointment Status No Show Email is sent to the patient when the status of a virtual appointment is changed to No Show.
Note: Please make sure that when you change the status to No-Show you mark the question "Send update email" as Yes, otherwise the No Show email won't be sent out.
- Appointment Confirmation Request Email is sent to the patient 2 days before their appointment (by default) to ask them to confirm or cancel their appointment.
Note: To customize the sending time check Customized Schedule for Appointment Confirmation Request and Appointment Reminders.
- Virtual Appointment Confirmation Request Email is sent to the patient 2 days before their appointment (by default) to ask them to confirm or cancel their virtual appointment.
Note: To customize the sending time check Customized Schedule for Appointment Confirmation Request and Appointment Reminders.
Note: If a patient confirms the appointment via Patient Portal before the confirmation email is sent, the Appointment Confirmation Request won't be sent out, as the appointment is already confirmed.
- Appointment Reminder Email is sent to the patient 1 day before their appointment (by default) regardless of whether the appointment was confirmed or not.
Note: To customize the sending time check Customized Schedule for Appointment Confirmation Request and Appointment Reminders.
Appointment Reminder Email is sent for the appointments with the following statuses:
- Scheduled
- Confirmed
- Message left
- Waitlisted
- Reserved
Note: Appointment Reminder Email is not sent for appointments with statuses No Show, Cancelled, Time Block.
Note:
- For the Appointment Reminder Email to be sent out, a patient should receive an Appointment Confirmation Email first (If it is activated and configured to be sent out before the confirmation email. If the appointment is created and the configurations of both the Appointment Confirmation Email and Appointment Reminder Email meet the conditions, then the Appointment Confirmation Email and Appointment Reminder Email will be sent out together).
- If the Appointment Confirmation email is not activated, then only the reminder email will be sent out.
If patients have multiple appointments in the same day, they can receive multiple appointment reminders which can be confusing. So you can determine which appointments should receive appointment reminders. Typically the first appointment of the day is preferred to receive these reminders to ensure the patient arrives on time.
When you create a second or multiple appointments on the same day for the same patient, you will be prompted when you save the additional appointments by a pop up message asking whether you prefer the appointment reminders to be sent for every appointment or only for the first appointment.
Conditions for Text Messages to be Sent and Their Timing
If both Email and Text Appointment Notification Types are selected in Schedule Settings:
- Appointment Confirmation Request Text Message and Appointment Confirmation Email will be sent depending on a patient's contact preferences selected in their patient chart.
- Note: If a patient's email is in the list of Invalid Emails, this patient will not receive the Appointment Confirmation Request Email.
- Appointment Confirmation Request Text Message will be sent 2 days prior to appointment.
If you wish or most of your patients prefer to be requested via phone to confirm their upcoming appointments, you can also select solely Text Appointment Notification Type in Schedule Settings:
- In this case the Appointment Confirmation Request Text Message will be sent 2 days prior to the appointment.
Note: We're working on enhancing the scheduling for Appointment Confirmation Request Text Messages. Stay tuned for updates on the release of Standard Bulk Automated Texting, which will provide more flexible options for scheduling.
Example of the Text that goes out:
Configuring Email Content
Click the Edit button and configure the contents using the standard formatting tools provided.
In order to brand the subject line of patient automated communications, you can add your practice name or further customize this content. This branded content encourages patients to open your email.
The following automated communications have the editing capability:
- Virtual Appointment Confirmation Request Email
- Virtual Appointment Confirmation Request Email Without Cancellation
- Appointment Confirmation Request Email Without Cancellation
- Appointment Confirmation Request Email
The Smart Objects allow you to pre-populate the email body with dynamic data by placing the cursor in the desired location and selecting the desired Smart Object. Add a picture If needed.
Note: when you edit text and want to make a new paragraph - use "Enter". It'll add ~1.5 lines space between lines.
If you want to move the cursor to the next line without any additional spaces between the lines, use "Shift"+"Enter".
Click the Preview button to see the email rendered with dynamic content. When you finish working on the email template click Save.
To revert back to the original default template, click the Load Default Template button.
Activate/ deactivate Emails
In order to deactivate specific emails, go to Automated Communications > Bulk Email > Standard Tab.
Choose the email that you want to deactivate and click Deactivate.
Confirm your choice.
Check the change in status.
Customized Schedule for Appointment Confirmation Request and Appointment Reminders
You can set a preferable sending time for the following emails:
- Appointment Confirmation Request
- Appointment Reminder
In order to choose when the email should be sent, click Edit.
Choose the condition, number, and period required.
Don't forget to click Save.
The configurations will be updated.
Note: For correct workflow the send date for Appointment Reminder Email should be later than the send date for Appointment Confirmation Email. E.g. Appointment Confirmation is set to 5 days, then the Appointment Reminder should be set to less than 5 days, for example, 3 days.
IMPORTANT: If you schedule an appointment on the same day that the Appointment Confirmation Email is scheduled to be sent, the email will be sent out on that day, though not immediately. For example, if you schedule an appointment today in the morning for a date that is two days from now, and the settings for the Appointment Confirmation Email are set to send 2 days Before Appointment, the automated email will be sent out at some point later that same day. This is because the automated communication emails are sent in batches throughout the day, depending on each practice's time zones and location. So even if the new appointment was added to the calendar after your practice's batch of scheduled emails were already sent, this new appointment's Appointment Confirmation email will be sent later in the day as part of a different batch.
Unsubscribe From Automated Communications
Patients can choose to not receive automated communications emails or texts. This can be done in Patient Portal -> Menu -> Account Preferences.
A patient can select and deselect the checkboxes and Save the changes.
How to Set Up Appointment Reminder Emails for Providers and Staff
If you want a provider to receive a notification every time an appointment is created for him, you can turn on Appointment Notification email in User Accounts.
1. Go to Practice Account -> User Accounts.
2. Choose the necessary user and click Edit.
3. Go to Global Permissions and expand the Schedule section.
4. Turn on the toggle button for Receive Appointment Notification Emails.
5. Don't forget to save the changes.
From now on the provider will be bcc'ed on the following patient emails:
- Appointment Creation Email
- Virtual Appointment Creation Email
- Appointment Status Update Email
- Virtual Appointment Status Update Email
- In Person Appointment Reminder Email
- Phone Appointment Reminder Email
- Virtual Consults Appointment Reminder Email
How to Create Custom Automated Communication Emails
If you want to create your own customized emails to be sent out to patients based on your criteria, the Custom Automated Communication feature will be your solution.
In order to create a customized email go to Automated Communications > Bulk Email > choose the location > select the Custom tab.
You can create a new custom email by clicking New Communication.
A pop-up window where you can configure the email will appear.
First, name the email.
Next, configure the conditions that should be met for the email to go out. You need to select the following:
- Appointment Type (s) - for which appointment type(s) the email should be delivered.
- Appointment status(es) - for which appointment status(es) the email should be delivered.
- Treatments - for which treatment(s) the email should be delivered.
Note: You cannot select a treatment for the following appointment types:
-Virtual Consult
-Virtual Followup
-Phone Consult
After that, select the timing for delivering the email.
The email can be sent out before the appointment, after the appointment, or instantly.
Note: The script for sending the emails before or after an appointment is triggered every hour. So the email will not be sent at the moment of meeting the conditions identified at some point within the following hour. If you choose to send the email instantly it'll be sent right away when the conditions are met.
Select the timing for the email delivery.
Then, input the subject of the email which will be seen as the Subject line in the patient's inbox.
Note: it is recommended to put your practice's name in the Subject line for branding purposes.
Finally, compose the content of the email for your patients. Make use of our smart objects to help you add dynamic data to the email.
Consider adding links to the body of the email. As an idea, you can add a link to a YouTube video with instructions for example.
Note: Remedly prohibits sharing PHI (protected health information) via automated emails.
When you are ready with the automated communication configurations, click Save.
A success message will pop up. Click OK to quit.
The custom email will be added to the list with a default status of Active.
In order to deactivate an automated communication, click the 3 dots on the right side for the preferred email and then select Deactivate.
Confirm the deactivation.
The status of the email will be changed to Inactive.
Also, from the drop-down menu you can edit the email as well as delete it.
Note: Only active emails can be edited.
When you have a long list of custom emails, you can use the search bar to quickly find the necessary email by name.
Also, it's possible to sort the emails by name and status.
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