Two Way Texting is a convenient HIPAA-compliant tool for communicating with patients quickly, efficiently, and privately with the help of SMS messages. Texting is the preferred mode of communication for most patients, allowing immediate engagement without requiring the patient to log into their patient portal to view your message.
To activate Two Way Texting for your practice, please contact support@remedly.com.
In this article you'll learn about:
- Requirements for using two way texting
- Authorizing staff for two way texting
- Two way texting workflow
- Two way texting reports
Requirements
Your practice can use your business phone number for two way texting which requires a one-month setup period. Alternatively a custom phone number can be assigned using your practice's area code.
How to Enable Two Way Texting for Staff
Two way texting must be activated for staff via User Accounts.
1. Go to Practice Account -> User Accounts.
2. Edit the staff account.
3. In Global Permissions, expand Messages and switch the toggle button to Yes.
4. Save the changes.
Two Way Texting Overview
Two way texting can be accessed by clicking the comment icon throughout the platform:
Two way texting will open in a new tab:
To start a conversation, locate the patient by first name, last name, phone number, or email using the search field:
Click on the patient name to open a text message thread or start a new thread. Type a message in a message field at the bottom of the page then click the carriage return key on your keyboard or click the arrow icon next to the message input field to send the message.
After a patient receives their first text message, they will also receive a text notification that their engagement in text messaging provides their consent to use text messaging to communicate HIPAA-related information. The message will contain the info with the name of your practice in order not to confuse patients.
Note: If patients don't agree to receive text messages from you, they can send STOP in order to stop receiving text messages. As a result, you won't be able to send messages to them, as this functionality will be blocked.
When a patient replies, their response is visible in the thread.
Note: If the same phone number is used by several patients, you will see the names and patients' dates of birth in the conversation.
Patients can send images and documents by clicking the image icon next to the message input field.
The thread will display a minimized version of the picture which will open in full size in a new tab when the image is clicked on.
Note: A patient can start the text messaging thread if they know your texting phone number, so you may want to consider including the texting phone number on your practice's website.
Whenever you get a new text message, you'll see a notification near the two-way texting icon, showing how many unread messages you have.
Two Way Texting Reports
Remedly also provides you with the 3 types of reports for two way texting:
1. Usage report by Day/Month/Year that shows you how many text messages were sent within the chosen period of time. This report is valuable for correct payment for the two-way texting plan.
2. STOP requested from patients report shows how many patients asked to turn off the two way texting feature for them.
3. HIPAA consent report shows how many patients "signed" the HIPAA consent form by agreeing to receive two way texting messages.
In order to generate the report follow the steps:
1. Main menu-> Reports -> Practice Analysis.
2. In the Standard Reports section choose the date desired range and the location.
3. Then click Select report ->Two Way Texting -> choose the report you need.
Video
Content Timelines per Minute:
00:00 - 00:08 - Introduction
00:09 - 01:02 - Enabling two way texting in User Accounts
01:03 - 01:38 - Opening two way texting in Remedly
01:39 - 02:23 - Starting a conversation in two way texting
02:24 - 6:17 - Two way texting features overview
6:18 - 6:24 - Wrapping up