How do I send a confirmation or reminder manually?
Sometimes, patients may not receive the communications you intended them to, if, for example:
You have run out of SMS credits
You have entered their mobile number/email address incorrectly
You have not opted the patient into communications prior to booking their appointment.
In these situations, you can use your communication templates to manually send a confirmation or reminder to the patient. To do this, simply follow the steps below:
Go to Main Menu -> Settings -> Scheduling -> Appointment Communication
Click on either Email Templates or SMS Templates at the bottom of the page:
Click Edit next to the template you would like to use, for example the template for a new appointment confirmation:
Copy the text from within the template:
Next, make sure the patient you would like to contact is the Active Patient, then click on Create -> Message and open either the Email or SMS tab, depending on your delivery method:
Click on Manage Templates:
Click on +Add Template:
Create a new template, pasting in the text you copied above and giving it a name like "Manual confirmation":
Save the template, then click Back to Message
Back on the Email or SMS tab, choose the recipient, select your newly created template from the 'Select Template' dropdown, then click Send:
Repeat steps 1-10 for any of the appointment communications you would like to be able to send manually.
You do not have to follow steps 7-10 to create a template, but doing so will give you a template you can use repeatedly for all your patients, thus saving you time in the future. You can just paste the copied content at step 6, adjust the variables and send, if you do not wish to create a template.
Once you have set up manual templates, you will only have to follow steps 6 and 11 to send a manual appointment communication to any of your patients going forwards.
You have run out of SMS credits
You have entered their mobile number/email address incorrectly
You have not opted the patient into communications prior to booking their appointment.
In these situations, you can use your communication templates to manually send a confirmation or reminder to the patient. To do this, simply follow the steps below:
Go to Main Menu -> Settings -> Scheduling -> Appointment Communication
Click on either Email Templates or SMS Templates at the bottom of the page:
Click Edit next to the template you would like to use, for example the template for a new appointment confirmation:
Copy the text from within the template:
Next, make sure the patient you would like to contact is the Active Patient, then click on Create -> Message and open either the Email or SMS tab, depending on your delivery method:
Click on Manage Templates:
Click on +Add Template:
Create a new template, pasting in the text you copied above and giving it a name like "Manual confirmation":
Save the template, then click Back to Message
Back on the Email or SMS tab, choose the recipient, select your newly created template from the 'Select Template' dropdown, then click Send:
Repeat steps 1-10 for any of the appointment communications you would like to be able to send manually.
You do not have to follow steps 7-10 to create a template, but doing so will give you a template you can use repeatedly for all your patients, thus saving you time in the future. You can just paste the copied content at step 6, adjust the variables and send, if you do not wish to create a template.
Once you have set up manual templates, you will only have to follow steps 6 and 11 to send a manual appointment communication to any of your patients going forwards.
Updated on: 28/10/2024
Thank you!