Creating appointment communications

You can create an appointment communication, which is an email or text message that is automatically sent to patients regarding their appointments.

To create an appointment communication

1. On a location's Patient Communications page > Appointment tab, clicktap Create New.

   

   The wizard for creating a new appointment communication displays.

   

   Tip: By default, the new communication is active. To create an inactive communication that won't send messages to patients, set the Active toggle to Off.

2. Select an option from the Appointment reminder is based on drop-down list to set when the reminder should to be sent:

   • Appointment Scheduled Date - When someone schedules an appointment.

   • Appointment Confirmed Date - When a patient confirms an appointment from an automated appointment reminder, or when a staff member manually changes an appointment's status to Confirmed.

   • Appointment Start Date and Time - When an appointment starts.

   • Appointment Completed Date - When an appointment's status is changed to Completed.

   • Appointment Broken Date - When an appointment's status is changed to Broken.

   • Appointment No Show Date - When an appointment's status is changed to No Show.

   The options to create a reminder display.

3. Set up the following tabs as necessary.

   • Notification Schedule

     Set the fields as necessary for the option selected in Step 2.

     Important: As part our compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), automated appointment reminders cannot be sent out to patients between 9:01 pm and 7:59 am local time. Any Appointment Start Date and Time reminders scheduled to go out between 9:00 pm and 8:00 am local time will be delivered to patients at 9:00 pm. All other reminders scheduled to go out between 9:00 pm and 11:59 pm will be delivered at 9:00 pm, and all other reminders scheduled from 12:00 am to 8:00 am will be delivered at 8:00 am.

     • Appointment Scheduled Date

       

       1. Set up the following:

          • Appointment reminder is based on - Decide how many hour(s), day(s), week(s), or month(s) must pass after the appointment is scheduled for the system to send an appointment reminder. If a reminder is for a family member, the reminder is sent an hour after their appointment is booked.

            Example: 5 hours after a patient schedules their appointment.

          • Exclude automated message - By default, the toggle is set to Off to include the system's automated reminder message with the custom message, which will be added later in the wizard. To only use the custom message, set the toggle to On to exclude the automated message.

            Note: If set to On, the Email Message and Text Message tabs display with a icon to indicate you must enter a custom message to process this reminder properly. If you leave any of the custom messages blank, you won't be able to create the reminder.

            

          • Include Premedicate message on Email - By default, the toggle is set to Off to exclude pre-medication instruction of "Please do not forget to take any required medication before you appointment" from the email message. To include the instruction, set the toggle to On.

            Note: The pre-medication message only displays on the email reminders if the Premedicate check box on a patient's appointment is selected. If the check box isn't selected on an appointment, the email reminder for that appointment won't include the pre-medication instruction, even if the toggle is set to On.

       2. ClickTap Next to proceed to the next tab of the wizard or select the Preferred Sending Method tab.

     • Appointment Confirmed Date

       

       1. Set up the following:

          • Appointment reminder is based on - Decide how many hour(s), day(s), week(s), or month(s) must pass after the appointment is confirmed for the system to send an appointment reminder. If a reminder is for a family member, the reminder is sent an hour after they confirm their appointment.

            Example: 5 hours after a patient schedules their appointment.

          • Exclude automated message - By default, the toggle is set to Off to include the system's automated reminder message with the custom message, which will be added later in the wizard. To only use the custom message, set the toggle to On to exclude the automated message.

            Note: If set to On, the Email Message and Text Message tabs display with a icon to indicate you must enter a custom message to process this reminder properly. If you leave any of the custom messages blank, you won't be able to create the reminder.

            

          • Include Premedicate message on Email - By default, the toggle is set to Off to exclude pre-medication instruction of "Please do not forget to take any required medication before you appointment" from the email message. To include the instruction, set the toggle to On.

            Note: The pre-medication message only displays on the email reminders if the Premedicate check box on a patient's appointment is selected. If the check box isn't selected on an appointment, the email reminder for that appointment won't include the pre-medication instruction, even if the toggle is set to On.

       2. ClickTap Next to proceed to the next tab of the wizard or select the Preferred Sending Method tab.

     • Appointment Start Date and Time

       

       1. Set up the following:

          • Appointment reminder is based on - Decide how many number of hours or days must pass before or after the appointment starts for the reminder to the sent to the patient. If a reminder is for a family, the reminder is sent an hour after the appointment starts.

            Example: An hour before an appointment starts.

          • Exclude automated message - The toggle controls whether or not to include the system's automated reminder message to the reminder. It's only enabled for reminders that are set to be sent before the appointment starts. If enabled, the toggle is set to Off by default to include the system's automated reminder message with the custom message, which will be added later in the wizard. To only use the custom message, set the toggle to On to exclude the automated message.

            Note: If set to On, the Email Message and Text Message tabs display with a icon to indicate you must enter a custom message to process this reminder properly. If you leave any of the custom messages blank, you won't be able to create the reminder.

            

          • Include Premedicate message on Email - By default, the toggle is set to Off to exclude pre-medication instruction of "Please do not forget to take any required medication before you appointment" from the email message. To include the instruction, set the toggle to On.

            Note: The pre-medication message only displays on the email reminders if the Premedicate check box on a patient's appointment is selected. If the check box isn't selected on an appointment, the email reminder for that appointment won't include the pre-medication instruction, even if the toggle is set to On.

          • Ability to confirm - This toggle is only enabled if the reminder is set to be sent before the appointment's start time, and controls patients' ability to confirm their appointment before the appointment's date and time. By default, the toggle it set to Off to exclude it. To include it, set the toggle to On. Once set, the Confirm Appointment button will be added to email reminders, which patients can use to confirm their appointment. For text messages, instructions on how patients can confirm their appointment will be added to the text. After a patient confirms their appointment, their appointment's status will be updated automatically.

          • Continue sending - By default, the toggle is set to Off to only send the reminder message once. If you want the message to be sent multiple times after the 1st reminder was sent, set the toggle to On. Then, you can use the enabled options to send a message once every few hour(s) or day(s), and when to stop after sending a specific number of messages.

            Example: A reminder is set to be sent 2 hours before the appointment's start date and time, and to send it hourly until it's been sent 4 times. The 1st one will be sent 2 hours before the appointment, the 2nd one will be sent an hour before the appointment, and the 3rd one will be sent when the appointment starts. The system won't send the 4th reminder, as the reminder is set to be sent only before the appointment.

       2. ClickTap Next to proceed to the next tab of the wizard or select the Preferred Sending Method tab.

     • Appointment Completed Date

       

       1. Set up the following:

          • Appointment reminder is based on - Decide how many number of hours or days, weeks must pass after the appointment is completed for the system to send a reminder. If a reminder is for a family, the reminder is sent an hour after their appointment is completed.

            Example: 5 hours after a patient finishes their appointment.

          • Exclude automated message - By default, the toggle is set to Off to include the system's automated reminder message with the custom message, which will be added later in the wizard. To only use the custom message, set the toggle to On to exclude the automated message.

            Note: If set to On, the Email Message and Text Message tabs display with a icon to indicate you must enter a custom message to process this reminder properly. If you leave any of the custom messages blank, you won't be able to create the reminder.

            

       2. ClickTap Next to proceed to the next tab of the wizard or select the Preferred Sending Method tab.

     • Appointment Broken Date

       

       1. Set up the following:

          • Appointment reminder is based on - Decide how many number of hours or days, must pass after the appointment is broken for the system to send a reminder. If a reminder is for a family, the reminder is sent an hour after their appointment is broken.

            Example: 5 hours after a patient breaks their appointment.

          • Exclude automated message - By default, the toggle is set to Off to include the system's automated reminder message with the custom message, which will be added later in the wizard. To only use the custom message, set the toggle to On to exclude the automated message.

            Note: If set to On, the Email Message and Text Message tabs display with a icon to indicate you must enter a custom message to process this reminder properly. If you leave any of the custom messages blank, you won't be able to create the reminder.

            

          • Continue sending - By default, the toggle is set to Off to only send the reminder message once. If you want the message to be sent multiple times after the 1st reminder is sent, set the toggle to On. Then, you can use the enabled options to send a message once every few hour(s), day(s), week(s), or month(s) and when to stop after sending a specific number of messages.

            Example: A reminder is set to be sent 2 hours after the appointment's start date and time, and to send it hourly until it's been sent 4 times. The 1st one will be sent 2 hours before the appointment, the 2nd one will be sent an hour before the appointment, and the 3rd one will be sent when the appointment starts. The system won't send the 4th reminder, as the reminder is set to be sent only before the appointment.

       2. ClickTap Next to proceed to the next tab of the wizard or select the Preferred Sending Method tab.

     • Appointment No Show Date

       

       1. Set up the following:

          • Appointment reminder is based on - Decide how many number of hours or days, must pass after the appointment is broken for the system to send a reminder. If a reminder is for a family, the reminder is sent an hour after their appointment is broken.

            Example: 5 hours after a patient breaks their appointment.

          • Exclude automated message - By default, the toggle is set to Off to include the system's automated reminder message with the custom message, which will be added later in the wizard. To only use the custom message, set the toggle to On to exclude the automated message.

            Note: If set to On, the Email Message and Text Message tabs display with a icon to indicate you must enter a custom message to process this reminder properly. If you leave any of the custom messages blank, you won't be able to create the reminder.

            

          • Continue sending - By default, the toggle is set to Off to only send the reminder message once. If you want the message to be sent multiple times after the 1st reminder is sent, set the toggle to On. Then, you can use the enabled options to send a message once every few hour(s), day(s), week(s), or month(s) and when to stop after sending a specific number of messages.

            Example: A reminder is set to be sent 2 hours after the appointment's start date and time, and to send it hourly until it's been sent 4 times. The 1st one will be sent 2 hours before the appointment, the 2nd one will be sent an hour before the appointment, and the 3rd one will be sent when the appointment starts. The system won't send the 4th reminder, as the reminder is set to be sent only before the appointment.

       2. ClickTap Next to proceed to the next tab of the wizard or select the Preferred Sending Method tab.

   • Preferred Sending Method

     

     1. Select one of the following:

        • Email - This option is selected by default to send the appointment reminder by email. If a patient doesn't have an email address in their patient record, Ascend Academic will attempt to send the reminder by text.

        • Text - Select to send the appointment reminder by text. If a patient doesn't have a valid mobile phone number, Ascend Academic will attempt to send the reminder by email.

     2. ClickTap Next to proceed to the next tab of the wizard or select the Email Message tab.

   • Email Message

     

     1. Customize the email message as necessary:

        • Subject - By default, the email's subject is set as [Location's name] Appointment Confirmed. If you want something different, enter the subject.

        • Automated message - Automated message only displays if you setup the Notification Schedule tab to also include automated messages. If it's set to exclude it, this section doesn't display. If it's included, it can't be modified. The names and the appointment date and time in the automated message are place holders, and the system will replace it with the correct patient names and appointment date and time when the reminder is sent to patients.

          Sent email messages display the automated message first, and then the custom message.

        • Custom message - Enter a custom message if necessary. If you're satisfied with the automated message, you can leave this field blank.

     2. ClickTap Next to proceed to the next tab of the wizard or select the Text Message tab.

   • Text Message

     

     1. Customize the text message as necessary:

        • Automated message - Like the email message, the automated text message only displays if you setup the Notification Schedule tab to also include automated messages. If it's set to exclude it, this section doesn't display. If it's included, it can't be modified. The names and the appointment date in the automated message are place holders, and the system will replace it with the correct patient names and appointment date and time when the reminder is sent to patients.

          Sent text messages display the automated message first, and then the custom message.

        • Custom message - Enter a custom message if necessary. If you're satisfied with the automated message, you can leave this field blank.

     2. ClickTap Next to proceed to the next tab of the wizard or select the Practice Info tab.

   • Practice Info

     

     This tab displays the email and text signatures that display at the end of the message. For email, it displays the location's logo, name, address, and phone number based on the location information in the system. For text, it displays the location's name and phone number. If the location has their email address in the system, their email address displays below their phone number.

     Tip: If the location's information in the system is incorrect or outdated, you can update them. Once updated, the new information will be applied to all existing communications and their future reminders. The new information won't be applied to email and text messages that were sent before the update.

4. On the Practice Info tab, clicktap Done.