PracSuite allows you to schedule automatic SMS appointment reminders, with the option to send specific SMS templates for different Businesses, Professions, Practitioners and Appointment Types. It is also possible to schedule multiple SMS appointment reminders that go out at different times before an appointment.
Creating an SMS Reminder
Step 1:
Step 2:
Select Add SMS Reminder.
Configuring the Reminder
Basic Settings
Step 1:
Enter a name for this reminder and choose when you would like the reminder to be sent. We recommend 1, 2 or 3 days before an appointment at a specific time.
Note: PracSuite will continue to send appointment reminders for newly booked appointments after reminders for that day have already been sent. Use the 'Do not send a reminder within' option to limit sending reminders for newly booked appointments.
Step 2:
Replies to SMS appointment reminders will be visible within PracSuite in several places. You can also opt to receive patient SMS replies via Email to the respective business email address, or to specific email addresses.
Step 3:
You can opt to enable an SMS Sender ID, which will be displayed on the patient's mobile phone when receiving SMS reminders. Note: Patients will not be able to reply to SMS messages sent with an SMS Sender ID.
Setting SMS Templates
Step 1:
Set the Default SMS Reminder Template to be used. This will be used for all appointments unless there is an override set.
Step 2:
Select Add to configure override templates if you wish to send different SMS templates for appointments with a particular Business, Profession, Practitioner or Appointment type.
Set an override for each case that requires a different template.
Note: Overrides higher in the list take priority over those lower in the list. Because of this, make sure the more specific overrides are put closer to the top of the list. You can re-organise the overrides by hovering your cursor over an entry and using the || symbol to drag-and-drop them into the desired order.
Exclusions
Exclusions can also be defined to prevent SMS Reminders from sending for specific Businesses, Practitioners, or Appointment Types.
Click Save to finalise your changes.
Activating the Reminders
After saving your reminder preferences, return to the main reminders page to ensure your preferred reminders are active in the grid.
When you're ready, enable the switch to Automatically Send SMS Reminders.
You can repeat the above process to schedule additional appointment reminders to be sent at different times.
Note: If you are going to be creating multiple reminders keep in mind that all reminders will be sent to all appointments unless they are added to the exclusions. For any businesses, practitioners, and appointment types you don't want to send a reminder to, add them to the exclusions to prevent sending multiple reminders.
Patient Preferences
Appointment reminders will be sent to patients according to the Reminders preferences set on their patient file.
