Background
Current Limitations
Criteria for sending Appointment Reminders
Sample appointment reminder SMS message
Workflows
Collecting Client Cell Phone and Text Consent
Appointment Booking
Stored Query for checking consent and appointment status
New Modules
Work Centre\Client Items
Medical Records\Messages
Alter Client\Internet
Downloadable Reference(s)
Background
The Profile EMR's appointment reminder feature is available by request. This article is a learning guide and a reference tool. If your clinic/team wishes to have access to this, please contact EMRHelp@vch.ca to start the discussion.
Current Limitations
There are plans to explore additional functionality to enhance the Appointment Reminder feature. Please note the following limitations during this initial release:
- Reminders will be sent through SMS/text messaging only.
- Messages are only sent to the client's Cell Phone number. It will not send to the client's saved home, work or other phone number.
- Cell Phone number must be in a 10-digit format (not sensitive to dashes, spaces or periods)
- This is a one-way notification. For clients to confirm, update or cancel appointments, they must reach out to the clinic directly.
- This feature is exclusively for individual appointments. It does not currently support group appointments.
Criteria for sending Appointment Reminders
The client will receive a reminder for their appointment if all the requirements listed below are satisfied. If any of them are not met, a reminder will not be sent.
- The clinic has the appointment reminder feature enabled.
- The client provided a valid 10-digit cell phone number and consented to contact via Text. This is captured through the Client Registration Form.
- The appointment meets all the following conditions:
- Within the defined day range to send the notice (i.e. the cadence)
- Not cancelled or rescheduled
- Type requires client interaction (i.e. internal types like Chart Time or Admin Notes are excluded)
- Send Reminder's is checked. Note: by default this is pre-checked if the linked client has given consent to contact.
Sample appointment reminder SMS message
Unless a custom message was selected for your clinic, the client will receive the standard message at each cadence where the above criteria is met. Note: each clinic has one message template.
The values populated from the appointment into the standard message are:
- The client's preferred first name, or legal first name if preferred is not saved
- The appointment type, which is necessary for clinics with hybrid care to identify if the appointment is in-person, virtual, or by phone
- The provider's full name
- The appointment's date and time
- The clinic's name and phone, which matches what is used in the clinic's letterhead
Workflows
Collecting Client Cell Phone and Text Consent
Collecting and saving the client's cell phone and consent to contact via text is through the Client Registration form. Please see the section in the linked article regarding this workflow.
Appointment Booking
The diagram below outlines the most basic method to integrate the appointment reminder feature into a clinic's appointment booking/management process. The diagram has been modified so it may fit into Zendesk article's maximum width. For a printable version of this diagram, click on the Profile EMR - SMS Appointment Reminder Workflow.pdf link in the Downloadable Reference section.
Stored Query for checking consent and appointment status
A stored query was added specifically to aid clinics who have appointment reminder enabled. The stored query List of Client Appts by CLINIC and Date Range (Appointment Reminder) is found under Operational Reports - Admin\Queries based on APPOINTMENT AT a clinic
The POS code, status of the appointment, and date range are required to generate the results. To confirm which appointments will send reminders, the follow should be reviewed in the results:
- The Cell Phone stored for that client must be in a valid 10-digit phone format (not sensitive to separators like dashes, spaces or periods)
- The SMS Consented, Appt Send Reminder, and Appt Type Client Contact must all be true
- The Appt Status cannot be Cancelled or Rescheduled
All conditions above must be true for a reminder to send for that particular appointment. These values can be changed through the Client Registration form (Cell Phone and SMS Consented) or through the appointment properties window (Appt Send Reminder, Appt Type Client Contact and Appt Status). Note: The Appt Type Client Contact is tied to the appointment type used. The type's sending state is determined at a system-wide level.
This stored query can also be used to check for past No-Shows and Cancellations. To do this, ensure that Cancelled and No Shows are selected for appointment status, and the date range is set to the past.
New Modules
Clinics have the option to view what SMS messages were sent on their behalf through the automated system. There is also one new module visible due to system requirements.
Work Centre\Client Items
Through Work Centre\Work\Client Items, a clinic can review all messages sent on their behalf by date range. The filters provided can display messages sent in the last 2 days, 7 days 2 weeks or 4 weeks ago. When an entry is selected, the preview pane on the right will display the client's message. The appointment properties window can be opened by clicking on the link associated to the sent message.
Medical Records\Messages
Through Medical Records\Messages, message history for a single client can be viewed. The filters provided allow viewing of messages sent on behalf of the logged in clinic or across the whole system (from other clinics). Just like in the preview pane from the Work Centre\Client Items module, the appointment window can be opened by clicking on the link associated to the sent message.
Alter Client\Internet
The new Alter Client\Internet module is mandatory to have for the feature work. This read-only view can be used to verify the client's contact information. The fields of interest are the Mobile Phone field and the Communicate by SMS Mobile checkbox. As a reminder, these fields can only be updated through the Client Registration form.
Downloadable Reference(s)