Text messages can be sent via SMS to your patient's mobile phones for various purposes such as new patient greetings, appointment reminders, patient re-engagement, or any other communication requirement with your patient.
Text messages are best for simple, concise messages and are much easier than sending emails (as you do not have to deal with formatting or images). You are not limited to 160 characters but know that the message will likely be split into multiple messages when you go over the limit.
Watch this video for a concise summary.
To create a text message template, perform the steps below.
- Navigate to the System Menu > select Patient Engagement.
- To add a new template, click Templates.
- On the Text Templates tab, click +Add.
- The following window will appear. Enter the following information.
- Name: Enter a name that represents the general use of this template.
- Campaign Type: Select whether this message will be used for General purposes, Appointment Reminders, Appointment Confirmations, Appointment Notifications, Birthday Greetings, New patient greetings, Patient Re-Engagement, or Automated Recall.
- Content: Enter the message as you would like it to appear to your recipient. Use the @ symbol to create auto-populated fields such as the appointment time and date or your office's phone number.
- Response Required: If your selected campaign type is General, you can choose whether a response should be required from the patient. If this campaign type is an Appointment Confirmation, this field will be automatically marked as 'Yes'. This will be conveyed to the recipient as 'Text C to confirm', and you will have the opportunity to include a footer to conclude your message.
Click Save when you feel the message is good to go.
- Here is a sample of how it should look like:
Practices can use this simple guide to learn about creating a text message campaign template in CareStack.