Patient Reminders by Text Message

What is a text message patient reminder?

A text message reminder will send a reminder the patient/client of the appointment that you have scheduled for them in the calendar.

There are two forms of text message reminders, a free version (Standard) and a paid version (Express). In addition to text message reminders, Therabill offers email reminders and phone reminders.

Free Version - Standard Text Messages

There is no charge for sending standard text message reminders. However, there are some things to keep in mind about the free standard version. 

• You will need to know the phone carrier (i.e. T-Mobile or Verizon) for the cell phone number that you will be sending the text messages to. If you do not enter the correct phone carrier, the message will not be received and there will be no indicator to let you know that the text messages are not being received.
• Some phone carriers will only try to send the message once. If the cell phone is off, the message can't be sent, and they may not receive the text message (depending on the phone carrier).
• Therabill cannot guarantee or check on the delivery of the text message. The free version requires the phone carrier to deliver the text message. There are various reasons why a phone carrier will not be able to deliver a text message reminder. If you are looking for a more robust option, you may want to consider the paid version of text messages which go through an SMS gateway.

Paid Version - Express Text Messages

The paid version goes through an SMS gateway. This delivery method is the same as if you were to send a text message from your cell phone. As mentioned, Therabill routes these through a third-party SMS gateway. Therabill incurs a charge for each text message sent and this charge is passed on to the Therabill member. For current pricing, please see: Monthly Invoicing: Add-on Pricing.

What exactly does the text message say?

When your clients receive a text message reminder, they will see your clinic's name, date, and time of their appointment. Below is an example of the message they will receive.

[Your Clinic Name] would like to remind you of your upcoming appointment on [appointment date] at [appointment time].

How to Setup a Text Message Reminder

Text message patient reminders are set up through the reminders form for the client.

1. Click Clients in the navigation bar, then Client List.
   
2. In your Client List, search for the client that you would like to create a reminder for, and click the Client Tools icon.
3. In the pop-up menu, click on Reminders.
   
4. The Client Reminders form will open. To set up a text message reminder, enter the parameters as described below.
   
   • Enter the number of days before a date of service that you would like the text message to be sent out (i.e. enter 2 to make it read Send 2 day(s) before a scheduled session, to have a text message sent two days prior to any date of service for that patient that you have scheduled in Therabill). Enter 0 as the number of days to send out a same day reminder. Note: When entering a same day text message reminder, the text message will be sent 2 hours prior to the scheduled time of the appointment.
   • Change Delivery Method to either Standard (Free) Text Message or Express (Not Free) Text Message using the drop-down menu highlighted by the red arrow in the image to the right.  See the first section of this article (What is a text message reminder) for the difference between standard and free.
   • If you choose the Standard version (not required for Express version), you must choose the cell phone carrier. This is the phone carrier of the person that you are sending the message to. If you do not enter this correctly, the patient will not receive the text message and there will be no indicator to you that they have not received the text message.
   • Enter the phone number that you want Therabill to send the reminder to. This must be a phone number capable of receiving text messages. There is no way for Therabill to know if a phone number is capable of receiving text messages (i.e. a cell phone number).
5. Click Submit to create the reminder.
6. Created reminders will be listed on the right under Current Reminders. You can delete a reminder by clicking the red trash can icon.
   

Create Multiple Reminders

You can create as many reminders for a patient as you wish simply by using the Add Client Reminders link under Manage Reminders (Client List > Actions > Batch Client Reminders).

You can also mix and match email, text, and phone reminders. For example, you can have Therabill send out an e-mail reminder 7 days before a session, send out a phone reminder 2 days before a session, and then send out a text message on the same day as a session. 

Therabill will not send out reminders for sessions that have already been patient-confirmed or patient canceled. If they confirm or cancel during any of the reminders, then subsequent reminders for that session will be ignored.