PracticeSuite permits you to send appointment reminders through email and text message.
Email Appointment Reminder Setup at the Practice level
Each PracticeSuite account can send email reminders using any of the 2 methods below
- Using PracticeSuite’s default email credentials
- Using Account’s custom email credentials.
To Setup with PracticeSuite’s default email credentials
Go to Advanced Setup and choose Notifications and Choose Appointment Reminder Email Tab
Choose the Default option. In this mode, PracticeSuite’s default credentials for ‘From (E-Mail)’ ,’Auth.Email’, ’Auth Password’ , and ‘Mail Host ‘ gets populated and these fields are not editable. The ‘From email’ will be in the format ‘Practice-Name <doNotReply@practicesuite.com>’
The user has to enter the below given fields.
| Field | Description |
| Subject | The subject of the alert message sent to the patient. |
| Message | Alert Message that is to be sent to the patient. Message has <<CONFIRM_URL>> : This tag is used to replace the link clicking on which the patient can confirm/cancel or reschedule the appointment |
| Send – days/hours before the appointment- | Specify the number of days/hours before the scheduled appointment when the reminder is to be sent |
| Select Message Option | Generic/Template/Appt. Status and Type Specific Templates. |
| Enable | To enable/disable the alert |
To Setup with Practice/Account’s email credentials
Choose the Custom option from the email configuration field; user has to enter the below-given fields.
| Field | Description |
| From (email) | Mail ID to be displayed in the From field of the mail |
| Auth email | Mail ID from which the mail is to be sent |
| Auth. Password | Password of the Auth mail |
| Mail Host | Host address of the Auth Mail. |
| Subject | The subject of the alert message sent to the patient. |
| Message | Alert Message that is to be sent to the patient. |
| Send – days/hours before the appointment- | Specify the number of days/hours before the scheduled appointment when the reminder is to be sent |
| Select Message Option | Generic/Template/Appt. Status and Type Specific Templates. |
| Enable | To enable/disable the alert |
Once the above values are entered users can trigger ‘Test email settings’ Button to verify the email configuration.
If the Service Provider is setup with Relatient, none of the fields are to be filled as Relatient automatically picks the email address from Patient and sends the Notifications.
Appointment reminder through Text Messages
For SMS Reminders select the Text Message/ SMS tab. SMS notifications can be sent to patients using Telnyx SMS from PracticeSuite.
Telnyx SMS service [PS SMS]
To configure Telnyx SMS service, each Practice have 2 options
- Using PracticeSuite default number
- Account specific number.
To configure with PracticeSuite default number Go to Appointment Reminder Text Messages/SMS tab
Choose PS SMS from Notification Drop Down.
Choose the Default Option; PracticeSuite’s default number will be populated, and all the SMS reminders will be sent from that number. Users are not allowed to update the Registered phone number in Default option. Subject, Message and Send options are the same as in the email reminder setting and the users are allowed to customize these fields.
To configure with Custom number option, choose the Custom Option. Practices can update their own number and all SMS reminders will be sent from that number. This number should be purchased from Telnyx.
How to Confirm/Cancel/Reschedule appointment
To enable this feature, the SMS/EMAIL reminder should include the the tag <<CONFIRM_URL>> in the message. This tag is used to replace a link which is sent in notification to update the appointment status.
When the Patient clicks on the link provided in SMS/Email Reminder, the below message appears; They can click any of the options to Confirm/Reschedule/ Cancel the appointment.
Below Table lists the confirmation messages corresponding to Confirm, Cancel and reschedule options and the Corresponding appointment status in Practice.
| Option | Message | Appt. Status |
| Confirm | Your Appointment confirmed successfully | CONFIRMED |
| Cancel | Appointment cancellation request sent successfully | Cancelled by Patient |
| Reschedule | Appointment reschedule request sent successfully | Rescheduled by patient |
| If link is clicked within 12 hrs prior to appointment time | The link you are trying to view is either expired or is no longer available. Please contact the practice to check your appointment status | |
| If practice cancels the appointment | The appointment you are trying to access has been cancelled. In order to schedule a new appointment, please contact the practice | CANCELLED |
Reminder Set up at the Patient Level
1. In the Contact information in Patient Demographics, Cell# and Email has to be provided. This is the only patient-level setup required for Relatient SMS service.
2. Practices should provide ‘Communication preferences’ of each patient to send the reminders. System sends the reminders based on the Communication Preference set in Patient Demographics. Image 6 shows part of demographics where this preference is set.
3. A Carrier should be selected in case of selecting home, cell & work phones (Not Required for PS-SMS integrated SMS Service and Relatient).
NB: Carries should be added under lookup type “PHONE_CARRIER” from ALL LOOKUPS. The value of the lookup should be the carrier name and code should be the carrier URL to which phone # to be attached.
This completes the reminder set up and the system will start sending alerts to the patient from the next valid login to this account.