Client Appointment Reminders

Want to remind clients of their upcoming appointments? Want to ask clients to confirm they're coming to the appointment?

Ensure a higher client attendance rate by sending them a reminder a day or so before their appointment! Read on to find out how to set up reminders, and the various reminder types.

In this Article:

Set Reminder Defaults

The default reminder amount of days (when creating a new client) is managed on a "per provider" basis.

This means providers can have different values, all determined here! (they can always be manually changed after creating a new client, discussed here: Manage or Edit Reminder Settings)

Providers can manage this setting by going to:

  • My Profile (left menu)
  • Find the section titled Appointment Settings
  • Click the blue Edit button (top right of that section):

  • Change Reminder interval (days) to a preferred default, and Save
  • Keep in mind that this will apply to reminder defaults for new clients created going forward -- this will not impact existing clients.

⚠️  Note: Owners & Managers similarly can update this with these steps:

  • Practice Settings (left menu)
  • Staff (top tab)
  • Click on the provider name you wish to edit
  • Find the section titled Appointment Settings
  • Click the blue button (top right of that section)
  • Then change Reminder interval (days) to a preferred default, and Save

When Creating a Client

When you or your staff are creating a new client in the system, when entering a phone number or email address we automatically check off the reminders option, but you are free to uncheck them after entry.

This uses the therapist's defaults set in the above section.

After clicking you'll be redirected to the profile. If you wish to change the appointment reminder settings, like days, to something other than the default you can do so here and with the below steps picking up at the last bullet point:

Enable Client Appointment Reminders

To enable reminders that will be sent to an already established client, navigate to the client's profile:

  • Go to Clients (left menu)
  • Click their name which loads their profile
  • Find the section Phone & Email, just beneath the top demographics:

You should then see all the client's added phone numbers and email addresses aggregated all in one location here. The middle column shows the reminder status for that contact type.

⚠️ Note: Appointment Reminders are configured for the Practice Default Time Zone, and will display both the time zone and time to the client in the reminder.

Manage or Edit Reminder Settings

To manage or edit, to the far right of the contact click the square button with a pencil through it:

Seen below in red, click to adjust that contact / reminder type:

To add a new phone or email, click the top right button in the section (plus symbol):

settings Options:

Far Right:
delete Delete the phone number or email address
edit_square Edit the phone number or email address

Far Left:
star Solid blue star marks the default (if more than one of a contact type exists)
content_copy Copy the phone number or email address

Reminder options:

📧 Email:

  • Number of days sent in advance: 1 - 5 days
  • Request confirmation: adds a button in the email to click & confirm

📱 Phone:

  • Reminder Types: Text or Phone call
  • Number of days sent in advance: 1 - 5 days
  • Request confirmation:
    • Text: adds "Please reply YES to confirm" to the end of the text reminder
    • Phone: press 1 to confirm for the phone call

Need to send reminders to someone other than the client?

If treating couples, families, or children/minors and you want appointment reminders to be sent to additional phone numbers or email addresses, simply add those phone and email addresses into the client's profile.

Add the contact information to the same Phone & Email section, then configure it as you would for any client reminder:

Can I change or configure the reminder text or email?

We try to hold client privacy above all else at TherapyAppointment, and per our security and policy team's recommendations we have taken HIPAA's recommendations of reminder communications and have opted to include the minimal amount of information to convey the reminder message to the client, so customization beyond the basics (IE:  like reminder type, number of days advance, as well as confirmations) is not possible.

Customization with reminders such as custom text, or your group or business name or additional information is not supported currently.

Can a client reply to reminders?

We don't allow clients to reply to reminders, and don't log that information sent. Instead, we suggest your clients use our HIPAA compliant messaging instead.

If a client replies in any other way to the reminder text, we send them back the following non-configurable auto-reply: We don't understand. Reply "Yes" to confirm or call the office with appointment concerns.

Reminder Preview

Text reminders follow this formula:

Base Appointment Reminder:

Client First Name has an appointment (or virtual if it's an integrated telehealth appointment) with Provider Title & Last Name on Date at Time - Practice Timezone.

If a Practice Phone Number Exists:

We add "Questions? Please call Practice phone number"

If Confirmations Are Enabled:

We add "Reply 'Yes' to confirm"

Text Reminder Preview:

This is an example of a text reminder of:

  • A normal appointment
  • With a practice phone number
  • With confirmations enabled:

Another text reminder example:

  • Without confirmations
  • For an integrated telehealth appointment
  • Without a practice phone number:

Email Reminder Preview:

  • With confirmations
  • For an integrated telehealth appointment
  • With a practice phone number:

Reminder History

To view the reminder history for a particular client, go to their profile.

On the right-hand menu, click the button :

⚠️ Note: If you're on a mobile device, scroll to the very bottom for the menu.

From there you'll see the following information:

  • Date of appointment
  • Reminder type
  • Sent to (actual email or phone #)
  • Reminder delivery date & time

Reminder Not Sent?

To maximize the chances of a successful reminder delivery, check to ensure that the patient information is entered correctly:

  1. Make sure you have the "Reminder Settings" correctly set in the patient's information section.
    Examples include the type of reminder selected, and the appropriate information for that kind of reminder. For example: a valid email address for email reminders, a valid cell phone # for text reminders and verify that information with the client. Ensure there are no typos or incorrect characters.
  2. The list of appointment reminders is composed very early in the morning the day the day the reminder is supposed to go out.
    If you enter an appointment into the schedule after the list is composed, no reminder will be sent because the appointment didn't exist at the time the list was composed. This typically happens around midnight going into the day the reminder would be sent out. For example: if you have 1 day reminders and have an appointment for August 15th, for a reminder to go out on the 14th the appointment would need to be on your schedule by August 13 at midnight going into August 14th.
  3. Remember that the appointment reminder status is only a listing of the ATTEMPTS to send a reminder.
    This service is provided as a courtesy. A 3rd party is used to handle these reminders, and although the delivery rate is above 99%, there are circumstances where messages will not be successfully delivered (if users are on the phone, out of service, etc). It is the client's responsibility to record and keep any appointments that have been made, as we cannot guarantee you will successfully receive a reminder every time.

    If the phone isn't answered, or is busy repeatedly, no reminder can be delivered. If the email goes to the Spam folder, or the text message is deleted unread, the system cannot track these problems. Likewise, if a patient feigns not receiving a reminder in hopes of avoiding a no-show fee, we certainly cannot track this. It is best to have a written policy that states that reminders are sent as a courtesy, but that patients will be held responsible for missed appointments whether or not a reminder is sent. This helps to end disputes about whether or not a reminder was sent or received.
  4. Add the appointment on the client's phone calendar
    We've found a helpful suggestion that clients can add your appointment with them on their phone's calendar app, they can set various reminder intervals (from multiple days to an hour or 15 minutes before to the time of). Setting a calendar event with multiple reminders is helpful to be mindful of scheduled appointment times, and doesn't rely on reminders.

Reminder Confirmations

TherapyAppointment offers several ways for clients to confirm scheduled sessions including:

By default when a reminder is enabled, confirmations are also enabled.

This includes for:

  1. Text
  2. Email
  3. and within the Client Portal

Once an appointment is scheduled, a reminder is automatically sent to the client in advance of their appointment (based upon the type enabled).

1. Text Confirmations

Enabling text reminders activates the system to confirm appointments via automated text message.

Selecting text confirmations allows the client to confirm the appointment by replying Yes to the automated text (not case sensitive). 

If a client replies in any other way to the reminder text, we send them back the following non-configurable auto-reply: We don't understand. Reply "Yes" to confirm or call the office with appointment concerns.

⚠️ Note: System reminders are hardcoded with certain information to include the least amount of identifiable information as possible per HIPAA recommendations and for client privacy, and they cannot be altered.

Additionally:

  • Reminder replies are not delivered to TherapyAppointment (or the Provider).
  • Clients should contact you using our free Messaging feature
  • If enabled, clients can cancel and reschedule appointments from their client portal

2. Email Confirmations

Enabling email reminders activates the system to confirm appointments via automated email message.

This allows the client to confirm the appointment by clicking the blue button within the email reminder.

⚠️  Note: This works similarly to texts:

  • Reminder email replies are not delivered to TherapyAppointment (or the Provider).
  • Clients should contact you using our free Messaging feature
  • If enabled, clients can cancel and reschedule appointments from their client portal

3. Client Portal Confirmations

Clients can also sign into the portal to confirm their appointments.

From the Dashboard, they'd click  to the right of the appointment details:

Displayed Confirmations

In the system, we display confirmations in a variety of areas.

  • First, we remove it from the list of "Unconfirmed appointments" on the Dashboard for staff (bottom left section for providers)

  • The Provider (or staff) can see the appointment confirmation when viewing a scheduled appointment. Simply click on the appointment from either the Dashboard or Schedule and look to the right of the client name:

  • We also show the confirmation details if from the above popup of the appointment you click the top left Summary tab, then scroll to the bottom and click on the "Timeline" section which will expand the view and show you those details of the confirmation:

Unconfirmed Appointments

  • At the bottom left corner of the Dashboard, we list upcoming unconfirmed appointments
  • When a client confirms an appointment through the reminder, their name will be removed from this section
  • Article: Dashboard → Unconfirmed Appointments

Related Articles