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:

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Configure Reminder Defaults

Default reminder behavior is managed on a per provider basis

  • This is the amount of days before a reminder is sent by default, options are 1-5 days
  • This means providers can have different values if desired

Depending on your roles, you can do this either way:

As an Owner, Manager, or Provider:

To access your profile:

  • From any screen click your name (top right):

  • From the popup, underneath your name and practice click
  • You'll then see your profile

Are you an Owner or Manager?

You'll also notice an additional ribbon near the top, allowing you to quickly switch between other staff member profiles. Click the dropdown shown here:

  • Click Calendar (top tab)
  • Find the Appointment Settings (second to last section)
  • Click (top right of section)

  • Change the setting Reminder interval (days)
  • Click
  • Keep in mind that this will apply to reminder defaults for new clients created going forward
    • This will not impact existing clients

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 (phone & email section):

Enable Client Appointment Reminders

To enable reminders that will be sent to an already established client, navigate to:

  • group Clients (left menu)
  • Click on the client's name
  • Find the Phones & Emails section:

You should then see all the client's added phone numbers and email addresses aggregated all in one location here.

The section below each phone number and email will show 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, click the far right button
  • To add a new phone or email, click (top right)

settings Phones & Email Options:

  • Below each phone number and email, we confirm the reminder type and interval
  • If more than one of a contact type exists, a solid blue star star marks the default
  • This is primarily important with email outside this context, because we use the default email address on file for email notifications and password resets

movie Video:

Shown:

  • Edit an existing phone or email address reminder settings
  • Enable or disable reminders, confirmations, and number of days

Reminder options:

mail Email

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

phone_iphone Phone

  • Reminder Types:
    • Text
    • 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.

  • Within the client's profile find the Phones & Email section
  • Click the button
  • Then configure it as you would for any normal 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.

We've opted to include the minimal amount of information to convey the reminder message to the client, so customization beyond the basics (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 currently supported.

Can a client reply to reminders?

  • Clients can only text yes to confirm
  • Outside of that, we don't allow clients to reply to reminders, and don't log that information sent
  • Texting is not inherently secure. Instead, we suggest your clients use our secure HIPAA compliant messaging

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:

To the end, we add "Questions? Please call Practice phone number"

If Confirmations Are Enabled:

To the end, we add "Reply 'Yes' to confirm"

Text Reminder Previews (variations):


Example Text Reminder:

  • A normal appointment
  • With a practice phone number
  • With confirmations enabled:
Click to see a larger version

Another Example Text Reminder:

  • Without confirmations
  • For an integrated telehealth appointment
  • Without a practice phone number:
Click to see a larger version

Example Email Reminder:

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

Click to see a larger version

Reminder History

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

On the right-hand menu, click the button shown here:

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

From there you'll see the following information:

  • Appointment date & time
  • Reminder type (text or email)
  • Sent to (actual email or phone #)
  • Reminder delivery date & time

Reminder Not Sent?

To maximize chances of a successful reminder delivery, please review our common list of hang ups:

Make sure you have the reminder settings correct:

  • Ensure that reminders are configured properly and set to the right client and date
  • Ensure there are no typos (ex: @mgail.com instead of @gmail.com )
  • Confirm with the client that the phone number and email address on file are correct

Ensure the appointment is on the schedule in time:

The appointment must be on the schedule before midnight the day the reminder is set to go out.

If entered after, no reminder will go out.


For example:

  • Appointment is for Thursday, August 15th
  • You have a text reminder set to go out 1 day in advance
  • That means the reminder will go out Wednesday, August 14th
  • The reminder list is compiled in the early morning the day reminders go out August 14th
  • This appointment would need to be on the schedule by Tuesday, August 13th
    (midnight, going into the 14th)

The appointment reminder status only lists attempts to send a reminder:

Although our reminder delivery rate is above 99%, there are circumstances where messages will not be successfully delivered (ex: if clients are on the phone, out of service, or a client carrier marks it as delivered but it wasn't, etc). 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 the client's responsibility to record and keep any appointments that have been made, as we cannot guarantee you they will successfully receive a reminder every time.

Note: 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.

Ask your client to add the appointment on their phone calendar:

Adding an appointment to your own calendar can be an excellent way to avoid no shows and clients forgetting their appointment.

It also doesn't rely on external reminders, and clients can customize more reminder intervals.

Reminder Confirmations

We offer a few ways clients can confirm their sessions. By default when a reminder is enabled, confirmations are enabled by default.

Confirmation types (click to bring you to the section):

  1. Text
  2. Email
  3. Within the Client Portal

Once an appointment is scheduled and reminders configured, a reminder is automatically sent to the client in advance of their appointment based on type.

Additionally, see how the Displayed Confirmations look from the staff view.

Text Confirmations

Enabling text reminders & 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 for client privacy, and 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

Email Confirmations

Enabling email reminders allows the client to confirm the appointment by clicking the blue button within the email reminder shown here:

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

Additionally:

  • 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

Client Portal Confirmations

Clients can also sign into the portal to confirm their appointments. Clients can sign in either at your particular portal or here: language https://portal.therapyappointment.com

Once signed in, from the Dashboard, to the right of the appointment details, clients click shown here:

Additionally:

  • Clients should contact you using our free Messaging feature
  • If enabled, clients can cancel and reschedule appointments from their client portal

Displayed Confirmations

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


Removed from Unconfirmed Appointments on Dashboard:


From the Appointment Pop Up:

Staff can see the appointment confirmation when viewing a scheduled appointment:

  • From the dashboard or calendar, click on the appointment
  • Look to the right of the client name, about midway down:


From the Appointment Summary: Timeline

We also show the confirmation details in the individual appointment timeline. From the above popup of the appointment:

  • Click Summary (top left tab)
  • Scroll to the bottom and click on the Timeline section
  • This will expand the view and show you those details of the confirmation:

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