SMS (txt) appointment reminders

Transcription

1 SMS (txt) appointment reminders SMS (txt) messages are able to be automatically sent to patients to remind them of their forthcoming appointments. Being mindful of patient privacy related issues and the possible sensitivity of the type of appointment; we have imposed an 'Opt In' condition that must be selected before any messages will be sent to the Mobile Phone number listed. We suggest that you include an option in your Patient Registration form asking them if they would like to receive SMS (txt) reminders for their future appointments. Using some average weekly figures the possible benefits are pretty compelling: 1 missed consultation $125 4 consulting clinics per week 20 patients per clinic 80 consults per week 80 SMS 25c each $20 $105 Apart from the collection of the patient's mobile phone number the process is completely automated. And you can stop at any time. You can choose which appointment sessions you want to send message reminders for and it also keeps an audit trail in the Mail Out section for each patient. If a patient is due back in a couple of days you can choose to suspend the SMS function for the appointment as they are unlikely to forget the booking. As an appointment is made the SMS message is queued in the database to be automatically sent the day prior to the patient's appointment. If a patient replies to a SMS reminder the reply can be automatically converted to an and delivered to a nominated inbox. Alternatively, the SMS reply can be directed to a mobile number. If the demand for SMS messaging is strong we plan to do further development to better link the incoming reply more directly to the patient's appointment. A prerequisite for sending SMS messages is a connection to the internet. Getting an SMS account Incisive have organised a reseller account and is able to provide SMS messages at a very competitive rate. As at the date on this document the rate is 25 cents (excl GST) per outgoing message. To start you need to establish an account and make suitable arrangements to pay for the SMS messages sent. Complete the New SMS Account form at the back of this document, send it to us and we will organise a connection and get you going. 1 September 2007

2 Setting up Prerequisites Specialist Practice Manager version 2.41 (or newer); or, Private Hospital Manager version 2.41 (or newer) Microsoft.NET Framework 1.1 (or newer) Connection to the Internet (from one computer) SMS Messaging account (organised by Incisive) SMS Message Installation files (available from Incisive) Technician or person with reasonable computing competency and knowledge of the 'Administrator' password. SMS Installer The SMS Message Installer only needs to be installed onto the computer that is to send out the SMS Messages that are queued in the database. This computer must have a connection to the internet. The SMS Message Installer files do NOT need to be installed on each workstation that is used to make bookings. The SMS Message Installer files will be supplied once your account has been created. When installing, it is preferable (but not necessary) to install the files into the SPMWIN directory, and choose to make the application available for ALL users. SMS Messaging account SMS Account details must be entered into SPM. This is done via Setup User SMS Messaging. Enable SMS Messaging Tick this if you want to enable SMS Messaging. Account ID Enter the Account ID exactly as supplied by Incisive. Password Enter the Password exactly as supplied by Incisive. This will appear as ** on the screen. 2 of 11

3 Confirm Password Re-enter the password exactly as supplied. Reply To Options for this are: Leave blank: If you do not want the recipient to send back a reply, leave this field blank. Mobile number: This needs to include the country code. Do not include any zero s (0) before or immediately after the country code. Do not include any spaces, or any other non-numeric characters. i.e (New Zealand) or (Australia) account: Enter a address if you want SMS recipients to be able to send back a reply to an address. Please be aware that if you allow Reply To the onus is then on the practice to check the incoming messages and take the necessary action. The text or characters entered in the 'Reply To' field will also be used within the message to inform the recipient who the message was 'Sent from'. 3 of 11

4 Appointment Session configuration Each Session Type can have SMS enabled or not. It is likely that you will want to send SMS reminders for the consultation patients but not for those booked in for an operation. If the SMS option is not enabled no SMS messages will be sent even if the patients have been marked as 'opting in'. You can also customise the SMS message to be sent. In Setup Appointments Session Type select the session you want to enable for SMS messaging and then click on Edit. Applicable for session Edit each Session Type that you want to be able to send SMS messages for and tick the Applicable for session field. You will still be able to decide on an appointment by appointment basis if you want to send an SMS message, but without this turned on for the session, you will be unable to select to send an SMS message reminder when making the appointment. Default Text The Default Text is "Appt reminder for [Patient] on [date] at [time]", which will have the appropriate information completed. Custom Text The Custom Text field can have any additional text inserted that you may want to send. The Custom Text will always follow on from the Default Text in the same SMS message. To ensure that the message reads correctly, if you are placing text in this field, add a full stop or a comma first followed by a space before starting the message. The maximum number of letters in a text is 160, which includes blank spaces. If your text is longer than 160 characters it will be split up and sent in two or more separate SMS messages. To force the text onto a new line press the keys Ctrl + Enter An example of extra text might be: with Mr. Jones. Please call if you are unable to attend. In the above example include a space before the word 'with' so the whole SMS message reads correctly. 4 of 11

5 Outgoing message schedules SPM does not need to be running for messages to be sent; we have deliberately developed the software so that the program can be scheduled to run independently. The application that sends the messages out (SMS Message Sender.exe) should be scheduled to run on a daily basis, or more regularly, if required. Schedule a time that is not going to interfere with your backup and at a time appropriate for receiving a text message e.g. 10 am SMS reminders will only be created for patients whose appointments are due the next day (tomorrow). The program can be configured to run as a scheduled task, using Windows Task Scheduler. The command line must include auto at the end of the line. 5 of 11

6 Patient 'Opt In' Before an appointment can be marked to send an SMS Appointment Reminder, the patient must first agree to Opt in to SMS Messaging. A field has been added in the Patient Registration screen and also to the New Appointment Patient Registration screen for this to be ticked if the patient is agreeable to receiving SMS messages. If the 'Opt In' option is checked on in Patient mode it will also be checked on in Appointment mode, and vice versa. Patient mode From the Patient Registration screen, record the mobile phone number for the patient (or parent/care giver if the patient is a child). Note that you do not need to include the country code. Tick the Opt in to SMS Messaging to enable txt messages to this patient. Appointment mode When registering a new patient, or making an appointment for an existing patient, record the mobile phone number and tick Opt in to SMS Messaging if applicable. 6 of 11

7 Queuing a SMS Appointment Reminder When each appointment is being made a further prompt will be available to allow a SMS message reminder to be sent for this particular appointment. This option is only available if the patient has previously agreed to 'Opt In' to receive the messages, a mobile phone number has been recorded, and SMS Messaging has been selected as applicable for the session. If the patient is to have an appointment within the next couple of days there may be little sense in sending a reminder and so the option can be cleared. The content of the SMS message that is sent to the patient is comprised of some patient information that is extracted from the database, and some additional text that you can choose to insert. Once an appointment has been created which requires a SMS message to be sent, the SMS will be recorded in the database. When the SMS scheduler is run it looks into the database and finds all SMS reminders that are to be sent for appointments due on the following day, that is, the reminders will only be sent for tomorrow's appointments. This period is not currently able to be changed. SMS Message Status Once the SMS message has been queued to be sent an entry will be created in the 'Mail Out' tab of the patient's file showing the status of the SMS message. 7 of 11

8 Cancelling a Message From the Mail Out tab in Patient Mode, highlight the SMS Message and select Cancel, followed by Yes. You can only cancel a SMS Message if the Status is queued. Once the SMS message has been cancelled, the status will display as Cancelled. Manually Sending Queued Messages In addition to scheduling the sending of messages, 'SMS Message Sender.exe' can also be run manually at any time. The program will normally be located in the \SPMWIN folder of the computers that have had the SMS installer setup. Send Queued Messages This will send all Queued Messages for the date selected in the Show SMS Messages to be sent on date. Stop If you want to stop the sending of messages (having selected Send) select the Stop icon. This will appear greyed out, unless messages are currently being sent. Delete If you want to delete individual queued messages, highlight the message and select delete. Show SMS Messages to be sent on: Select a date to view messages that are queued or were queued to be sent on a certain date. 8 of 11

9 SMS Message Report A report of SMS Message Activity can be found in Reports Management Reports. Select the period to report. Select all or some of the following (by default all are selected): Queued (unsent) Sent successfully Failed to send Cancelled Select which Users to report for. The report shows the date the SMS Message was queued, the patient name, mobile number the SMS message will be sent to, and the message, together with the status of the message. 9 of 11

10 Troubleshooting Error Data Type Mismatch in Criteria Expression When trying to run the SMS Message Sender.exe to send the queued messages it comes up with the above error. The SMS_MessageID field in the SMSMessages table needs to be changed from integer to VarChar with a 50character field length. Call Incisive to get this change made. 10 of 11

11 SMS Messaging Account application As each specialist can individually choose to use the SMS messaging option, an SMS account is required for each specialist, even if they are part of a larger practice group. A monthly invoice will be sent detailing the usage for the prior month. Because of the nature of use, SMS messaging should not be relied upon for the delivery of important information. Charges for sending SMS messages may vary over a period of time and is dependant on the fees from the network carrier and other factors. Incisive will notify you of any change. Specialist name Practice name Conditions of use This account must only be used for sending of SMS messages via Incisive software applications. Incisive Software Limited is given the authorisation to debit from the nominated bank account, for the SMS usage, on a monthly basis. Non-payment of the account will cause the SMS account to be closed. The amount unpaid will remain as a debt. The SMS messaging account is non-transferable to any other party. You agree to indemnify Incisive Software Ltd., for any loss or damage, where persons may be making a claim against you relating to the use of the SMS messaging function. Either party may terminate this agreement at any time by notifying the other party. Specialist's signature: Date: Please fax this application back to Incisive Medical Systems 11 of 11