When multiple reminders are sent to the same phone number NexHealth will group the appointment details into a singular reminder so that patients get less repetitive communications.
Note: We only do this when the INSERTCONFIRMAPPT or APPOINTMENTREGISTRATION smart commands are used in the reminder content.
Patients sharing phone numbers
Appointment details
If patients share the same phone number, each appointment will get its own reminder. This changes if family messaging is turned on (see below for details).
Patient response
If patients get multiple reminders to the same phone number and replies (confirm or cancel), that reply will apply to all the appointments they were reminded about.
Family Messaging
Family messaging is a setting that if enabled, sends messages to a patient’s guarantor.
Appointment details
If the guarantor gets multiple reminders for appointments on the same day, the reminders will be grouped and will list all appointments for that day associated with the guarantor, including each patient’s name.
Patient response
A response to confirm or cancel will apply to all of the appointments included in the reminder.
Learn more about Family Messaging here.
Patients with multiple appointments
If a patient has multiple appointments on the same day, we will group them using the following logic.
Appointment details
If the appointments are less than 30 minutes apart we will only mention the first appointment in the reminder.
Patient response
A response to confirm or cancel will apply to all of the appointments.
Note: if a patent has multiple appointments that are not within 30 minutes they will be treated as separate appointments and the reminders will not be grouped.
Note: When using appointment journeys this logic will only apply if the appointments are part of the same appointment journey.
In the example below a patient would receive separate reminders for a consultation and a periodontal appointment, but would receive a grouped reminder for a periodontal and hygiene appointment.
Impact on Other Templates
All other templates (such as Save The Date or New Patient) will only send once to the same phone number within a 6-hour window. If multiple messages are eligible to send to the same number, they won’t be grouped into a single message. However, if the message includes INSERTCONFIRMAPPT, any reply from the patient will apply to all mentioned appointments.