We only consolidate reminders when the INSERTCONFIRMAPPT or APPOINTMENTREGISTRATION smart commands are used in the reminder content.
For use with NexHealth Communications and Scheduling
Overview
Grouping by shared phone number
Grouping of appointment details
If patients share the same phone number, each appointment will get its own reminder. This changes if family messaging is turned on.
Grouping of patient confirmations and cancellations
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.
Grouping by families with Family messaging
Family messaging is a setting that if enabled, sends messages to a patient’s guarantor.
Grouping of 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.
Grouping of patient confirmations and cancellations
A response to confirm or cancel will apply to all of the appointments included in the reminder.
Grouping multiple appointments for a single patient
If a patient has multiple appointments on the same day, we will group them using the following logic.
Grouping of appointment details
If the appointments are less than 30 minutes apart we will only mention the first appointment in the reminder.
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.
Grouping of patient confirmations and cancellations
A response to confirm or cancel will apply to all of the appointments.
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 and patient name 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.