Messaging
Text patients from your business number
Families text your team's business number from any phone, with no app. Their texts land in your Inbox, where you reply and schedule reminders.
Who can do this: Everyone · Web and desktop
With SMS Messaging, families text your team's business number from any phone. They don't need an app or an account. Their texts land in your Inbox, and your replies reach them as regular texts from that number.
Before you start
- Your plan needs SMS Messaging, and your team needs a business phone number. See SMS messaging with patients.
- Texts are not encrypted, so leave out health details. For those, send a secure text. See Secure vs. insecure texting.
Reply to a family
- When a family texts your business number, their text lands in the Inbox, for example from Maria Gonzalez.
- Click their chat. It opens to the whole conversation.
- Type your reply. The message box reads "Insecure text: don't include PHI".
- Press Send. The family gets it as a regular text from your team's number, for example your Front Desk number.
- Their answer lands in the same chat, where your whole team can see it.
Schedule a reminder
- Need to remind them later? Type the reminder now.
- Click the arrow beside Send to open Send later.
- Pick Tomorrow for 9:00 AM, or Pick date & time… for any other time.
- The reminder waits as a Scheduled bubble and goes out by text on time. Edit or cancel it until then. See Send a message later.
Related
- SMS messaging with patients
- Send a message later
- Secure vs. insecure texting and HIPAA
- Work a shared team inbox
Referenced by
See new texts and reply
Spot a new text from a patient or family in your inbox, open the chat, and reply from the same business number they texted.
Send a message later
Write a message now and schedule it with Send later. It waits in the chat as a Scheduled bubble you can edit, move, send now or cancel.