This article is part of the systems administration guide. You will require administration access to view the pages mentioned in this article.
CareRight allows the user to send SMS Messages directly to the patient in one of two ways.
- Custom SMS Correspondence: If the user has the permission granted to create custom SMS messages they are able to create draft SMS messages with any text content.
- Template SMS Correspondence: If the user has the permission granted to create template SMS messages they are able to select from a list of predefined SMS messages which will be used as the content for the message.
In both cases the user needs to select the origin location of the SMS (e.g. the current clinic the user is at) so that the communication is associated with that location.
Appointment Messages
CareRight also allows for SMS messages to be attached to appointment types. Appointment SMS Messages can be triggered to send at:
- The point of appointment creation, or a set number of minutes after appointment creation; and,
- A set number of days before the appointment is due e.g. 72 hours before the appointment occurs a reminder is sent.
Triggered SMS Messages via the Workflow Engine
SMS Messages can also be integrated into the Workflow Engine. This means that an SMS Message can be sent to a patient on events in CareRight such as (but not limited to):
- Admission or discharge; or,
- Approval of an assessment
Dealing with Replies to SMS messages
CareRight also allows patients to reply to a SMS message and based on the reply certain actions can be automated. For example, if a patient replies "Y" to an appointment reminder, the following may occur:
- The appointment's status is set to "Confirmed - via SMS", and,
- The message is marked as read.
This workflow logic can be setup by a System Administrator via a drag and drop editor.
Scheduling of SMS Messages to be sent from the server
Your IT team will be responsible for setting the frequency with which SMS messages are sent from the server. We suggest that SMS messages are sent every 5 minutes, but the frequency is up to you.
If an appointment reminder fails to send 3 days before the appointment is due, perhaps due to server downtime, the system will try to send the appointment at the same time each day until the day before the appointment.
For example, if an appointment is booked for 2pm on 4th April and the appointment reminder is due to be sent 3 days before the appointment, but the server is down for maintenance between 1.30-2.30pm on 1st April:
2pm on 1st April - 3 days before the appointment - FAILS TO SEND DUE TO SERVER DOWNTIME 2pm on 2nd April - 2 days before the appointment - RETRY SEND 2pm on 3rd April - 1 day before the appointment - RETRY SEND (if it didn't send yesterday)
