Best Practice - Medical Director (Pracsoft) - Zedmed

HotDoc Broadcast sends targeted SMS messages to patients from your practice's database. It uses information synced from your database to allow you to target messages to a specific segment of your database. It is important to note that: 

• We will only send one SMS to each mobile number
• Any patients who share a mobile number (e.g. Guardian and dependants) will only receive one SMS Broadcast 
• Any patient without a mobile number will not be sent an SMS (and therefore you will not be charged) 
• If a patient file has a mobile number entered in the home phone field in your clinical software, we will identify this and send an SMS to the patient.  

Read the guide below to learn how to create and send a HotDoc Broadcast

Creating a Broadcast SMS using patient phone numbers
 

1. In your HotDoc Dashboard, go to Broadcasts > New Broadcast on the left hand side 
   
    
2. Here you can use an existing template by selecting one of the templates, or you can create a broadcast from scratch by clicking New Custom Broadcast:
   
   
   
3. Select SMS, then click Next
   
4. If you're creating a new custom broadcast, select Send using patient phone numbers then Next:
   
   
    
5. Choose whether the Broadcast is a Marketing or Transactional message type. This selection ensures that the appropriate anti-spam opt-out placeholders are automatically added to your message content in the next step.
   
   
    

6. Enter a Broadcast name and type out the message in the box provided. If you've selected a template option, it will pre-fill the suggested text for you. You can edit this text from the SMS message box on the left.
   
   

   Please note: Under the preview message box, you will see how many credits each message will use. One credit is equivalent to one SMS containing up to 160 characters.

7. You can add placeholders which automatically populates information for you by clicking Insert placeholder and selecting drop-down menu and select an option from the list. 
   • Note: If selecting Practitioner booking page, select the practitioner you would like patients to book in the Select Practitioner field:

   • Note: You not be able to send a Marketing Broadcast if you remove the opt out placeholders
     
     
     

8.  If the opt-out placeholders have been removed from your Marketing Broadcast, you will be unable to proceed and will see the message shown below. To continue, reinsert the placeholders using the dropdown menu. 
   
    
9. Decide how you would like to send to patients :
   • You can manually enter the patients' mobile numbers in the Patient Mobile Numbers box at the bottom right-hand side of the page, then press Next step: 
     
      

   • You can upload a CSV file of patient mobile numbers from your practice management software clicking Browse Files to select a file, or drag and drop this file directly from your computer into the blue box. Select Next step to continue. 
     
     Note: Ensure the first column of the .CSV file contains patient mobile numbers
     

     To learn more about how to export a CSV file from your practice management software (PMS), please visit the appropriate link below:   Best Practice Medical Director Zedmed + Clinical Cubiko PENCAT - if you require assistance, please contact PENCAT. If you require extra assistance generating the report, please get in touch with your PMS, e.g. Best Practice.

      

10. After clicking Review Broadcast, you will now see a full summary of the details you selected for your broadcast. Here you can: 
    • Send a demo message to yourself by entering your mobile number and clicking on the green Send demo button
    • Schedule a send time if you do not wish to send it now
    • Save as draft to send later
    • Click Send Now to start sending.
      
      
       
11. Confirm the details of the broadcast are correct and select Send now
     
12. Confirm by selecting Send Broadcast to # patients to begin sending the messages, or go back using the Cancel button. 
    
    
     
13. You'll then see the Broadcast details overview. If required, you can stop the broadcast from sending by clicking the click the Stop sending broadcast:
    
     
14. You can also view a Broadcast's status by going to the Broadcast History section of the Dashboard. 
    
    

Creating a Broadcast SMS using a Patient ID .CSV or filtering 

1. In your HotDoc Dashboard, go to Broadcasts > New Broadcast on the left-hand side 
    
2. Here, you can use an existing template by selecting one of the templates, or you can create a broadcast from scratch by clicking New Custom Broadcast:
   
   
   
3. Select SMS, then click Next
   
   
    
4. If you are creating a custom broadcast, select Send using patients or by selecting a target audience, then Next.
   
   
   
    
5. Choose whether the Broadcast is a Marketing or Transactional message type. This selection ensures that the appropriate anti-spam opt-out placeholders are automatically added to your message content in the next step.
   
   
    

6. Enter a Broadcast name and type out the message in the box provided. If you've selected a template option, it will pre-fill the suggested text for you. You can edit this text from the SMS message box on the left.
   
   

   Please note: Under the preview message box, you will see how many credits each message will use. One credit is equivalent to one SMS containing up to 160 characters.

7. You can add placeholders which automatically populates information for you by clicking Insert placeholder and selecting drop-down menu and select an option from the list. 
   1. Note: If selecting Practitioner booking page, select the practitioner you would like patients to book in the Select Practitioner field:

   2. Note: You not be able to send a Marketing Broadcast if you remove the opt out placeholders
      
      
      

8.  If the opt-out placeholders have been removed from your Marketing Broadcast, you will be unable to proceed and will see the message shown below. To continue, reinsert the placeholders using the dropdown menu. 
   
9. Next, decide how you would like to send to patients, either by manually selecting the audience (target filtering) or uploading a CSV file:
   
    
   • Manually select audience
     Select the Manually Select Audience radio button, then use the filtering options relevant to your search to determine which patients will receive the broadcast. Press the Next step to continue and skip to step 7 below.
     
     The Filtering options include Patients:
     • By Age range/Birthdate Range
     • Who have booked an appointment within in a specified date range
     • Who have booked an appointment of a specific type/s
     • By Gender
     • By their Appointment arrival state i.e. Seen, No Show, Expected, Not Expected
     • Who have booked an appointment with a specific practitioner
     • By their MyMedicare Registration Status within your Practice Management system.(Best Practice/Medical Director/ZedMed)
       
       
       

   • Upload CSV file of patient IDs
     You can upload .CSV file of Patient IDs from your practice management software clicking Browse Files to select a file, or drag and drop this file directly from your computer into the blue box. Select the Next step to continue. 
     
     
     
      

     Important! If using Patient ID .CSV upload method, the file must include the practice management software ID column and be labelled like below. This should be present by default when exporting the file from your software (eg. Best Practice).

     
     

     1.  
        •  

     To learn more about how to export a CSV file from your practice management software (PMS), please visit the appropriate link below:   Best Practice Medical Director Zedmed + Clinical Cubiko PENCAT - if you require assistance, please contact PENCAT. If you require extra assistance generating the report, please get in touch with your PMS i.e. Best Practice.

     
      

10. After clicking Review Broadcast, you will now see a full summary of the details you selected for your broadcast. Here you can: 
    1. Send a demo message to yourself by entering your mobile number and clicking on the green Send demo button
    2. Schedule a send time if you do not wish to send it now
    3. Save as draft to send later
    4. Click Send Now to start sending.
       
       
        
11. Confirm the details of the broadcast are correct and select Send now
     
12. Confirm by selecting Send Broadcast to # patients to begin sending the messages, or go back using the Cancel button. 
    
    
     
13. You'll then see the Broadcast details overview. If required, you can stop the broadcast from sending by clicking the click the Stop sending broadcast:
    
     
14. You can also view a Broadcast's status by going to the Broadcast History section of the Dashboard.