Question

How do I customise the copy of our appointment reminders? 

Solution

Appointment reminders can be sent to patients via push notification, email, or SMS. HotDoc pre-populates a default copy for your reminders however you can customise the copy in your email and SMS reminders in the Reminders > Templates section of your Dashboard. Please note:

• Email reminders: You can customise and edit this copy to communicate any important practice information or policies and can use up to 1280 characters. When email reminders are on and patients have an email in their patient file, we will attempt to send this first, before the SMS.
  
  
• SMS reminders: We recommend using this copy where possible as it sits within the SMS credit limit as per our Fair Use Policy (160 characters) and allows the patient to both reply to the SMS and use the unique link to confirm/cancel. However, you can customise this within the 160 characters

To edit your reminder templates and messages, please follow the steps below

• How to edit your Regular and Immediate Reminders copy
• How to edit your Early Reminders copy
• How to edit your Custom Reminders copy

How to edit your Regular and Immediate Reminders

1. Navigate to Reminders > Templates > Standard Reminders:
   
   
   
   
2. Go to either the Regular or Immediate Reminders section, and locate and click the expand box to edit your Email or SMS Message.
   
   
   
   
3. Here you can edit the copy on the left, and you will see a preview on the right. To edit the message, click the textbox:
   • Note: We recommend using the default copy and adjusting your copy around this. 
     
     
     
     
   • To automate information such as your clinic or practitioner name, use placeholders by clicking Insert placeholder and selecting an option from the list:
     
     
     
     

     Please note:

     The message must contain the {{time}} placeholder and we strongly suggest using the confirmation link for SMS and your clinic name using {{clinic}}  These placeholders will be automatically replaced with the appointment and patient's information we sync from your book when sending each reminder. You can click Clear message to delete the current copy and start from scratch

4. To make the same changes to your immediate reminders (reminders sent when the appointment is booked within 24 hours of the start time), scroll to Immediate Reminders and repeat this process.  
   
   
   
   
5. Once you are done making the copy changes, click Save on the bottom right corner of the screen:
   
   
   
   
6. If you would like to add any specific sending or cancellation settings for your regular or immediate reminders, please see:
   • How do I enable or disable appointment reminders from sending for specific appointment types?
   • How do I enable or disable appointment types from being cancelled via an appointment reminder?

How to edit your Early Reminders copy

1. Navigate to Reminders > Templates > Early Reminders:
   
   
   
2. Locate and click the expand box to edit your Email or SMS Message.
   
   
   
3. To customise the message click on the Email or SMS body, you can click Insert Placeholder and select a placeholder to pre-populate information such as your clinic name, practitioners names, patient first name, etc.
   
   

   Please note:

   The message must contain the {{time}} placeholder and we strongly suggest using the confirmation link for SMS and your clinic name using {{clinic}}  These placeholders will be automatically replaced with the appointment and patient's information we sync from your book when sending each reminder. You can click Clear message to delete the current copy and start from scratch

4. Once you are done making the copy changes, click Save on the bottom right corner of the screen:
   
   
   
   
5. If you would like to add any specific sending or cancellation settings for your regular or immediate reminders, please see:
   • How do I enable or disable appointment reminders from sending for specific appointment types?
   • How do I enable or disable appointment types from being cancelled via an appointment reminder?

How to edit your Custom Reminders copy

If your clinic has access to Custom Reminders and you would like to edit them in your dashboard, please follow the steps here: How to edit a Custom Reminder Template?