• Why did my patient not receive an appointment reminder? 
• My patient said they haven't received their appointment reminder, can I check this?
• Can I see appointment reminders that are queued to be sent? 
• A patients appointment reminder hasn't sent because it is 'Outside of session', what does this mean? 
• What does 'No response dependant copy' mean in Unsent Reminders? 
• Can I change the appointment reminder text?
• Can I have more than 160 characters in my appointment reminder template? 
• Can I stop reminders sending for specific appointment types? 
• Can I manage patient consent for appointment reminders? 
• Can I opt a patient out of email reminders, on their behalf? 
• What happens if a patient keeps responding to an SMS reminder?

• Can I review all responses received from an SMS reminder once they have been actioned/read?

Why did my patient not receive an appointment reminder? 

HotDoc Reminders has specific settings which tell us who to send an appointment reminder to. You can see why a patient did not receive their appointment reminder in the Reminders > 'Unsent Reminders' section of the Dashboard. For more information about this, see Why did the patients appointment reminder not send?

My patient said they haven't received their appointment reminder, can I check this?

Yes, you can check this in the Reminders section of the HotDoc Dashboard. Here, you can toggle between 'Unsent Reminders' and 'History' to determine whether a patient has received their reminder. Further information can be located in these articles: How can I view appointment reminder history? and Why did the patients appointment reminder not send?

Can I see appointment reminders that are queued to be sent? 

Yes! Reminder messages that are queued for upcoming appointments can be viewed directly from the 'Future Reminders' section of your HotDoc Dashboard. This can be filtered by Reminder Type, Status, Practitioner, Appointment Type and Appointment Date Range to locate specific reminders. To see how to do this, please see How can I view upcoming appointment reminders?

A patients appointment reminder hasn't sent because it is 'Outside of session', what does this mean? 

*Best Practice, Medical Director (Pracsoft), Zedmed & Optomate practices only 

If appointments are booked outside of the practitioner’s normal session times, we will not send Reminders for those appointments. In these cases, it's worthwhile checking your practitioners sessions setup in your Practice Management Software. 

What does 'No response dependant copy' mean in Unsent Reminders? 

'No response dependant copy' means that the patient has received an earlier appointment reminder and you have chosen not to send another SMS to the patient, based on their response or lack of response. For more information on why a patient hasn't received an appointment reminder, please access article Why did the patients appointment reminder not send?

Can I change the appointment reminder text?

Yes. To do this, log in to your HotDoc Dashboard and navigate to Reminders > Settings.

Here you can free-type or use add placeholders for details to be pre-filled eg.. Patients name, preferred name, appointment date, practitionern name, confirmation link etc. For more information on this, see section 5 - Reminder types and copy located in article Getting Started with Reminders.

Can I have more than 160 characters in my appointment reminder template? 

No, your message must be below 160 characters to keep within fair SMS usage. 

Can I stop reminders sending for specific appointment types? 

Yes, we can assist you with allowing or denying specific appointment types from sending for an appointment reminder. For further information, please submit a request by clicking the green Support button below with the exact names of the appointment types. 

Can I manage patient consent for appointment reminders? 

You can manage patient consent via the Dashboard or the Sidebar! 

More information can be found within these two articles How to manage patient  consent in the Dashboard and How do I manage patient consent in the Sidebar?

Can I opt a patient out of email reminders, on their behalf? 

No, currently patients cannot be opted out of emails alone. However, they can be opted out of all patient reminders (SMS, email & push notification). 

For further information, please refer to the following articles: How to manage patient  consent in the Dashboard and How do I manage patient consent in the Sidebar?

What happens if a patient keeps responding to an SMS reminder?

If a patient keeps responding to an SMS reminder, we will continue to send this to your Sidebar each time, in case there is some medical relevance to their responses or if they're trying to communicate with your clinic.

Can I review all responses received from an SMS reminder once they have been actioned/read?

No, currently we do not store responses to an SMS reminder after they have been acknowledged in the Sidebar.