How do I send a broadcast message to patients to inform them about flu vaccines? – HotDoc Support

Question

How can I send patients a Broadcast message to let them know we have flu vaccines at our practice?

Solution

You can use the Broadcast feature in your HotDoc Dashboard to send patients an SMS or email letting them know your practice has flu vaccines available. The Flu Clinic template automatically generates a message with a link to your clinic’s booking page, making it quick and easy to notify patients.

In this article

How to send an SMS Broadcast
How to send an email Broadcast
Flu season Broadcast tips

How to send an SMS Broadcast

In your HotDoc Dashboard, go to Broadcasts > New Broadcast on the left-hand side
Select the Flu Clinic SMS template
The template will automatically have the Marketing message type selected.

The template automatically includes the following placeholders, which are required for your Broadcast to be compliant with Australian anti-spam guidelines. These must be left in, otherwise you won't be able to progress to the next step.

Clinic name {{clinic}},
Clinic phone number {{phone}},
Opt out message (to give patients the opportunity to opt out) {{opt-out}}

ⓘ Important information

The template will have pre-filled the suggested text for you. You can edit this text from the message box on the left, and see a preview of it on the right

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.
You can add placeholders which automatically populate information for you by clicking Insert placeholder and selecting 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:
Click Set target audience

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 Use filters to target your patient base 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)

Monosnap Grace Anatomy 2026-01-28 13-51-40.png

The more filters you select, the fewer patients will receive the Broadcast. If there are fields you don't want to filter by, you can leave those as they are.

For example, you may want to filter by age, but not by gender.

ⓘ Tip

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).

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.

After clicking Review, 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
Select whether you want to send the Broadcast now, or schedule it for later
After confirming the details of the broadcast are correct, click Send now (or Send later if you have scheduled it to be sent at a later time).
Confirm by clicking Send Broadcast to # patients to begin sending the messages, or go back using the Cancel button.
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:
You can also view a Broadcast's status by going to the Broadcast History section of the Dashboard.

How to send an email Broadcast

In the HotDoc Dashboard, go to Broadcast > New Broadcast.

Select the Flu Vaccine Availability email template
The template will automatically have the Marketing message type selected.

Clinic name {{clinic}},
Clinic phone number {{phone}},
Opt out message (to give patients the opportunity to opt out) {{opt-out}}

ⓘ Important information

Enter a name for your Broadcast (patients will not see this), and the email subject.
Optionally, tick Allow patients to reply back to this email address if you would like patients to be able to reply to your email. You will need to enter an email address for the replies to be sent to – this email address must belong to a HotDoc user account that has access to the Dashboard or Sidebar.

Optionally, select a header image to be shown above the email contents

In emails, images are automatically scaled down so they’re not too large. They’ll appear no taller than 150px, and the width will adjust to match the original shape (up to 440px wide). At the end, you'll be able to send a test to yourself to make sure it looks how you'd like it.

ⓘ Tip

If you have uploaded a photo, you can scale and crop your image if necessary, before selecting Save Changes
The template will have pre-filled the suggested text for you. You can edit this text from the message box on the left, and see a preview of it on the right.

Broadcast emails support basic formatting such as paragraphs and bullet points.
To insert a placeholder to automatically populate information for you, click Insert placeholder and select an option from the list.
- Note: If selecting the Practitioner booking page placeholder, select the practitioner you would like patients to book with in the Select Practitioner field
Select Set Target Audience

Next, decide how you would like to send to patients, either by manually selecting the audience (target filtering) or by uploading a CSV file:

Manually select audience
Select the Use filters to target your patient base option, then use the filtering options relevant to your search to determine which patients will receive the broadcast.

Monosnap HotDoc Academy Clinic 2026-03-12 17-36-59.png

You can filter by the following options:

Age range/birthdate range
Who has booked an appointment within in a specified date range
Who has booked an appointment of a specific type/s
By gender
By their appointment arrival state for that appointment, i.e. Seen, No Show, Expected, Not Expected
Who has 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 by clicking Browse Files to select a file, or drag and dropping the file directly from your computer into the blue box.

Select Review
Review your Broadcast's details, and you can also send a test to your own email address.
The test email will show you how it will look for patients
Head back into the Dashboard, and once you are happy with the way your email looks (you can go back to the Create a message section if you need to make any changes), select whether you want to send the Broadcast now, or schedule it for later.
Select Send now (or Send later if you scheduled it to send later)
Your email will be sent (or scheduled to send later)!
You can also view a Broadcast's status by going to the Broadcast History section of the Dashboard.

Flu season Broadcast tips

The tips below can help you get the most value from your flu season Broadcasts and manage demand more effectively.

Stagger your Broadcasts
Avoid sending messages to your entire patient database at once. Staggering your Broadcasts across different days or times can help manage booking demand and reduce pressure on reception.
You may wish to start by messaging higher-risk groups first, such as patients aged 65 and over, before expanding to the broader patient base.
Link directly to online bookings
Ensure your message includes a link to your HotDoc booking page so patients can book immediately without needing to call the practice. The Flu Broadcast templates include this by default, so make sure you don't remove it.
Use multiple channels
Send your Broadcast via both SMS and email where possible. Using multiple channels increases the likelihood that patients will see the message and book their appointment.
Target the right audience
Use the available filters or a CSV upload to send Broadcasts to the most relevant patients, such as those who visited your practice in the last 12 months or are eligible for a free flu vaccine.
Ensure you have sufficient vaccine stock
Before sending a Broadcast, confirm that your practice has enough vaccine stock and appointment availability. This helps prevent a surge in bookings that your practice may not be able to accommodate.
For further information, please see: How does the vaccine stock management feature work?
Consider your timing
Ensure your Broadcast will be sent at a time when your admin team will be available to take calls, if you have included your practice's phone number in the Broadcast.
You can take advantage of the Send later feature to schedule it to be sent at a convenient time.
Test your message before sending
Always send yourself a demo SMS or email to check the wording, booking link, and formatting before sending the Broadcast to patients.

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