How do I set up schedule reminders?

How do I set up the reminder emails?

Unlike Patient / Product reminders, the Schedule reminders are controlled entirely on Unit Setup on the schedule tab.

Select the Unit from the tree on the left of this tab. Then go to Schedules > Reminder Setup to build out the email message that will be sent.

The From Address can be any valid return email address that will be monitored for responses.   We recommend setting up a dedicated email address specifically for replies to reminder emails, and assigning a user or a role involved with scheduling to monitor this email address.

The Email Subject is what will appear in the subject line of the email.  Keep this simple and generic.

The Email Body will include the text portion of the reminder.  VetView will send limited rich text formatting, if you want to include bold or italics or colored text.

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How can I automatically fill in my patient and client details on the email?

VetView's reminder emails (and most of our document systems) support "placeholders" that allow you to customize the document with the patient and client details.

For Schedule Reminders, we support the Client Name, the Client account number, Client address, patient name, appointment date and time, and the appointment type.

Click on the small macro icon next to the email body to open the list of available place holders.

These do not all need to be used, and you can mix and match them with regular text to create a complete message.

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How can I set up a single email at the hospital level for all of my service units?

Like our Color Setup, the Reminder Setup supports the Inherit from Parent feature. (This option is grayed out on Parent level units.)

This allows you to set up the email template at a top level unit, and then grab it on all sub units to keep them consistent across service areas.

When Inherit from Parent is checked, a preview of what is being inherited will appear on the screen.  If you uncheck Inherit from Parent, you can make changes only at this level.  

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How can I send out the reminder emails for my scheduled appointments?

Reminders can be manually sent from the Appointment Search screen, or set up to go automatically.

Automatically Send Reminders

Turn on the check box for Automatically Sent Reminders, and enter the number of days ahead you want the email to be sent.  Click on the Save button to apply the changes.

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Then click on the Setup Job button to open the API controls for this feature. (You must have the privilege to access Job and Interface Setup to open this screen.)

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Select the name of the server you want this to run on (for example, if you have a dedicated API server in your network, select that one.)  Enter the email address that should be notified of errors in the job.  Choose a start time.  Set the flag to Active, and click on Save.  Then click on the Start Job button to turn on the interface.

A log of all the reminders sent via the automatic and manual process will appear on the Appointment Reminder Log tab.   This allows you to identify and review any reminders that failed to send.

Manually Send Reminders

To send the reminders manually, you will need to go to the Appointment Search Screen. You can also send them via the Reminders Worklist Screen.

In both places, you will need to search for upcoming appointments matching the desired criteria, and then select the reminders you want to send.

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Press Send Reminders for Selected Appointments to send the emails.

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You will get a small message that confirms the reminder emails were sent as expected or lets you know if there were any errors.  If the client does not have an email address set up as a contact method, the reminder cannot go through and will result in an error. (You can review the errors on the Reminders Worklist by searching for reminders in Failed status.)

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