Reminders Setup
- Cathy Allison
Reminders Setup
The Reminders Setup screen is where you can define the templates used for produce based reminders, and then link the templates to individual products or catalog items to actually generate reminders on the patient record.
A Reminder Template is the basic frame of a patient reminder. It contains the duration of the reminder, whether the reminder should be automatically sent, and the to and from email address as well as the template of the message. The templates are built under the Template Setup tab, and then linked to the products under the Reminder Setup tab.
Patient and Product Reminders
This page is for the setup of the Patient/Product reminders, as well as internal reminders for use internal to the hospital. Scheduled appointment reminders are handled under the Hospital Setup > Unit Setup > Schedule Setup tab instead.
A video demonstration of this feature was released on April 28 2021 and may be viewed at this link: Reminder Demo 2.1
Template Setup
The Template Setup tab is the first step to making product reminders. These Reminder Templates Types contain the details regarding the communication method and the delay after the patient's visit before sending out the next reminder.
Add New Reminder
Click on the Add New Reminder button. A blank reminder template type will load on the right side of the screen.
Give this template type a unique name that will provide information on the Reminder Setup tab, such as the delay of the reminder and the communication method (e.g. "two month email" or "internal one week."
Reminder Template Type Setup
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Reminder Type Name | A unique name for this reminder type. VetView recommends keeping it descriptive, such as including the duration and communication method in the name. |
| Active Flag | This reminder is active and available to put on a patient record or patient orders. |
| Default to Internal Reminder | This flag indicates the reminder is intended for internal hospital use and not client communications. These reminders can still be found on the Reminder Worklist, and can be used to build a callback list for clients or to contact other units in the hospital. |
| Combine Reminders Within | To avoid spamming your clients with multiple emails, the VetView product reminder system will check ahead to see if there are any other patients owned by the same client with similar upcoming reminders, and will combine them into the same email. This is the maximum length of time that the system will look ahead. A suggested period is one week. |
| Auto Combine | The flag to turn on the Combine Reminders Within. Dates must still be entered above even if the flag is not turned on. |
| Auto Send | This flag indicates that emails will be sent without review on the Reminder Worklist, provided all conditions are met. This is useful for routine patient reminders, such as a reminder to return for an annual visit or to refill a prescription. |
| Before Due Date | How many days or weeks prior to the set due date that the reminder will be sent. For reminders scheduled out one year later, this can be as long as one month. For reminders that are for short term things, such as internal reminders to review lab work with another unit, this can be as short as one day. |
| Communication Method | The five hard-coded methods in VetView are Email, Postcard, Call Back, CSV (for output to a Mail Merge for mass mailing lists), and None, for internal reminders. CSV can also be utilized for alternate communication methods, such as sending a text message through a third party application |
| Email Return Address | VetView recommends setting up a unique Reply To inbox for email communications, and assigning a user to monitor this email address. This way, if a client replies to a reminder email, it can be viewed and followed up appropriately. Even if the email address cannot be replied to, this will still display on the From line, and can be used for university branding. |
| Email Subject | The subject line of the reminder email, such as "Your pet is due for an annual checkup" |
| Template Message Body | The email message that will be sent for email communications. This is a rich text message with basic formatting, and can also include Placeholders to automatically fill in client information. Note that patient placeholders are not in this list, as those are pulled in using the localization code instead. |
| Localization Code | This code should appear in the Template Message Body. It will automatically pull in the patient's name, the product, and the scheduled due date for the product. Eg "Fluffy for Annual Exam on 10/31/2021." For all installations of VetView, this code is reminder.text.placeholder.default |
Click on the Save button to apply changes to the Reminder Template Type. It will appear on the list on the left hand side of this tab.
Reminder Setup
This tab displays all of the existing product reminders in the system, and allows you to search for them. Click on the Reminder Name to open the Reminder Details screen.
Reminder Search
The Reminder Search window allows you to search by name, by template type, by species limits, or for specific products or catalog items.
Patient Reminders List
When the Reminders Setup screen first loads, the Patient Reminders List will display all your existing cards. After searching in the Reminder Search at the top, any matching reminders will then appear in the Patient Reminders List.
Click on the Reminder Name to open the reminder details for that reminder.
Add New Template
To create a new reminder, click on Add Reminder Template. This will load a blank portion of the patient reminders detail screen. Give the reminder a name, select a formatting template, and add in the text in order to save the template. The rest of the Reminder Details screen will appear to start associating products with the reminder.
Delete Selected Reminders
Reminders that will no longer be used can be deleted. Since Reminders are ephemeral and considered completed on the patient record once they have been sent out to a client, a reminder can safely be deleted without impacting historical data.
Reminder Details Screen
This section describes the reminder, links it to a reminder template type and adds the products or catalog items that will trigger the reminder.
Reminder Text
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Reminder Name | The name of the reminder as it will appear on the patient record, on the patient order, and on the Reminder Worklist. |
| Formatting Template | The Reminder Template Type defined under the Templates tab. This defines the communication method, the exact body of the email that will be sent, etc. |
| Reminder Card Text | This is the text that will appear on the reminder. This section, unlike the name, is client visible. This is what will get pulled in to the localization code within the email defined under the Template. |
| Default Comment | This is the default comment that will appear on the reminder. On printed patient records, these comments are client visible. Reminders should be internal if you intend to use comments for communications not intended for clients to see. |
| Default Reminder Length | The default time period for which the reminder will be set out. For annual exams, this should be one year. For other types of vaccines, such as DHPP, set the reminder length to the number of weeks in between booster shots. |
| Unit Override | If a reminder should always be associated with a specific unit, it can be entered here. For example, if the reminder is for a Cardiology recheck, it should override to your Cardiology unit. (The Unit on a reminder denotes who is responsible for the follow up, if you have different client coordinators set for each unit.) |
Mass Generate Reminders
This feature is used to search for recently closed bills and create reminders based on approved products on those bills.
Select the date range, and any species you want to restrict this to.
This tool can be used when you have created a new reminder based off an existing product in the system.
Products and Product Lines that trigger reminders
Patient reminders can be manually added at any time with the appropriate privilege. You can also have the reminders trigger to be added to the patient record when a product is placed on the bill. A reminder can be associated with multiple products, and each product can be associated with multiple reminders.
In the example below, multiple rabies vaccines will automatically trigger an Annual Checkup reminder for one year out when they are added to the patient's bill.
Add Product
Add Product is how you link individual products to the reminder. Products can be searched by line and sequence, or by keyword.
Add Product Line
Add product line allows you to add an entire line of products from your Product Setup, instead of individual products. If every vaccine in your product setup should trigger the annual exam, you can utilize the Line set up for your vaccines instead of manually adding them.
Make Default
Make Default indicates that when this product is on a patient's bill, and the reminder option appears on the Product Details section of the order, the Reminder is defaulted to on. If the reminder should be visible, but should not automatically be turned on, this can be set to office. This gives the user who is reviewing the bill the option to choose to turn the reminder on, if the situation is appropriate. When the reminder is defaulted to on, it can also be turned off.
Products that satisfy a reminder when placed on a bill
Reminders can be automatically marked as completed when an email is sent. For organizations that also want to track follow through from the reminders, you can have a product that "satisfied" the conditions of the reminder when they appear on a subsequent order.
For the above example of an annual exam reminder, you can include the entire product line of examinations. Or you can limit it to a specific product.
Filter By Species
Certain products may only need to generate a reminder for species. You can leave the filters off, in which case the reminder will appear on the orders for all species, or you can filter it to specific species. For a rabies vaccine, for example, you may only want that to trigger for cats and dogs, and not exotics, even if they have the vaccine added to their order.
Catalog Items that trigger reminders
Reminders can also trigger off of the catalog items associated with services. For example, if a patient had surgery, you can have a surgery report automatically generate a follow up reminder in two weeks to have the animal checked again.
Reminders on Patient Records
Reminders will always appear at the top of patient records. These reminders pull in the reminder name, the due date, the unit (if one was assigned), the product link, and the comment from the Reminder Setup Details screen.
Reminders on Orders
If a product is linked to a Reminder, the reminder icon and the information regarding the reminder appear on the Item Details at the bottom of the screen.
When the reminder is set to Default On for the product, the check box next to the reminder name will load pre-selected. The user who is adding the item to the order can choose to turn it off if it is not applicable. The user can also change the due date, if the default date is not appropriate.
Reminders Worklist
VetView Wiki Most recent releases of VetView: Version 4.2.5 Hotfix (Released 10/31/2024)