NOTE: As of this writing, text templates can only be used for appointment campaigns and scheduled contract payment communications. Recurring text campaigns are coming soon; however, you are able to set up the templates now for future use or for use in C9 Connect Appointment Campaigns or Scheduled Contract Payment patient Communications options, (as long as you have C9 Connect.)
Overview
Cloud 9 now offers Patient Follow-Up Care Recurring Campaigns. Text Campaigns are coming soon; please keep an eye on the release notes. For now, you can create custom Text Templates to be used for Appointment Campaigns or for Patient Communications for Scheduled Contract Payments if you have Cloud 9 Connect. Any time you are creating a recurring campaign; the first step is to create a template. In this example, you will be instructed on how to create a text template for future functionality in Patient Follow-Up Care Recurring Campaigns.
This article will walk you through setting up a template for text campaigns so that, as soon as you've created the campaign with the text template and recipient list, you'll be able to create and send text campaigns right from Cloud 9. (Once the Text Recurring Campaign for Patient Follow Up Becomes Available which is coming soon). Text campaigns are very effective for patient communication and can be a huge boost to your office productivity.
Setup
Before you begin, confirm that you are set up for Recurring Campaigns by navigating in Cloud 9 to "Edit > "Automation Suite" > "Recurring Campaigns". If you cannot access Recurring Campaigns or the templates tab to create a new text template, you may need the appropriate employee permissions added by an admin at the practice. This article has instructions: Recurring Campaigns Employee Permissions.
Text Template Creation Process
Next, please select the "Templates" tab and then click on "Add Text Template." You are now ready to proceed.
Step 1: Once you are in Recurring Campaigns, click on the "Templates" tab
Step 2: The text template dialogue box has the options to enter your text message on the right and a preview of what the text message will look like on the left. In the first field titled "Name" you can enter the name of the template. This can be any name you prefer.
Step 3: The next box is titled "Copy From Existing Template" and is optional. You would only use this box if you have already have a saved template that you can just make some minor changes to and save for this SCP Patient Communications text.
Step 4: If "Copy from Existing Template" is not needed, you would move to the next box to pick the "Category." Since this is for Appointment Campaigns for Category you would want to select Appointment.
Step 5: The next box is the "Message" box. Here, you will enter the text you wish to include in your text template. In addition to standard text, you can incorporate two elements into your text message templates: emojis and "Merge tags." To select emojis, click the smiley face icon located in the upper left corner of the message box. The "Merge Tags" can be found just to the right of the smiley face icon. You can think of merge tags as equivalent to merge fields in your letter templates, as they allow you to pull specific information from your database. For example, in the illustration, I am including the responsible party's name (typically, adult patients will be their own responsible party) and the practice address. I have also added a cheerful emoji, which enhances the personal touch of the message.
Please be aware of the character count located at the bottom right of the message window. You now have a total of 640 characters available for text campaign templates, and you will receive a warning if you exceed this character limit.
You may now save your template. If you are prepared to create and send the recurring campaign, please refer to this article: Creating and Sending Recurring Campaigns.
As always, if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to reach out to Cloud 9 Support by emailing us at cloud9support@planetdds.com, or chatting us online using the chat bubble on the lower right at https://cloud9support.planetdds.com/hc/en-us, or giving us a call during our business hours of 8:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST at the 1.800.394.6050 option 2.