Appointment reminders
Configure when and how patients receive appointment reminders.
Overview
Reminders cut no-show rates. The platform sends each patient one or more reminders (SMS / email / both) before each appointment. Lead times are configurable; templates are editable; senders are tied to your clinic.
Prerequisites
- Owner or Admin role
appointment_remindersfeature flag enabled (Starter+)- An SMS provider configured if you want SMS reminders
- A verified email sender if you want email reminders
Steps
Open Communication settings. Avatar menu → Settings → Communications.
Enable appointment reminders. Toggle "Send appointment reminders" on. Sub-options become editable.
Pick channels. Tick SMS, Email, or both. SMS uses your configured SMS provider; email uses the platform default sender unless you've configured a custom one.
Set reminder lead times. Default is one reminder 24 hours before. You can add up to three: 7 days, 24 hours, 1 hour for instance. Each slot has a separate template.
Edit the template. Click any reminder to open the template editor. Variables {{patientName}}, {{clinicName}}, {{appointmentDate}}, {{appointmentTime}}, {{dentistName}} are interpolated at send time. Keep SMS under 160 characters to avoid multi-segment costs.
Test send. Click Test send in the template editor. Pick yourself as the recipient. The test SMS / email is sent immediately so you can confirm rendering.
Save. The settings apply to all future appointments. Existing appointments use the lead times that were active at the time they were booked (changes don't retroactively cancel queued reminders).
Monitor delivery. Open Settings → Email History and Settings → SMS to see delivery status per message. Failed deliveries are logged with the provider's error.
Expected outcome
- The tenant
communications.appointmentRemindersconfig is saved - Future appointments automatically queue reminder messages at the chosen lead times
- The patient sees them in their inbox / phone
- Delivery results show in the email/SMS log within minutes
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Reminders feature locked | Tier doesn't include appointment_reminders | Upgrade or buy the addon |
| SMS delivery fails | SMS provider out of credit | Top up via the SMS bundle addon |
| Email goes to spam | Sender domain not authenticated | Configure SPF/DKIM for your sending domain in Settings → Communications → Email |
| Patient with no phone gets nothing | SMS template requires phone number | Add their phone or rely on email-only reminders |
| Templates look wrong on patient phone | Message is multi-segment | Shorten template under 160 characters |