Birthday greetings
Auto-send patients a birthday message every year.
Overview
A small SMS or email on a patient's birthday is a low-cost touch that improves retention. The platform auto-sends based on the patient's date of birth.
Prerequisites
- Owner or Admin role
birthday_remindersfeature flag enabled- Patients have valid date of birth on file
Steps
Open Birthday settings. Settings → Birthday Greetings.
Toggle "Send birthday messages" on.
Pick the channels. SMS, Email, or both.
Edit the template. Insert {{patientName}}, {{clinicName}}. Keep SMS under 160 chars.
Preview. Preview picks a sample patient and renders the message.
Set the send time. Default 9:00 AM clinic time. Some clinics prefer 8:00 AM (before patient is at work).
Save. From the next day onward, every patient with a matching DOB gets the message.
Monitor stats. Birthday → Stats shows messages sent, open/delivery rate, opt-outs. Patients can opt out via reply STOP.
Expected outcome
- A daily cron job at the configured time sends to today's birthday patients
- Each gets one message per channel
- Stats are visible in the Birthday section
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No messages sent | Cron didn't run, or feature flag off | Check Settings → System Status; verify feature flag |
| Template missing variables | Save discarded | Re-save the template |
| Some patients missed | DOB on profile is blank | Check the patient profile DOB field |
| Want to opt one patient out | Set "Allow marketing messages" off in patient profile | Patient profile → Communications preferences |
| Wrong send time | Time zone mismatch | Verify clinic time zone in Settings → Clinic Profile |