Overview

Appointment reminders help ensure patients attend scheduled visits. Sending reminders in advance, typically 2 weeks or at least 2 days before the appointment, reduces no-shows and gives patients time to reschedule if needed.

This guide walks you through how to manually send an appointment reminder via email or SMS.

Steps to Send a Reminder

1. Go to the Appointments tab.
   
   
    
2. Select the patient’s appointment.
3. Click the Send icon.
4. Choose your preferred reminder type:

• Email appointment details
• SMS appointment details

A message editor will open based on your selection.

Sending an Email Reminder

When sending an email reminder, you can customise the following:

• Template 
  Select a saved email template or use the default reminder template.
• Subject 
  The default subject is “Dentist Appointment”. You can edit this as needed.
• Message 
  The email body typically includes:
  • Appointment details
  • Practice directions
  • Cancellation policy
  • Payment information
  • Additional instructions

Sending an SMS Reminder

SMS reminders are designed to be short and concise.

• Template 
  Select a saved SMS template or use the default.
• Message 
  Includes key appointment details only

Important:

• SMS messages are limited to 160 characters per message segment.
• Charges apply at AU$0.18 per 160 characters.
• You can view the character count before sending.

Additional Notes

• You can automate appointment reminders instead of sending them manually.
• To set this up, configure your Calendar Notification Settings for each provider.
• Refer to the article Auto appointment communication settings – Core Practice for step-by-step instructions.

If you have any questions, please click the yellow Help button at the bottom left and chat with us. We are more than happy to help!