ChiroUp's Two-way Texting……Coming Soon!
1. Review Consent First
- Always confirm that the patient has provided the correct opt-in consent before sending any messages.
- Remember: transactional and marketing messages require separate and distinct consents. Be sure the patient’s consent status is correctly documented in their record.
- Check out our article on Managing Consent to Text Messaging for more information.
2. Keep Messages Necessary and Concise
- Limit texts to what is truly necessary—short, clear updates are best.
- Avoid sending unnecessary multiple back-to-back texts that may overwhelm patients or increase the risk of being reported as spam.
- While messages over 160 characters are allowed, they will be split into multiple segments, which may affect readability and costs.
- Do not mix transactional and marketing messages in the same message if the patient has not opted in to both transactional and marketing messages.
3. Avoid Sensitive Health Information
- Texting is inherently insecure. Remind patients not to include protected health information (PHI) or discuss their health status via text.
- Clinic messages should include only the minimal necessary details (e.g., “Your appointment is tomorrow at 10 AM”).
4. Be Cautious with Frequency & Timing
- Too many messages may frustrate patients and increase the likelihood of opt-outs.
- Marketing texts are far more likely to be flagged as spam. Excessive or unwanted marketing communications can even result in carriers delisting or blocking your clinic’s unique texting number.
- Respect timing for marketing messages: Marketing texts should only be sent during standard business hours (8 AM–9 PM in the recipient’s local time zone). Sending promotional content outside these hours increases the risk of complaints, opt-outs, or spam reports.
5. Use Templates and Macros
- For efficiency and consistency, use templated macros for common replies.
- Templates can be incorporated into the two-way texting portal just like in any other ChiroUp text field.
- How to create a macro in ChiroUp
- See below for sample macros you can create to use when texting patients in ChiroUp!
Sample Texting Macros
Scenario: Patient requests a new appointment
“We’d be happy to schedule you! If you’d like to see instant availability, you can check our online portal here: [Insert Link]. Or just let us know which days/times work best and we’ll confirm the next opening.”
Scenario: Patient says they will be late
“Thanks for letting us know. Please reply with your estimated arrival time. If you’re more than [X] minutes late, we may need to reschedule.”
Scenario: Appointment canceled
“Your appointment for today has been canceled. We want to ensure you stay on track with your care plan, so let us know what day and time works best for you to reschedule. You can also view instant availability and book directly through our online portal here: [Insert Link].”
Scenario: Patient asks about clinic hours
“Our clinic hours are Monday–Thursday 8 AM–6 PM and Friday 8 AM–12 PM. You can always check real-time availability or schedule online here: [Insert Link].”
Scenario: Patient has an outstanding balance
“This is a friendly reminder that your account has an outstanding balance of [$Amount]. Please call our office at [Phone Number] to make a payment.”
Scenario: Patient sends a general message or question
“Thanks for your message! A member of our team will review your question and reply shortly. If you need immediate assistance, please call us at [Phone Number].”