On shift
Messages
Chat with patients, teammates and clinics: start a conversation or patient DM, answer escalated requests, post announcements to clients, and reach all your providers.
Messages is your network's chat workspace: patient care-team threads, private patient DMs, a channel with each client, teammate chats and announcements to clients. Left menu → Messages. Provider Network Admin, Provider and Provider Delegate.
Questions people ask
What's the difference between a patient conversation and a Patient DM?
A conversation under Patients is shared by the whole care team, clinic staff included. A Patient DM is between the patient and one provider; the clinic can read it but not reply.
How do I send one message to every provider in my network?
Not with an announcement; those go to clients. See Reach all your providers.
How do we get emailed when a patient writes?
An admin sets the default in Settings → Operations → Provider notifications → Patient messages. Each person can override it on their profile. Alerts never include the patient's name or message.
Can we auto-reply to patients while I'm away?
Yes, a Provider can. Click the calendar icon (Automatic reply) at the top of the sidebar. Patients who message you while you are away get one reply a day. See Set an automatic reply. It is per provider, so admins and delegates don't see it.
Where to find it
Left menu → Messages.
Who can use it: Provider Network Admin, Provider, Provider Delegate. Page: /messages.
What is on this page
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Unreads, Drafts, Later | Unread conversations, unsent messages, and messages you saved. |
| Find a conversation | Search box above the list; type a name to find a conversation. |
| Filter icon | Narrow the list to one client, or to a label. |
| Sliders icon (Configure sections) | Hide or reorder label sections for yourself. Admins also get Manage to create network labels. |
| Calendar icon (Automatic reply), Providers only | Opens the away settings: Automatic reply switch, Back at, Default template, Edit templates and Away periods (Away from, Back at, Time zone, Template, Remove period). |
| Automatic reply on (sidebar row) | Shows while a reply is active, with until the return time. Turn off stops it. |
| Row … | Open in window, Archive until next reply, Mute notifications, Resolve conversation. |
| Conversation actions | Change label, Join conversation or Leave conversation, Request provider assistance, Call patient when calling is available. |
| Lock beside Send | Full text texts the whole message to the patient; Secure texts only a link. |
| Shortcuts button in the composer | Saved replies and templates; search with Search templates and saved replies…. Manage edits them. |
| Notifications (sidebar row, with a count of open alerts) | Opens messaging alerts, including @mentions, in place of the conversation. Each alert shows the sender, the time and a Read marker once opened. Click its link button (Open Messages unless the alert names another) to jump to the conversation, or Dismiss to remove it. Back to conversations (small screens) or Close notifications returns you. Empty it reads No notifications; if it fails, Notifications couldn't load. Provider Network Admins still use /notifications for operational queues. |
| Start a new message (bottom right) | Chat from any page. |
| Conversation bubble (bottom right) → × | Closes that conversation in the chat dock. Hover the bubble to show it; on a small screen it always shows. The tooltip reads Close conversation with and the name. |
What you can do here
- Start a conversation with a patient, teammate or clinic
- Message a patient privately (DM)
- Answer a provider assistance request
- Post an announcement to your clients
- Reach all your providers at once
- Insert or manage a saved reply
Start a conversation with a patient, teammate or clinic
Use this when there is no open conversation with the person yet.
Click New message
Click + at the top of the sidebar. Type a patient, teammate, client contact or channel in To: and press Enter.
Or browse by type
Click Browse message types: Teammate (a provider, delegate or admin in your network), Patient care team (the thread the patient's whole care team shares, clinic staff included) or Direct message. Admins and delegates see Teammate and Patient.
Message a clinic
Click the chevron beside +. Client chat opens the shared channel with a client; Direct staff message opens a one-to-one with someone there, if the client's policy allows it.
You'll know it worked when the conversation opens and appears in your sidebar.
Who can do this: all three roles. Direct message is for Providers only.
Message a patient privately (DM)
Use this for a conversation between you and one patient, outside the shared care-team thread.
Open the picker
+ → Browse message types → Direct message, or the + on the Patient DMs heading. It reads Choose a patient for a private conversation with you.
Pick the patient
Narrow with All clients, search, and click the patient.
Write the first message
Type and send. The clinic can read it but not reply; your network's other providers can reply.
You'll know it worked when the DM appears under Patient DMs. In a visit, the chart's Chat panel shows the same DM on its Direct tab.
Who can do this: Providers.
Answer a provider assistance request
Use this when a clinic has flagged a patient conversation for a provider.
Find the request
Click Escalated in the top bar (Awaiting a provider, oldest first), or look for the Needs provider tag on a conversation.
Read the note
The clinic's note is marked Internal; the patient doesn't see it.
Reply, then resolve
Answer, then click Resolve in the composer.
You'll know it worked when the toast reads Provider request resolved. and the tag clears. To raise one yourself: Conversation actions → Request provider assistance.
Who can do this: all three roles.
Post an announcement to your clients
Use this to tell client admins and staff about a change, such as holiday cover.
Open Announcements
Click Announcements in the sidebar, then New announcement. The chevron beside + → Post an announcement gets you there too.
Choose who it notifies
Tick Client admins, Client staff or both. Under Clients pick All linked clients, Clients I choose, Clients offering a product or protocol or Clients created in a date range.
Write it
Type in Message (up to 5,000 characters). Add text and Add image add blocks.
Post
Click Review and post, check it, then click Post announcement.
You'll know it worked when it appears in the Announcements list. Each client sees it in its own announcements channel and cannot reply or see who else got it.
Who can do this: Provider Network Admins with at least one linked client.
Reach all your providers at once
Announcements reach client users only. To reach your own providers:
Email or text them
Open Marketing (it has no menu item: go to /marketing), click New campaign and set Audience to All staff, or By role → Provider. Email needs a verified sending domain first.
Or make it required reading
In Knowledge base, right-click the item → Mark Required. Every Provider and Provider Delegate must open it before they can keep working.
You'll know it worked when the campaign shows as sent, or the item carries a Required tag.
Who can do this: Provider Network Admins. See Marketing and Knowledge base.
Insert or manage a saved reply
Saved replies are reusable messages shared with your team. Inserting one fills the composer so you can edit it before sending; nothing sends automatically.
Open Composer shortcuts
Click the shortcuts button in the composer, then type in Search templates and saved replies… or pick from Saved replies.
Insert it
The text lands in the box. {{patient_first_name}} and {{provider_name}} fill in for you. Edit, then send.
Create or edit one
Click Manage, then New or the pencil beside a reply. Enter a Name and Message, pick at least one conversation type, and click Create reply or Save changes. Up to 100 replies.
Add files or forms
Where your account has them on, Files → Add file attaches up to 5 PDFs or images (10MB each). Forms to request ticks intake or consent forms for the patient to complete.
You'll know it worked when the toast reads Saved reply created or Saved reply updated. Delete with the bin icon and confirm Delete saved reply?; the toast reads Saved reply deleted.
A staged form shows as a Form request · sent securely chip you can remove before sending. Forms go to the patient only, so remove them to post a team note. After sending, the message carries a form card; the patient clicks Go to dashboard to complete it.
Who can do this: everyone can insert; only people allowed to manage saved replies see Manage.
Set an automatic reply
Use this when you are out of the office. Patients who message you while you are away get one reply a day.
Open Automatic reply
Click the calendar icon at the top of the sidebar (tooltip Automatic reply).
Turn it on now, or schedule it
Switch Automatic reply on to start now, and optionally set Back at (a date and time). Or under Away periods click Add period and fill Away from, Back at and Time zone. You can add up to 10 periods.
Pick the message
Choose a Default template (or Built-in message). A period can use its own Template; leave it on Default template to use the default. Click Edit templates to write one. {{patient_first_name}}, {{provider_name}} and {{return_date}} fill in for you; with no date set, {{return_date}} reads soon.
Save
Click Save.
You'll know it worked when the toast reads Automatic reply saved. While it is active, the sidebar shows Automatic reply on with until the return time. Click Turn off to stop it (Automatic reply turned off). Each reply the patient receives is marked Automatic reply in the conversation.
Who can do this: Providers, in their own account. Templates are shown only to you when you pick a reply.
What can go wrong
| What you see | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red dots on conversations already answered | Read state is per person: a colleague's reply doesn't mark it read for you. | Open it, or work from Unreads. |
| You miss your own patients among the whole network's messages | Patient threads are shared across the network. | Use the filter icon for your clients or labels, and Patient DMs for your private chats. |
| You don't want PHI in the patient's text message | The message is set to Full text. | Switch the lock to Secure. Admins set the default under Patient text notifications in Settings → Messaging. |
| No Post an announcement or Manage | You aren't a Provider Network Admin, or no client is linked. | Ask your admin. |
| Direct staff message is greyed out | The client's messaging policy doesn't allow it. | An admin changes it in Settings → Messaging. |
| No Call patient | No phone on file, or the client has no active messaging number. | Message them instead. |
| Forms can only be sent to the patient. Remove them to post a team note. | A saved reply with forms is staged on a team note | Remove the form chip, or send in the patient conversation. |
| These forms are already on file, so no new request was sent. | The patient already completed them | None; your message still sends. |
| Unable to save this reply. / Unable to upload this file. / Unable to load forms. / Unable to delete this reply. / Unable to load conversation label settings. | The request failed | Try again (Try again reloads the form list). If it repeats, raise a ticket in Support. |
| These settings changed somewhere else. Your changes are kept. Save again to replace the newer settings. | Your automatic reply was saved from another window or device while you were editing | Click Save again to replace the newer settings. |
| Enter a start and end for each away period. | An away period is missing Away from or Back at | Fill both dates, or click Remove period. |
| Automatic reply could not load. | The settings request failed | Click Try again. |
| A patient replied but the visit stayed in Pending Patient Response | Something else it asked for is still outstanding. | On Visits (ASYNC) click Move to In Progress. |
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