Message Patients
Message patients and coordinate with client staff from one inbox.
Messages is your provider-side inbox: patient conversations on one side, internal threads with linked client staff on the other. Admins, Providers, and Provider Delegates work from it within their patient scope — who you can message follows who you can see (Find Patients).
Open MessagesConversation types
Three places, three purposes.
| Where | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Patient conversations | Patient-visible messages, attachments, and in-app calls for reachable patients. |
| Clients tab | Internal threads with linked client staff — never visible to patients. |
| Visit charting chat panel | Coordination between your team and the client during a chart review or visit. |
A short call sometimes beats a long thread, and patient attachments arrive in the same conversation.
Messages to a patient always appear to come from the patient's clinic, so their experience stays consistent.
Reply well
Four habits keep the inbox safe and useful.
Check patient identity and context before replying.
Keep patient-visible messages clear and non-technical.
Move coordination that shouldn't be patient-visible into the internal client thread.
When a message relates to an order, visit, prescription, or lab, document the next step on that record.
Escalated conversations
When client staff escalate a patient thread, it lands in your inbox for clinical follow-up — work those first; the patient has already waited one hop. Reply in the patient conversation so the answer comes from the care team, and keep coordination with client staff in the internal thread. Texting bridges automatically: patient-visible replies reach the patient's phone as texts, and their answers land back in the same conversation.
Keep decisions out of chat
Chat is for coordination and support. Approvals, denials, deferrals, and SOAP documentation happen in the clinical workflow — see Complete Chart Reviews. That keeps the clinical record in one place, separate from coordination.
Never send a clinical decision from a delegate account when a provider decision is required. See Roles & Permissions.
Where do visit-related chats live?
In the charting chat panel during a chart review or visit, so coordination stays attached to the encounter.
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