The professional interface’s high-security SMS function enables you to send a message to a patient at the phone number they have provided. The sender of the contact request / patient can also reply to this message.
The professional interface’s high-security SMS function enables you to send a message to a patient at the phone number they have provided. The sender of the contact request / patient can also reply to this message.
SMS-chat is an easy and time-saving method to interactively communicate with patients, instead of spending working time on managing calls. This chat uses SMS technology and can therefore be used with almost all current smartphones and mobile devices. Furthermore, this chat is secure, and the messages exchanged are stored according to the same information security standards as those used for storing patient data.
To start the SMS chat, first click the contact request to open it, and then click “In Progress”. With the contact request in “In progress” status, click “Send message” in the top right corner of the view on the right. Please note that, in order to enable the chat, the status of the contact request must be “In progress”.
See Image 1. below. The chat window shows the messages sent to a patient (if there has been a previous exchange of messages). The messages sent from your organisation have a green background. The time when a message was sent is shown in grey font at the end of the text. The name of the message sender is shown below the message. The replies sent by the patient have a white background. The messages sent by a patient are visible to anyone who opens the contact request from that patient.
To send a message, type the message under “New SMS” and click “Send message” below the message field. The “New SMS” field is located at the bottom of the message thread. If you do not immediately see the field, scroll down the Messages box until you do.
When a patient replies to a message, a reminder is shown on the main page of the professional user interface under “New messages” and in the “New messages” tab header in the list view of contact requests.
When you mark a contact request as complete by clicking “Case close” at the top of the view on the right, the patient can no longer send replies to the chat, but they are sent an automatic, organisation-specific message that advises them to contact a health centre or other organisation by other means. Terminating the chat in this way is designed to prevent a situation in which a professional does not necessarily notice a new incoming message when the contact request is in “Complete” status and archived. If, however, there is a later need to send a message to the patient, this can be done by locating their contact request in the Archive list and returning it to “In progress” status.
PLEASE NOTE! Clicking “Close thread” does not terminate the message thread with a patient, but just hides the thread from view so if you are waiting for a reply from the patient you should use this button. You can then continue to work on another case and when the patient replies, you and your team members will receive an alert in ‘new messages’ tab.
You should always ensure that you receive a ‘message sent ‘ notification before navigating away from messages. Please also check the number is a valid mobile number before attempting to send a message.
SMS chat view.