Configuring Patient Notifications in SigmaMD
Patient notifications are a key aspect of patient engagement and appointment management in SigmaMD. Ensuring that patients are informed about their appointments enhances the likelihood of attendance and allows for better schedule management. Here's how to configure patient notifications in SigmaMD. Go to Settings > Scheduling > Appointment settings and find Patient Notifications.
Appointment Booking Notification
The first and most straightforward option is whether to send a notification upon the booking of an appointment. Turn on Appointment Booked to send the patient a notification confirming their appointment has been successfully scheduled.
Appointment Confirmation
As an appointment draws near, SigmaMD can send a reminder to patients, prompting them to confirm their upcoming visit.
Set the Timing for the Notification:
Time before event: Choose to send the confirmation request a specific number of minutes, hours, or days before the appointment. For example, setting it to 2 hours sends the request 2 hours before the appointment.
The text for this notification is written by SigmaMD. Click Personalize to add your own instructions (up to 500 characters) to the email. The text message and push notification can't be edited.
Custom Reminders
SigmaMD allows practices to set up to five custom reminders for patients. Each reminder uses a default text, and you can click Personalize to add your own instructions to the reminder email.
Changes to the timing, and deleted reminders, apply only to appointments booked after the change.
How Patients Receive Notifications
Appointment notifications (booked, changed, confirmed or canceled appointments, and reminders) go out by email, and as a push notification to patients who use the SigmaMD Patient App. A text message (SMS) goes only to recipients with no email address on file.
This patient notice is sent automatically and uses the same delivery. It has no settings on this page:
- Membership updates: when your practice enrolls the patient, and when a plan starts, is paused, restarts, is canceled, or is about to auto-renew, or when a member is removed from a plan.
Configuring patient notifications in SigmaMD is an intuitive process designed to maintain consistent and reliable communication between the practice and the patient. By carefully setting up these notifications, practices can significantly reduce no-shows, optimize their scheduling, and ensure a better experience for both staff and patients.