Writing plain recall messages and templates
What goes into a short recall message template, which details the software can merge in, and what breaks a message.
A patient got a recall text that began "Hi , you are due" with a gap where the name should be. A blank name can come from a missing first name on the patient's record or from the template. Both can be fixed.
What a template is
A template is message text with blanks the software fills in for each patient. Open Dental calls the blanks variables. They're bracketed words that pull information directly from the database.1 The manual's own example reads like a plain note: the patient's first name, then that they're due for a regular dental check-up on a date.1
What the software can merge in
Open Dental lists these among its recall variables:
[NameF]for the patient's first name only1[DueDate]for the date the recall is due1[OfficePhone], which uses the clinic phone number if there is one, otherwise the practice number1[PracticeName]and[ClinicName]1[URL]for a personal booking link, in Web Sched messages only1
Other makers use their own names for these. Look in your template editor for the list.
A short recipe
Four parts do the job, and the diagram shows the order.
- The first name, so it reads as written for one person.
- One plain sentence: a visit is due.
- The due date.
- A way to act: a phone number, or a link if your setup offers one.
Open Dental's own aggregate text for families is a good model of the style. It says dental checkups are due, then points to links or a phone number.2 Notice there's nothing clinical in it.
Why messages break
A blank where a name should be. Check the patient's record, in case the first name is missing. Variables pull information directly from the database, so the record is a good place to start.1 Then check the template.
A message that fails to send. In Open Dental, a text may only use a set list of characters. If other characters are used the message fails.1 Check any symbol you pasted in against the manual's list.
A long text. The manual puts a segment at 160 characters and says each additional segment results in additional charges.1 Keep messages short.
Pasting code into an email. The manual says raw HTML isn't supported for recall messages. Message types that support HTML formatting open Open Dental's HTML Email editor, so don't paste raw HTML code into the message.1
Different words for later reminders
You can set a different message for each reminder number. Open Dental uses the third reminder's template for every later reminder.1 So the third message is the one patients may see again and again. Keep it polite and short.
Families
When several people share an email address or phone number, Open Dental can combine their recall details into one message.2 Check how that message reads, since it uses a different template from the single-patient one.
What to leave out
Leave out treatment details and balances. A recall message only needs to say a visit is due. What you may send depends on where you are. Ask your country's regulator.
Once a visit is booked, the wording changes again. See how booked-visit reminders differ.
Sources used
- Setup Recall, Open Dental Software
- Web Sched Recall, Open Dental Software
More recall pages
What dental recall software doesA plain look at how a recall system differs from a normal appointment book, using two makers' own manuals.
How recall intervals and due dates are set in the softwareWhy a patient shows as due too early or too late, and how recall software works out the date and who can change the interval.
Text, email, phone and mail: how recall reminders get sentWhat ways recall software can contact a patient, and what one maker's manual says about each, so you can fix a list nobody answers.