Summary
The TrackStat Inbox is a conversation list. Every inbound text, staff reply, appointment reminder, campaign, voicemail, and many internal notifications live in one thread per person.
What you see in the list is controlled by two separate ideas:
Filters answer “what kind of message is this?” (Unread, campaign, text (SMS), lead, tag, and so on.)
Open / Closed answers “does a person still owe this conversation a decision?”
Use Unread to sweep for inbound work. Use Open as the day’s work pile. Use Exclude Campaign Messages only after Unread is clear - and know that this filter judges a thread by its last message. If a reminder sends after a patient texts you, that working view can hide the whole row even though the patient’s text is still unread.
To [find a thread that looks missing], switch to Unread, then All Messages, then search the name.
How the list is built
One patient or non-patient = one conversation.
The row preview shows the most recent message in that thread, not necessarily the unread inbound text.
Incoming messages appear grey. Outgoing messages appear blue.
A new inbound text on a Closed conversation reopens it so it returns to Open.
TrackStat remembers the last filter the signed-in user chose. Check the active filter when you sit down, the same way you would check Unread vs All Mail in any other mailbox.
The Inbox is busy on purpose. A normal clinic day can include two-way texts, reminders, drips, review requests, voicemails, and notifications. Filters exist so staff are not forced to work that entire firehose as one list.
Recommended daily habit
Treat the Inbox like a shared work queue, not a personal email account.
Sweep Unread at open, mid-morning, after lunch, and before close.
Anything a human must answer stays Open until it is answered or handed off.
When the request is done, mark it Closed. Do not leave completed reminder threads sitting in Open.
Use Exclude Campaign Messages as a second pass - not as the only place anyone looks.
Prefer individual logins. Two people on one login will overwrite each other’s last-used filter.
At the end of the shift, the goal is an empty Open list, not an empty All Messages list.
Open and Closed
Open / Closed is how the office tracks ownership. It does not depend on whether the last bubble in the thread was a campaign.
Status | Meaning | When to use it |
Open | A person still owes this conversation a decision | Patient asked to reschedule; times were offered but not confirmed; voicemail not returned |
Closed | The work is finished for now | Appointment booked, question answered, no further action today |
To close a conversation: click the lock icon at the top right of the thread. Closed conversations leave the Open list. They are not deleted, and closing does not change the patient’s communication preferences or opt-out status.
To open a conversation again: click the lock icon so it unlocks.
A Closed conversation that receives a new inbound message returns to Open automatically.
You cannot open or close conversations in the TrackStat mobile app. You can still filter the mobile Inbox by Open or Closed.
Why Open / Closed beats relying on Read / Unread alone
In a shared Inbox, one teammate can open a thread and leave it. Read / Unread then becomes “whoever looked last,” not “who still owes a reply.”
Read / Unread still exists and is useful:
Unread is the right first view when you are hunting for a patient text that may be sitting under a reminder.
Mark as Unread is the right tool when you opened something by mistake and need it to show as unopened again.
Do not use Read / Unread as the only system of record for the desk.
Which filter should I use?
Filters can be combined. The Inbox keeps the last set you picked until you change it.
Filter | What it is for | Watch-out |
Conversation: Open | Active work pile | Only useful if the team Closes finished threads |
Conversation: Closed | Finished work; history is kept | A new patient text should be handled, then Closed again if complete |
Messages: Exclude Campaign Messages | Hides appointment reminders, drips, review requests, and other automations so two-way work is easier to see | Looks at the last message. A reminder after a patient text can hide the whole thread |
Messages: All Messages | Widest list. Use when a thread looks missing and you need proof it still exists | Noisiest view. Do not live here all day unless the office is small |
Unread | Conversations with an unopened inbound message | Preview may show a later automated message. Open the thread anyway |
Important | Only conversations marked with the yellow icon to the left of the name | Flag for later review. It does not assign work or add a follow-up date |
Received | Incoming messages |
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Sent | Outgoing messages |
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Scheduled | Messages set to send later | Cancel a scheduled message from this view: open the thread → three dots → Remove |
Intake Forms | Completed or incomplete intake forms. Sort by most recent submission or most recent message | Merging form data into the EHR is a different action. See Merge Submissions |
Message Type | Email, text (SMS), or Audio message | For voicemails: Audio message → Most recent voicemail. Audio includes unanswered-call transcripts and Jaz AI call summaries |
Contact Type | Patients (from the EHR/EMR) or Non-patients (leads and other contacts) | Non-patients show a circle with a line through it icon |
Primary Provider | Primary provider on the patient record - not the provider on a specific appointment |
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Tags | Conversations for patients with the selected tag(s) | Click Show Selected Tags at the bottom left to see which tags are active |
Blocked | Contacts blocked under Edit contact info (pencil) → Patient Info → Block Contact | Blocking is not the same as a patient texting STOP |
The circular Reset Filters icon at the top left restores the default filter set. The default is Messages > Exclude Campaign Messages.
Exclude Campaign Messages and the last-message rule
Exclude Campaign Messages is a good working view. It is also the most common reason a real patient text “vanishes.”
That filter is not asking “did this thread ever contain a patient text?” It is asking “is the latest message a campaign?”
If the patient texts, then a reminder sends before anyone opens the thread:
The conversation can still be Unread.
The preview switches to the reminder.
Exclude Campaign Messages can drop the whole row off the list.
The patient’s words are still in the thread, above the reminder.
To [find that conversation], follow this order and stop when you see the patient:
Switch to Unread.
If needed, switch to All Messages.
Search the patient by name or phone.
Open the thread and scroll.
Do not refresh or reset filters first. See Why a patient text looks missing in the Inbox for the full hunt path.
Do not turn off appointment reminders to “make the Inbox simpler.” Train the view instead.
Bulk actions
Select the checkboxes to the left of one or more rows (or select all on the page / all messages), then use Actions:
Mark as important / not important
Mark as read / unread
Open
Close
Use bulk Close when you are cleaning a backlog of finished reminder threads. Use bulk Unread only when a thread was opened by mistake and still needs attention.
Mark a conversation unread again
To [mark a message unread]:
Check the box on the left of the row → Actions → Mark as Unread, or
Open the thread and use the unread icon at the top right, or
In the mobile app, swipe the row left and choose Unread.
Marking something unread does not reopen a Closed conversation. Use Open / Closed for ownership, and Unread when you need the row to show as unopened.
Important, tags, and leads
The yellow icon next to the name marks a conversation Important. Filter by Important when you want a later review list.
Add a tag on the patient, then filter the Inbox by Tags to give a teammate a queue. Tags live on the patient, so the same tag also works on patient reports.
Non-patients (leads, web inquiries, people not in the EHR) show a circle icon with a line through it. You can mark them Important, or use Add to Follow Up when you need notes and a follow-up date. Important only flags the thread; Add to Follow Up is what puts them on the Follow Up report.
Permissions
Every TrackStat user can open the Inbox. Unlike reports, campaigns, financials, and user management, Inbox access cannot be turned off with role permissions.
What you can control is how each person works the list: their own login, their own last-used filter, and a shared Open / Closed rule.
Web Inbox vs mobile app for clinics
| Web Inbox | Mobile app |
Filters, including Open / Closed and Unread | Yes | Yes |
Open or close a conversation | Yes (lock icon) | No |
Mark unread | Checkbox, in-thread icon | Swipe left → Unread |
Send text or email | Yes | Yes (messaging window) |
What not to do
Do not treat a changed preview as a deleted message.
Do not leave completed work in Open “just in case.”
Do not disable reminders to shrink the list.
Do not share one login across the front desk if you can avoid it.
Quick answers
I only want to see messages that still need a person.
Filter Conversation to Open, and Close threads when the work is done. Add Exclude Campaign Messages only after you have swept Unread.
Can I archive old messages?
Close them. Closed conversations leave the Open list and keep their history. Nothing is deleted.
Why does a reminder I already handled keep coming back?
A new inbound text reopens a Closed conversation. Handle it, then Close it again if no further action is needed.
Why did my cleaned-up list come back after I clicked reset?
Reset restores the default filter set. Change the filter to Unread or All Messages instead.
Who can see the Inbox?
All users. Access cannot be restricted.