Summary
The Inbox holds inbound texts, staff replies, appointment reminders, campaigns, voicemails, and many notifications in a single thread per patient or non-patient.
Two ideas work together:
Open / Closed answers “Does someone still need to act on this conversation?”
Filters (Unread, All Messages, Exclude campaign msgs, etc.) answer “What kind of messages or conversations should I see?”
Default view:
Conversation → Open
Messages → All Messages
This is the recommended starting point for most clinics. Closed conversations are hidden. All messages (including campaigns and reminders) are included so patient texts are not accidentally hidden.
Click the circular Reset Filters icon (top left) at any time to return to this default. TrackStat remembers the last filter combination the signed-in user chose, so your personal last-used filters stay in place until you reset them.
The red Unread badge highlights conversations that contain an unopened inbound message.
Recommended daily habit
Treat the Inbox like a shared work queue (similar to a ticketing system), not a personal email account.
Start on the default view: Conversation → Open and Messages → All Messages.
Use the red Unread badge to quickly spot new inbound work.
Sweep Unread (or the Open list) at open, mid-morning, after lunch, and before close.
Keep any conversation that still needs a human decision in Open.
When the request is finished, mark it Closed. Do not leave completed reminder or informational threads sitting in Open.
Prefer individual logins. Two people on the same login will overwrite each other’s last-used filter.
Goal at the end of the shift: an empty (or near-empty) Open list, not an empty All Messages list.
Exclude campaign msgs is available as an optional secondary filter if you want a quieter list focused on two-way work. It is not the default, because it judges a thread by its last message and can hide an unread patient text when a reminder arrives afterward.
Open and Closed
Open / Closed tracks ownership of the conversation. It does not depend on whether the last message was a campaign.
Status | Meaning | When to use it |
Open | A person still owes this conversation a decision | Patient asked to reschedule; times offered but not confirmed; voicemail not returned; question not answered |
Closed | The work is finished for now | Appointment booked, question answered, no further action needed 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 communication preferences or opt-out status.
To reopen: click the lock icon again.
A Closed conversation that receives a new inbound message automatically returns to Open.
You cannot open or close conversations in the TrackStat mobile app, but you can still filter the mobile Inbox by Open or Closed.
Why Open / Closed is preferred over 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 is still useful:
The red Unread badge and the Unread filter are the right tools when you are hunting for a patient text that may be sitting under a later automated message.
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 or click Reset Filters.
Filter | What it is for | Watch-out |
Conversation → Open (part of default) | 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 → All Messages (part of default) | Widest message list. Safe default that does not hide threads based on the last message | Noisier than Exclude campaign msgs |
Messages → Exclude campaign msgs | Optional quieter view that hides appointment reminders, drips, review requests, and other automations | Judges the thread by the last message. A reminder after a patient text can hide the whole row even if the patient’s text is still unread |
Unread | Conversations with an unopened inbound message (also shown by the red badge) | Preview may show a later automated message. Open the thread anyway |
Important | Only conversations marked with the yellow icon | Flag for later review. Does not assign work or add a follow-up date |
Received | Incoming messages | — |
Sent | Outgoing messages | — |
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 | Merging form data into the EHR is a different action |
Message Type | Email, text (SMS), or Audio message | For voicemails: Audio message → Most recent voicemail |
Contact Type | Patients (from the EHR) or Non-patients | Non-patients show a circle with a line through it |
Primary provider | Primary provider on the patient record | Not the provider on a specific appointment |
Tags | Conversations for patients with the selected tag(s) | Click Show Selected Tags to see which tags are active |
Blocked | Contacts blocked under Edit contact info | Blocking is not the same as a patient texting STOP |
The circular Reset Filters icon restores the default: Conversation → Open and Messages → All Messages.
Exclude campaign msgs and the last-message rule
Exclude campaign msgs is an optional working view. It is also the most common reason a real patient text can appear to “vanish” if that filter is active.
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 (and show the red badge).
The preview switches to the reminder.
Exclude campaign msgs can drop the whole row off the list.
The patient’s words are still in the thread, above the reminder.
To find that conversation:
Switch to Unread (or look for the red Unread badge).
If needed, switch to All Messages (or click Reset Filters).
Search the patient by name or phone.
Open the thread and scroll.
Do not refresh or reset filters as the very first step if you are mid-search. See IN2 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.” Use the default Open + All Messages view (or Unread) instead.
Bulk actions
You can update many conversations at once.
To close messages in bulk (quickest way to clear finished work):
Click the Select button in the upper-left of the Inbox.
Choose:
Select current page — checks every message currently visible (based on your Page Size setting), or
Select all — checks every message in the Inbox.
An Actions button appears at the top. Click Actions → Close.
All selected conversations close at the same time.
If you selected the wrong messages, click Select again and choose Unselect.
Tip: For very large Inboxes, work in smaller groups (using Select current page) so the process stays fast. Closing does not delete history or change a patient’s communication preferences or opt-out status.
You can also use the same Select + Actions flow for:
Mark as important / not important
Mark as read / unread
Open
Use bulk Close when cleaning a backlog of finished reminder threads. Use bulk Unread only when a thread was opened by mistake and still needs attention.
Notes
Inbox filters are unique to the Inbox. They are not the same as Saved Filters on reports. The Inbox remembers your last filter selection and has a Reset Filters button that returns the default (Conversation → Open + Messages → All Messages).
If your Inbox does not open on Open + All Messages, click the circular Reset Filters icon. In rare cases a browser update may also be needed (use current Chrome, allow popups/redirects, close and reopen the browser, or restart the computer).