Ditch the Read/Unread Drama—Go for "Closed" Like a Boss!
Picture your inbox as a pile of support tickets at a tech company. Instead of that finicky Read/Unread system (which is basically a recipe for "Oops, I read it but forgot to mark it as unread!"), messages stay open until they're fully handled and *closed*. Why is this a game-changer?
No More Accidental Mix-Ups: Ever had a colleague glance at a message, mark it Read by mistake, and leave everyone else thinking it's done? With a helpdesk approach, nothing gets "read" out of existence—it's either an open ticket waiting for action or closed once resolved. Simple, foolproof, and zero finger-pointing!
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Multiple staff? No problem! Add a tag to a patient to assign it to a specific team member and then filter the Inbox by Tags and track progress in real-time.
How to get started?
Clean up your open conversations
Select all messages > actions > close
Anatomy of the inbox:
Conversations (open is default)
Messages - exclude campaign messags
Close message
Unread messages
When more than one person is checking the inbox, treating it like your personal email doesn’t work.
If a team member opens a patient message but doesn’t handle it right away, you’d have to mark it unread. If you forget, the message gets lost. That’s why we use the “close message” step—it ensures nothing slips through the cracks.
If a patient reaches out for an appointment → keep the conversation open until it’s scheduled.
If they ask about times → reply, but leave it open until they confirm.
If there’s a voicemail → leave it open until you’ve responded.
At the end of your shift, your goal is an empty inbox.
We also recommend turning on “exclude campaign messages”. This filters out reminders, marketing campaigns, and automated texts that don’t require action—so your inbox only shows what matters.
See video below for more details:
Inbox Filters – How to Use Them
Conversation – Sort messages by Open or Closed. Use this to archive messages once they’re handled.
Messages – Turn on Exclude Campaign Messages to hide appointment reminders and marketing blasts so you only see what needs action. Or choose All Messages to see everything.
Important – Shows only messages marked as “important” for review later.
Unread – Displays only unread messages.
Received – Shows incoming messages.
Sent – Shows outgoing messages.
Scheduled – Displays messages scheduled to send in the future.
Intake Forms – Filter by completed or incomplete intake forms.
Message Type – Filter by type: Email, SMS text, or Audio message.
Contact Type – Sort by patients (from your EHR/EMR) or non-patients (new inquiries).
Primary Provider – Filter by the provider assigned to that patient.
Tags – View messages by tag. Click Show Selected Tags to see which tags are active.
How to Text (SMS) or Email an individual patient
You can send messages directly from the inbox, or in the patient card.
From inbox:
To send a new text (SMS) or email to an individual patient or non-patient, click on the "Add Message" button.
Select Patient or Non - patient
Enter their full name and select the patient from the drop down list.
Select Text (SMS) or Email.
Select Canned reply to use one of the standard, built-in messages or:
Enter your own custom message.
Click on the airplane icon to send your message immediately, or select the arrow and Scheduled send to set a time for the message to be sent.
NOTE: When sending a message to a Non-patient you will be asked to add their First and Last Name, Cell Phone # and Email address.
Scheduling a message
Using Scheduled send is great when you want to send a message to a patient at a later date, for example; if they are out of town, you can schedule the message to send for their return date.
You can see all of your scheduled messages by clicking on the "Scheduled" inbox filter.
You can use one of the pre-set schedule options or your own custom date and time:
Bulk update inbox
Lead Follow Up
Leads could be someone who filled out a form to schedule online, but did not pick a time
It could be an inbound inquiry from your website or over the phone
They will have an '!' to indicate they are not a patient from your inbox
You may choose to manage these with the IMPORTANT marker from the inbox or use the ADD TO FOLLOW UP
Add to follow up will allow you to easily make notes and set follow up dates
Important, only allows you to flag them for later
Voicemails
Check Your Voicemails Efficiently
With the Missed Call - Text Back - Voicemail feature, your missed calls are logged here with:
Transcribed messages for quick review
Audio recordings for reference
Caller information displayed clearly, so you don’t have to interpret it from the voicemail
Easily respond via text or email directly from the interface. You can also sort by the most recent message by selecting Message Type > Audio Message for faster follow-up.
This feature streamlines communication, saving you time and improving patient engagement.
