Ocean only supports GSM-7 characters for Text Message Patient Reminders.
If your Text Message Patient Reminder includes non-GSM-7 characters, Ocean cannot send the Text Message reminder. This will result in the 'Message body contains invalid SMS characters' error message in your reminder logs.
No, Ocean will not send reminders for appointments that have been marked as "No Show" in the PS Suite schedule.
If text message reminders are enabled, Ocean will send the text message in either English or French, depending on the patient's preferred language as specified in the EMR. If the patient's preferred language is unspecified in the EMR or is an unsupported language, the text message will be sent in English by default.
The specific field in each EMR that Ocean uses to determine a patient's preferred language for text message reminders is shown below:
For PS Suite, Ocean uses the 'Spoken Language' field to determine the patient's preferred language.
For Med Access, Ocean uses the 'Preferred Language' field to determine the patient's preferred language.
For Accuro, Ocean uses the 'Spoken Language' field to determine the patient's preferred language.
For OSCAR Pro, Ocean uses the 'Spoken' field to determine the patient's preferred language.
An iCal file is a computer file that allows internet users to send meeting invitations to one another over email.
Most often, iCal event times are displayed accurately using the time zone configured in the recipient's email client or device settings. This means that the event times are automatically adjusted by the recipient's email client to reflect the time zone that has been selected in the email client or device settings.
If a patient's email client or device time zone setting is misconfigured (i.e., set to an improper time zone), the iCal time will also be automatically converted into the improper time zone, which can result in confusion for patients.
To prevent confusion, we recommend including Ocean's appointment date and time keywords (@apptDate and @apptTime) in the email body. These keywords pull data directly from your EMR and are not affected by timezones or iCal offsets.
Additionally, you may consider disabling the iCal functionality on each of your Reminder Rules if you find that this issue is occurring frequently.
Med Access has the ability to store multiple contact methods in the Phone List of a patient's chart (e.g. "Personal - Cell", "Work - Cell", "Home - Cell", "Personal - Email", etc).
For Patient Reminders, Ocean will send a text message to the last "Cell" number in the Phone List and send an email to the last email address in the Phone List. If a patient denies text message consent, we recommend storing the mobile number as a different Phone Type 'Group' (e.g. "Home - Phone", "Work - Phone" or "Other").
The image below shows that the last "Cell" number will receive the Text Message Reminder, and that the last email address will receive the email.
Please note that when a patient chart has multiple "Cell" type phone numbers or email addresses, it is important to distinguish the proper phone number and email address which should have patient reminders sent to. This is done within Med Access by specifying the Sequence Number for each contact method as shown below.
Ocean offers several 'canned' reports that can give you insight into how many patients are receiving reminders and confirming or cancelling appointments. They provide record level data for the last 60 days that can be exported for analysis. You can access them by logging into the Ocean Portal, clicking on the "Menu" button in the top left corner and selecting "Admin". From the Admin Settings page, click "Reports".
Under the 'Export Audit Data' heading, the following activity reports are available for Patient Reminders:
Ocean Reminder Sent to Patient - Patients that received a reminder email (whether or not the appointment confirmation feature was enabled)
Ocean Reminder Appointment Confirmed - Patients that confirmed an appointment (only applicable if the Reminder Rule has the 'Appointment Confirmation' setting enabled)
Ocean Reminders cannot be set up against an overdue status of a email/questionnaire or when an appointment is not confirmed. Presently, reminders can only be scoped to appointment-based information -- provider, type, reason, etc. -- as well as certain demographics -- age, gender, etc. To learn more about creating these types of reminder rules, please review Reminder Rules - Using Javascript Conditions.
If a patient meets the criteria for multiple reminder rules, Ocean will send the reminders for each of these rules. Therefore, if two appointments are booked for the patient that day and the clinic has configured a reminder rule for each appointment, the patient will receive two reminders.
Including the reason for visit, appointment date and time (@apptDate, @apptTime) and provider name (@providerName) in the email template will assist the patient to distinguish between the two reminders.
Ocean Reminders can't combine multiple appointment reminders in one email for appointments that fall on the same day.
You can create a different reminder rule for each reminder schedule (e.g. 7, 3 and 1 day before the appointment). This can be helpful for clinics that need to send different reminder email templates (and eForms) a number of days before the patient's appointment.
To review how to create/configure a reminder, please refer to Creating / Configuring Patient Reminders.
Patients will receive all reminders, regardless of whether they have confirmed their appointment. Following the example above, if a patient confirms their appointment at the 7-day reminder, they will still receive the 3-day and 1-day reminder emails.
Ocean eForms offer an easy way to capture consent via email or on tablets. Update any existing consent eForms to collect text message consent. You can easily create a new eForm indicating the use of text messages for patient reminders and include a field for patients to provide or update their mobile number directly in their EMR chart. Ocean offers a core form in the eForm library titled Text Messaging Consent (SMS Consent).
Consent can also be captured verbally with the patient in-person or over the phone.
Clinics collecting consent for text messages can use the Text Messaging Consent (SMS Consent) eForm. Staff can review form submissions and can include text in the comments field of a patients chart such as "smsc" for patients who have consented to receiving text message reminders. Sites can then create a reminder rule to trigger text message reminders only for patients who have provided consent.
ScriptUtil.getKeyword("@ptComments").toLowerCase().includes("smsc")Ocean automatically uses the number in the mobile number field of a patient's chart in your EMR. If a patient refuses text message consent, we recommend storing their mobile number in a different area of their chart to prevent Ocean from sending text messages to that number.
Med Access has the ability to store multiple mobile numbers in the Phone List of a patient's chart (e.g. "Personal - Cell", "Work - Cell", "Home - Cell"). Ocean will send a text message to the first telephone number in the Phone List and email the last email address in the Phone List. If a patient denies text message consent, we recommend storing the mobile number as a different Phone Type 'Group' (e.g. "Home - Phone", "Work - Phone" or "Other").
Patients can easily opt out of receiving text messages from Ocean. Learn more: How can patients opt out of receiving text messages from Ocean?
Yes, Ocean enforces a 320 character limit for Patient Reminders sent via text message.
When configuring a reminder rule to send via both 'Email & Text Message', Ocean automatically calculates the maximum potential number of characters to be included in the text message.
Here are some strategies you can consider to potentially decrease the number of characters to be included in your Text Message:
Text messages sent by Ocean will include the option: "Text END to opt out."
If a patient opts out of receiving text messages through Ocean, their mobile number will automatically be added to a global opt out list. Immediately after opt out, patient's will also have the ability to opt back in.
Please be aware that Ocean will apply all patient opt-outs globally for text message reminders. This means that a patient who opts out of receiving text message reminders from one clinic using Ocean will not receive text message reminders from any other clinics using Ocean.
Patients who have opted out of receiving text messages through Ocean will not generate a per message charge.
Patients must respond to the same phone number they replied with their opt out. If a patient deletes the original opt out message and wants to opt back in or if they have a recycled number that initially opted out, they must opt back in by texting START to (647) 905-9789.
Patient Reminders logs contain a history of every reminder sent to your patients within the past 2 weeks.
Note: You must be an Ocean Administrative User to access Patient Reminder logs.
