Appointment Messaging

Reminders

Reminders reduce no-shows. And automated reminders pay for themselves many times over compared to any other option. Tavoca makes automated reminders easy to use and very affordable. Our system is completely scalable. Whether you do 10 appointments per day or 10,000 per day, our service is your best choice for automated appointment reminders. Here are some of the features of our appointment reminders:

  • Customized, Professionally-Recorded Messages
  • Works with Any Scheduler
  • Messages can be delivered by Telephone, Text and/or Email
  • Easy to Use. Just Two or Three Minutes a Day for Staff
  • Fully Automated Calling and Reporting
  • Your Phone Number is Displayed on Caller ID
  • Multiple Phone Numbers Per Patient Can Be Dialed
  • Flexible Response Options - confirm, cancel, repeat, leave message, etc.
  • HIPAA Compliant
  • Online Reports Always Available
  • Patient Name Is Spoken During Reminder Message
  • Excellent Answering Machine Detection with Machine-specific Messages
  • Flexible Messaging Options - New Patient Message, Fasting, Arrival Times, etc.
  • Point-And-Click Data Uploads or Automated Uploads
  • Report History Online for 13 Months
  • Priced at 5¢ per Appointment for reminder delivery
  • Setup Takes Just a Few Days for Most Clients

No-Shows

Despite your best efforts, No-Shows sometimes happen. Our No-Show Follow Up messaging allows you to contact patients to make certain they know that they missed an appointment. Your message encourages them to contact your office to reschedule, and it can be customized to inform patients about no-show fees when applicable. Some schedulers have no-show reports that can uploaded just like appointment reminder reports. If your scheduler does not have a no-show export option, we offer an online Mark No-Shows tool that is super easy to use. You check the box beside each no-show and click a button to submit for messaging.


Recalls - Annual Exam Due - Wellness Messaging

Appointment Messaging includes the ability to contact patients who are due for an appointment or routine follow up. Most of these messages qualify for the preventative care patient communications aspect of Meaningful Use. If desired, patients can be offered the option to speak to someone immediately during the call. Here is a list of some of the appointment-due messages you might consider:

  • Recalls
  • Annual Exam Due
  • Wellness Program Messages
  • Well-Baby Follow Up
  • Preventative Care Messages
  • Disease Management
  • Post-Visit Patient Satisfaction
  • Yearly Check-Up
  • Liver Panel Screening
  • Pap Exam Due
  • Mammography Due
  • Pre-Visit Lab Reminder

Cancellations & Alerts

Every now and then the need arises to contact patients to let them know their appointment has been canceled and must be rescheduled. We make it fast and easy to deliver emergency notification to some or all patients. We also make it easy to contact patients during the work day whenever one or more providers is running behind schedule and you want to give patients options regarding their delayed appointment. In many cases, we are able to use your existing appointment reminder data to immediately launch cancellation or emergency notice messaging. And, like all other messaging, these too can be delivered via telephone, text or email. This feature is typically used in these situations:

  • Possible Weather Closing
  • Weather-related Closing
  • Weather-related Delayed Opening
  • Weather-related Closing Early
  • Unexpected Provider Absence
  • Planned Future Provider Absence
  • Building Emergency
  • Delayed Same-Day Appointment
  • Partial-Day Cancellation
  • Alternative Location Alert

Balance Due

Sometimes accounts go unpaid. You can use our Balance Due messaging to gently and professionally remind patients of their financial obligations. Most practice management software packages include reports that can be uploaded to Tavoca to generate phone, text, and/or email messages to your clients regarding their balances. Here are highlights of Balance Due messaging:

  • Messages include custom content based on severity of delinquency
  • Balance can be included or omitted in message delivery
  • Text and Email can include links to online payment options
  • Telephone calls can include an option to speak to billing office immediately
  • Balance Due messages add to your total Appointment Messaging volume for better cost discounts
  • Appointment Reminders can include a mention of Balance Due also

Telephone - Text - Email Messaging

Tavoca provides flexible message delivery options that include telephone, text and email messages. When you choose more than one delivery method, our system elegantly handles messaging delivery so that your patient is not bombarded with multiple messages all at once. For example, if you use all three methods, we typically send the email first, then we wait for a response to the email. After a reasonable delay, we will next send a text, and again wait for a response. If there is no response to the text, we begin telephone delivery. Once the patient responds to a message, that prevents other delivery methods from occurring. All of our delivery methods include highly customized scheduling and timing options that are adjusted to meet your preferences. Here are some of the more important features of each delivery method:

Telephone Messaging Features
  • Caller ID is controlled on every call - your desired number is displayed
  • Up to 10 dial attempts are included at no additional fee
  • Number of dial attempts is set to your preference
  • Number of dials per day is set to your preference
  • We will dial up to four different telephone numbers per patient
  • Option to speak to someone immediately during calls can be enabled
  • All telephone calls are recorded and can be quickly reviewed online
  • Every dial attempt and the result of each attempt is documented
  • Online Do Not Contact feature allows you to set individual preferences
Text Messaging Features
  • Our system automatically detects wireless telephone numbers in any phone field
  • Patients receive text opt-in notifications the first time their wireless number is detected
  • Texting content is dynamically generated and includes optional information such as Provider, Location, Office Phone Number, instructions, etc.
  • Opt-out is controlled by STOP replies or using online Do Not Contact controls
  • Received text messages that require review are marked for review and alerts are sent to selected staff members
  • Text message delivery times are scheduled based on your preference
Email Messaging Features
  • Response links allow confirm, cancel, reschedule and other options
  • Map links and directions are included if desired
  • Add-to-calendar option is included
  • Email delivery time is based on your preference
  • Our system automatically recognizes a new email address and sends appropriate opt-in email
  • Email opt-out is controllable by the patient and/or by the clinic staff

Completely Customized Setup

Setup involves the creation of your recorded messages as well as a data interface. Here are highlights of those processes: Messaging setup includes professionally recorded messages in the language(s) of your choice. The content of the messages is fully customized to include exactly what you want your patients to hear. We provide examples and guidance during setup to make the message creation process as easy as possible for you. The data interface setup is typically handled by our technicians.

Message Setup
  • The wording of your messages is completely customized
  • Messages are professionally recorded in the language(s) of your choice
  • Recordings include provider names, locations, address, business name, instructions and more
  • English message setup is $50 for up to ten departments or locations
  • Non-English setup is $100 per language
Data Interface Setup
  • Our technicians handle almost all of the data interface setup
  • Many scheduling applications can be automated to send data to us
  • We accept nearly any data format
  • Point-and-click data export and upload takes just 2 minutes per day
  • We provide training as needed for data uploads
  • We are very flexible with regard to the layout of data files. We have no set requirements
  • You can upload from multiple software packages if required - we will develop as many interfaces as necessary
  • We will develop uploads for various data sources, such as appointments, recalls, balance due reports, etc.

Reports

Tavoca offers robust and easy-to-use reports. Here are just a few highlights of our reports:

  • Report data is available online for 13 months
  • Reports are updated real-time as messages are delivered and responses are received
  • Filtering options include date range, message types, provider, and location
  • Multi-level sorting
  • Users/logins can be pre-filtered for specific providers or locations
  • Report data can be downloaded to CSV format
  • Each user can select which columns to include and the order of columns
  • Drill-down is point-and-click with full delivery details viewable for every message

Meaningful Use

Reminding your patients about annual exams and other preventative measures is important for the patient and for your ongoing success. Tavoca offers several reminder options, including telephone, text, and email messaging to accompish patient communications that meets Meaningful Use criteria. Many scheduling systems include a "recall" option that you might already be using. If you are using a Recall system, we can work with you to develop automated Recall messaging using your data. If you don't have a Recall system, we can use historical appointment data along with future scheduled appointments to identify patients that have not had certain types of appointments within the last twelve months. Regardless of how we get the necessary data, we will setup your Recall messaging at no charge.