Reminder

Complete

This screen allows you to view/edit the details for each Reminder Type.  For general information on the Reminder system, see Concepts|Reminders. See also Stopper Reminders below.

The fields are as follows:
Reminder Type - its name
Description - you can use this to clarify the type of reminder
Active - uncheck the box to deactivate the Reminder Type
Group - check this box if you want multiple reminders to the one customer to only generate one reminder letter.  See also the Grouped Reminders discussion below.
Interactive - check this box if you want confirmation when this type of reminder is generated as a result of using a product to which the reminder is attached (such as a vaccination). Note that this sets the default setting of the Interactive flag for this reminder. However, each product that uses this reminder can have its own setting of the Interactive flag.  Specifically, this means that if you have existing products using this reminder, then altering the Interactive setting here will have no effect - you will have to go and set the Interactive flag as required for each product that uses this reminder.
Reminder Interval - the number of 'Interval Units' from the time that the reminder is created until it is due
Interval Units - you can set this to years, months, weeks or days
Cancel Interval - the number of 'Cancel Units' after a reminder is due that it is automatically cancelled. This should be set to be a little more than the Overdue Interval set for the "last" template that you have - ie the one with the highest Sent Count. If you set it less than the last Overdue Interval, then the reminder will be cancelled before all the reminders that you planned have been sent.
Cancel Units - you can set this to none, years, months, weeks or days
Sensitivity Interval - the number of 'Sensitivity Units' that determines the colour of the reminder when displayed on the Patient Information & Medical records screens when you click the Reminders bell icon in the left panel. It shows as follows:

If a given reminder has a sensitivity period of two weeks,  then up until two weeks before the reminder is due, it will be shown in green; in the two weeks prior to and after the due date, it will be shown in orange; and after two weeks after the reminder date, it will be shown in red.
Sensitivity Units - you can set this to none, years, months, weeks or days

Templates tab - this is used to display and edit the Document Template to be used when printing reminders of this type. You should have at least one template defined. You can set up multiple templates so that different reminder notices are generated for the initial reminder and first, second, etc overdue notices. (If you don't have any templates, then when the reminders are processed using Reporting|Reminders, any reminders of this type will be skipped and nothing can be sent to the customer.  However, the reminder is displayed in the Patients|Medical Records screen, and thus does function as an aide-memoire to clinicians and staff.) The fields are as follows:
Document Template - enter the name of template or use the binoculars to search for one. Note that the template that you specify must have its Type (see Templates|Edit) set to Patient Letter, unless you have checked Group (see above) in which case it must be set to Grouped Reminders. If you tick the List box (see below), then the document template will not be used, but you still must specify a template.
Reminder Count - this is the reminder number, 0 for the initial one, 1 for the second etc.
Overdue Interval and Overdue Units - these set the times between the initial and following reminders. The Interval should be set to zero for the initial (Reminder Count 0) template, and increasing intervals for the second, third etc.
List - if this box is ticked then no individual reminder notice is generated, but instead the customer and patient details are printed on a list
Export - this can be used if reminder mailouts are handled via a third party. When ticked, customers that want reminders mailed will have their details exported to a file during reminder processing using Reporting|Reminders. See here for details of the export format.
SMS - this can be used to specify that reminders should be sent via SMS, if customers have a phone contact with 'Allow SMS' ticked. If a customer doesn't have an SMS contact, then reminders are sent using their default reminder contact.

A typical template setup might have these entries:

  1. Reminder Count: 0   Overdue: 0 days  Document: Vaccination reminder - First   List: unchecked
  2. Reminder Count: 1   Overdue: 30 days  Document:  Vaccination reminder - Second  List: unchecked
  3. Reminder Count: 2   Overdue: 60 days  Document:  Vaccination reminder - Second  List: checked

This will send a first reminder letter on the due date of the initial reminder, a second reminder 30 days after the due date of the initial reminder and then print the reminder details on a report 60 days after the due date of the initial reminder.  The latter will show up with Action 'List' in the Reporting|Reminders screen.  The two former ones will show up as Post or Email dependent on the customers preferred mode of communication.  Note that for the above (with Reminder Count 2 overdue at 60 days), a Cancel Interval of say 90 days would be appropriate.

Species tab - this is used to display and edit the species to which this reminder can apply. You don't have to use this facility. It is only needed if you want to ensure that species specific reminders are applied only to the relevant species. To adjust, click the species in the Available or Selected box and then click the > or < button respectively.

Groups tab - this is used to display and edit the group(s) to which this reminder belongs. To adjust, click the group in the Available or Selected box and then click the > or < button respectively.
You don't have to use this facility. It is only needed if you want to group reminders so that generating reminder B will complete an existing reminder A. Use Administration|Lookups|Reminder Groups to create a group names say G, and the use the Groups Tab to make both reminders A and B members of group G.

 

"Stopper" Reminders
You may want to create a special reminder whose purpose is simply to complete other reminders. Consider the following:

Senario - have a new puppy and so manually create Desex reminder for 4 months forward. When we do the actual Desex operation we want this reminder to disappear, but with no creation of any future reminder.

Solution:

  • create a reminder group called say Desex-G
  • create the Desex reminder as normal, but with group Desex-G
  • create Desex-Complete reminder with a zero Interval and zero Cancel Interval, and also set the group Desex-G
  • for all desex products, set the reminder type as 'Desex-Complete'

Now when we invoice the Desex operation, a new Desex-Complete reminder will be created. This will complete the original Desex reminder.

Grouped Reminders processing

If a customer has multiple reminders of types that have the Group box ticked, then these, irrespective of the Document Template specified for the applicable reminder count, will use the Document Template that has Type 'Grouped Reminders' - PROVIDED that the action is Post or Email.  Consider the following, and assume that the action is Post in all 4 cases:

If both the G6 and Proheart reminder types have their Group box ticked, then one document will generated for Sir Humphry; it will be generated using the Grouped Reminders Document Template, and it will list the 4 reminders shown.

If only the G6 reminder type has the Group box ticked, then 3 documents will be printed: one Grouped Reminder for the G6 vaccinations showing both Dotty and Twiglet, and two Proheart reminders, one for Dotty and one for Twiglet, generated using the Document template specified for the reminder count.  If Twiglet did not have a G6 vaccination due, then there would still be 3 documents, with the Grouped Reminder being replaced by a G6 vaccination reminder letter for Dotty.

That is, if the Group boxes are ticked, then the Grouped Reminder Document Template will be used - but ONLY IF there are multiple reminders.  If the customer only has one reminder (and thus there is no need to group them) then the Document Template used is that specified in the Reminder Type's Templates tab for the applicable reminder count.

Note that there should only be a single Document Template of Type 'Grouped Reminders' available - either because there is only one in the system, or a single one is specified in the Practice Location or Practice Templates tab.

A sample Grouped Reminders document template is included in the standard system.  It will need tailoring for your practice.