Glossary

A

Advanced Settings

A group of settings found on the Settings tab in the left hand column used in customizing systems with available features to be used by advanced users. Also used as a sub-group within Advanced Settings with even more advanced features.

Alerts

An area on the Homepage where notifications appear informing you of new inbound messaging, the need to allow your browser to allow popups, or enable/disable the audio notification.

All Patients

A feature in Communication Center that allows you to search for all active patients to be able to send an email blast.

Appointment Confirmations

The area on the Homepage that a patient reply by email, SMS, or voice to a confirmation request will appear.

Appointment Type

The name of the service offerred to the patient as found in your PMS. An Appointment Type must be enabled within an appointment related message to trigger an automated notification.

Archives

A screen showing a record of all inbound messaging. Access by going to History>Archives.

Audio Notification

When enabled, and logged into Patient Communicator, an sound will be made whenever a new message has arrived.

Auto-fill

The ability to read a keyword and insert the appropriate data such as patient name, appointment date, etc.

Automated Notification

A message which is sent automatically to patients after being enabled.

B

Birthdays

A notification that, when enabled, will send a birthday greeting to your patient on their birthday.

Blacklist

Enabling the Blacklist feature within Patient Details will prevent the patient from scheduling an online appointment.

Browser

A web browser is a software application for accessing information on the World Wide Web. Popular browsers include Chrome, Firefix, Internet Explorer, Edge, and Safari.

C

Caller ID

The name received by the patient showing the sender of a voice message.

Closed Days

A feature that allows your practice to stop messages and not allow appointment scheduling for the selected day.

Communication Center

A screen which allows you to manually send email, text, and voice messages to patients based on search by appointment date, random search by name, recall date, or all patients.

Confirmation Method

How the patient's appointment was confirmed. An icon in Patient Communicator shows if an appointment was confirmed in the PMS, or by email, SMS, voice call, or manually confirmed within Patient Communicator.

Confirmation Request

A confirmation Request is the notification sent to a patient asking them to confirm an upcoming appointment. You are asking the patient to respond.

Confirmations

A notification that, when enabled, will send a request to your patient asking him or her to reply and confirm an upcoming appointment.

Confirmed

Your patient has notified the practice that he or she is coming to their appointment and the status of the patient has been changed from "unconfirmed" to "confirmed".

Continuing Care

A notification to patients reminding them that they are due/overdue for a periodic appointment. Notifications are sent based on settings within Patint Communicator.

CSV Format

When saving an Excel sheet, there will always be an option to name the sheet and also choose a format. Select CSV to save in CSV format.

Customer Support

support@mypatientcommunicator.com 888-512-3452

D

Day of Appt Reminder

A notification that, when enabled, will send a notification to your patient on the day of a scheduled appointment. Topics are unlimited, but may include review request, Thank You, or medication reminder.

Default View

The screen that appears when a screen, tab, or feature is opened.

Direct

Email and SMS template files used to used to store send general themed templates to patients.

Disable

Turn a feature or feature aspect off.

E

Early Reminders

A notification that, when enabled, will send a reminder to your patient about an upcoming appointment.

Email & SMS Templates

An option found in either Settings>Message Settings or Settings>Family Message Settings in the left hand column used to edit or create new email and SMS templates

Email Widgets, Review and Surveys

Contains the information you need to autofil keywords in outbound email messaging. It's found in the Settings tab within General Settings.

Enable

Turn a feature or feature aspect on.

Enabled

A notification or feature that's been turned on.

Eyewear Ready

A notification that, when enabled, will send a notification to your patient when their contacts or glasses are ready to be picked up.

F

Family Messaging

The feature that allows members of the same family with appointments on the same day to receive just 1 reminder or confirmation for all appointments. The message is sent to the guarantor (head of household).

Find Us

A widget appearing in outbound emails to patients which, when clicked will show patients your location on Google Maps.

G

General Settings

A group of settings found on the Settings tab in the left hand column used in setting up all systems and used by most practices.

Guarantor

The person responsible for payment. Sometimes called Head of Household within the PMS.

H

History tab

A screen showing a record of all outbound messaging.

Homepage

The main window of Patient Communicator opened when you access Patient Communicator.

I

Installed

When our software has been loaded and conected to your Practice Management System.

K

Keyword

A code used within email, SMS, and voice messaging to enable the automatic filling of information such as patient name, appointment date, and practice name. A key Word is recognized by the % at the beginning and end of the keyword term. ex %PracticeName%

L

Link

A URL address.

Linking

When a new patient has requested an appointment using the OLS, linking conects the new patient in Patient Communicator to the new patient of record you've created in your PMS.

Local Server

The physical machine where your Practice Management System files are located. Different from a work station that accesses the PMS files.

M

Message Delivery Method

How a message will be sent to the patient. Options may include email, SMS, and/or voice.

Message Settings

A group of settings found on the Settings tab in the left hand column used in creating/editing notifications and accessing all template files (except Family Messaging templates).

N

No-Show

A patient who fails to come for their appointment without canceling.

O

Office Settings

Contains the information you need to send and receive email and SMS messaging. It's found in the Settings tab within General Settings.

Offline

When Patient Communicator is not connected to your PMS due to an internet issue, the server being off, or some other issue.

OLS

Short for Online Scheduler

OLS Patient Site

The website your patient will access to schedule an appointment online.

On-boarding Setup

The way Patient Communicator has been setup in the training with Support staff or by using the Express Wizard.

Online Appointment Types

A setting found in Settings>Online Scheduler Settings in the left hand column used to set up the appointment types patients will see while using the OLS feature.

Online Appointments

An area on the Homepage which displays appointments made by patients using the Online Scheduler.

Online Patients

A setting found in Settings>Online Scheduler Settings in the left hand column used to create a link between a new patient who has requested an appointment using the OLS where Patient Communicator hasn't created a new patient of record within the PMS.

Online Scheduler

A feature that allows patients to schedule their appointments online. They are directed to the scheduling site by a link in outbound messages to the patient or by a link inserted into a website.

Online Scheduler Patient Site

If you've set up and enabled the Online Scheduler, your patients are able to schedule/request their appointments online.

Online Scheduler Settings

A group of settings found on the Settings tab in the left hand column used to set up the Online Scheduler (OLS) used by patients to schedule appointments online. Also a sub-group of Online Scheduler Settings used in selecting preferences for this feature.

Opt Out

Usually referring to the patient's ability to decide to not receive messages of a specific method such as email, sms, or voice call to the home phone.

Order Status

A field in your PMS indicating the stage the patient's eyewear order is at.

P

Patient Details

A screen that will show important patient communication information, allow patients to be opted of out messaging, assign patient tags, or blacklist a patient.

Patient Search Box

An area on the Homepage, Patients tab, and Settings tab. Entering information such as name, patient ID, phone number, or email address will direct you to Patient Details for that patient.

Patient Status

A feature found in Settings>Advanced Settings in the left hand column used to determine the amount of active patients Patient Communicator sees in your PMS and how many patients have valid email and cell phone contact information.

Patient Tags

A feature found in Settings>Advanced Settings in the left hand column used to create a group of patients to either include or exclude from messaging.

PMS

Short for Practice Management System

Popup

A small message that appears on your screen informing you that a new text message, appointment confirmation, or online appointment has arrived to your Homepage.

Popup Settings

A setting found in Settings>Advanced Settings in the left hand column used to enable or disable the ability to receive popup notifications or change the properties of the popup.

Pre/Post Appt Message

A notification that, when enabled, will send a notification to your patient before or after a scheduled appointment. Topics are unlimited, but may include review request, Thank You, or medication reminder.

Preview

The ability to view scheduled messages to be sent by clicking the Preview or Save and Preview buttons on the message notification window.

Promotions

An email template file used to store promotional templates.

Provider

The name of the person offerring services. A provider must be enabled within an appointment related message to trigger an automated notification.

Provider Hours

A setting found in Settings>Online Scheduler Settings in the left hand column used to set up the providers and available hours patients will see while using the OLS feature.

R

Recall

A notification to patients reminding them that they are due/overdue for a periodic appointment. Notifications are sent based on the setup of the Practice Management System.

Recall Backlog

A feature in Communication Center that allows a search for patients by previous appointment by filtering by provider and appointment type within the time range you select. Patients can then be sent a message.

Recall Wizard

A feature in Communication Center that allows a search for patients who are/were due for a recall appointment within the time range you select. Patients can then be sent a message.

Refer a Friend

A widget appearing on outbound emails which allows patients to refer your practice to the friend.

Refresh PMS Data

Upload added providers or appointment types to Patient Communicator to be able to use in enabled notifications.

Reminder

A notification to patients reminding them of an upcoming appointment. No response from the patient is requested.

S

Same Day Reminders

A notification that, when enabled, will send a reminder to your patient about an upcoming appointment on that day.

Seasonal Greetings

Email and SMS template files used to store templates for holiday greetings.

Send Later

A feature of the Communication Center which allows messaging to be set up and sent at a future time.

Send Messages Manually

A feature found in Settings>Advanced Settings in the left hand column used to manually send enabled automated notifications.

Server

When we use the word server, we refer to the machine that Patient Communicator has been installed on. It's the same machine your Practice Management System files are located. It may also refer to the cloud server if your practice has opted for this arrangement with the Practice Management provider.

SMS

Short for Short Messaging Service. Our text messages are SMS and are limited to 160 characters, including spacing and punctuation. We use the number in your PMS mobile phone field when sending an SMS text.

SMS Inbox

The area on the Homepage that patient text messages to the practice appear (other than replies to confirmation requests).

T

Template

A screen showing the editable content of an email, sms, or voice message. This is the message sent to the patient.

Today's Schedule

An area on the Homepage that will direct you to todays appointment schedule (Schedule Breakdown) by clicking the link .

Today's Stats

An area on the Homepage where today's messaging activity may be viewed.

Tomorrow's Schedule

An area on the Homepage that will direct you to unconfirmed appointments in tomorrow's appointment schedule (Unconfirmed Breakdown) by clicking the link .

U

Unconfirmed

Unconfirmed is the appointment status of a patient who has not acknowledged that he or she is coming for the scheduled appointment.

Uninstall

Removing our software from your server.

Upload CSV

A feature in the Communication Center that allows patients to be messaged from the upload of an Excel sheet in CSV format.

URL

The web address found in the address bar of a browser directing the user to a specific website/location on the internet.

V

Voice Settings

A setting found in Settings>Advanced Settings in the left hand column used to change delivery days of voice messages throughout Patient Communicator.

Voice Templates

An option found in either Settings>Message Settings or Settings>Family Message Settings in the left hand column used to edit or create new voice templates.

W

Waitlist Requests

An area on the Homepage showing patients who have added their name to be waitlisted while using the Online Scheduler.

Widget

A button that, when pressed, will redirect the user to another place.

Write Back

When Patient Communicator writes data from Patient Communicator to your PMS. This is usually used in reference to confirmed appointments by patients and appointments scheluled by patients using the Online Scheduler. Most PMS's have write back ability, but not all.