Text messaging is one of the most effective ways for healthcare organizations to communicate with their patients. BloomText offers a Solution to help you leverage SMS Messaging while compliying with HIPAA Security & Privacy policies.
With BloomText SMS Messaging, you can accomplish the following goals:
- Reduce the time spent communicating with patients
- Increase patient satisfication
- Decrease patient no-shows
Check out the video below for a full overview of this feature.
This guide picks up where the video left off, and shows you how you can get started messaging your patients.
Sections in this article
- Upgrade to a Paid Plan
- Selecting a phone number
- Add patients to BloomText
- Sending a message
- Broadcast a message
- Conclusion
Upgrade to a Paid Plan
SMS Messaging requires a paid plan. You can upgrade to a paid plan at any time by following these steps:
- If you haven’t already create an orgnization on BloomText via the registration page.
- Upgrade to a SMS Messaging plan via the plans page.
You can find the plans page by selecting the settings button in the lower left-hand corner of the BloomText web or desktop application, selecing your organization, and then Plan.
Please note that you must be an admin in order to access this page.
To learn more about the pricing for BloomText SMS Messaging, you can visit the article here.
Selecting a phone number
After upgrading, BloomText will ask you to select a phone number for your organization. We recommend selecting a phone number with a local area code.
Alternatively, you can ask the BloomText support team to utilize your organization’s exiting phone number. You can begin this process by reaching out to a BloomText representative via our email address at support@bloomtext.com.
Please note that not all phone numbers are eligible for this option.
Assigning coworkers to a phone number
In BloomText, your phone number is linked to a team. You can control which users have access to your phone number by adding or removing them from that team.
Users with access to your phone number will be able to message patients, as well as view all existing patient conversations linked to that phone number.
Add patients to BloomText
Before you can message a patient, you need to add them to BloomText. There are multiple ways to add a patient to BloomText:
- Through the directory tab
- The create conversation box
- By importing a CSV file
Adding via the Directory tab
To add a patient via the BloomText directory, navigate to the directory section, select the patients tab, and then click the create new button.
When adding a patient, you can optionally include the following details:
- Date of birth (DOB)
- MRN number (MRN)
- First & Last name
- Email address
- Phone number
Create a conversation
You can also add a patient through the Create Conversation dialogue by typing in their phone number or email address and selecting “patient.”
Sending a message
In BloomText, there are three options for sending a patient a message: secure SMS, normal SMS, and secure email. Each option has it’s own strengths, discussed below.
Send a normal SMS
Use the normal SMS option when sending messages that don’t contain any protected health information (PHI), such as appointment reminders. With this option, the patient simply receives a text message from your organization’s phone number.
Send a secure SMS
You should use the “secure” option when you know your message will contain Patient Health Information (PHI). With this option, the patient will receive a message containing a link. Clicking the link will redirect them to a secure portal where they can view documents, and respond to your messages.
Send a secure email
Sometimes, a patient prefers to receive their messages via email. If you included the patient’s email address in their profile and selected the “secure” message option when creating a conversation, the patient will receive a secure email that will direct them to the same messaging portal as shown above.
Know when a patient views the message
When a patient clicks on a link to view a secure conversation, you will see their profile icon appear below the message they viewed. This allows you to confirm that a patient received a message.
Viewing & auditing patient conversations
In BloomText, you can adjust your inbox so that you are only viewing conversations related to your phone number. To do this, click on the inbox icon and switch to the team associated with your phone number.
Broadcast a message
BloomText also allows you to broadcast a message to a group of patients all at the same time. To get started with this feature, visit the guide via the link here.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading about BloomText SMS Messaging. If you have additional questions about this feature, you can send us a message here.