i-Clarity recalls can be separated into three sections: schemes, stages, and communications. The function of the recall schemes is to manage the expiry date of the patient’s prescription and when the patient is due for another appointment. Stages manage the time intervals of the patient’s reminders. Communications allow you to individualise your reminders to different groups of patients and manage the order of your communication type preferences.

This article looks at Recall Communications.

The communication defines the content of the recall the patient receives and how they receive the recall. It also allows you to breakdown each communication stage into age groups so that you can send different content to each group in different ways.
In the maintenance module, go to the Recall Communications tab.

1. Select the recall scheme you want to add communications to, from the dropdown list.
   
   
   
2. Fill in the boxes in the first column
   
   
   
   1. Select the Stage you want to add communications to from the dropdown list
      
      
      
   2. Enter the name of the communication in the next box down. We recommend “Scheme name, stage number, age, communication type” E.g. 3-month, stage 1, U16, Email. To make attaching content easier later.
      
      
      
   3. If you want to divide the stage into different age groups, you can put the maximum age of the group in this next box down.
      
      
      
   4. When sending recall letters i-Clarity will always send by your chosen mode of communication. Because your chosen mode of communication may not be suitable for all of your patients, E.g. if you choose email and not all of your patients have an email address, you can choose multiple types of communication and order them by preference. i-Clarity will look to see if a recall can be sent by the type marked as preference 1, if that type of communication is not available for a patient i-Clarity will look to see if the recall can be sent by the type marked as preference 2 and so on.
      Please note Please make sure that each stage includes a letter or telephone communication. If you only have email and/or SMS set up and a patient doesn’t have an email address or mobile telephone number they will NOT receive a recall, nor will they be moved to the next stage of communications and so their recall will be lost.
      
      
   5. The contents box depends on the communication type. This is explained in more detail further down the document. The content can be added in after the communication has been added.
      
      
3. Move across to the second column of information to fill in.
   
   
   1. Add any notes to the top box.
      
      
      
   2. You can type the email subject in the next box down, if your communication is to be an email.
      
      
      
   3. If this communication is not expected to generate appointment bookings, you can tick this marketing box. This stops the communication being included in the recall response report. E.g. If you are setting up a specs collected recall.
      
      
      
   4. Select the communication type from the dropdown list.
      
      
      Choose “Email” if you are using i-Clarity email services.
      Choose “Export” if you are using a mailing/email/text service outside of i-Clarity and you need a list of patient communication details.
      Choose “Letter” if you print the letters in practice or are using the i-Clarity mailing service.
      Choose “Phone” if you want to make a phone call. The recalls assigned as phone will appear in your task list as a task.
      Choose “SMS” if you are using the i-Clarity SMS service.
      
      
4. Click add.

Add content to your communications

Once your communication has been added you can add the content.

If you have added lots of communications, you can filter the lists to make the lists more manageable.

1. You can first select the recall scheme you would like to work on
   
   
   
2. And filter by stage number, age, and communication preference by checking the box the filter you would like to use and selecting from the dropdown list or typing in the box
   
   E.g. you may choose to update all 12 months recall scheme communications that are preference 1, then move on to the preference 2. This will keep your lists very short and avoid confusion.
   
   
3. To add your content double click on the empty contents box (shown below in blue) of the communication you are editing. This will open a different window depending on what communication type is selected.
   

Email

If your communication type is an email the following window will open where you can fill in your email subject and email body.

If you want to add personal information in the subject line you can add merge fields by clicking on the “Add Merge Field” button next to the subject line and double click on the required merge field.

Please note: this merge field button only works for the subject line. To insert merge fields in the body of the text use the “Add Merge Feld” button at the bottom of the window.

You can add links to your email by clicking on “insert” then “link”. This will open a new window.

You can add merge fields to the body of your email by clicking on this add merge field button and dragging the appropriate field across to the main body of the email.

SMS

If the communication type is an SMS, the following window will open where you can enter the body of the text message. 

To insert merge fields, click on this “Select Merge Field” button. Double click on the desired merge field

Phone

If the communication type is phone you can type directly into the contents box. The text that you put in here is what will appear in the action list to prompt the telephone recall.

Letter

Type the file name of the document, including the file extension, directly into the contents box. You can find the file name by following these steps:

Open the file location but do not open the document. Right click on the document name and select properties from the context menu that appears.

The file name is made up of the name and the file extension. This example would be 'Test Recall.docx'