This is where you can set up any kind of communication other than a recall. You will need to create a sample merge file to set up your documents with the correct merge fields.

Mail-merge “placeholders” will enable patient’s details to be mail merged into your document. To begin this process, you need to export a sample mail merge file from i-Clarity to use in your document.

1. Log in to i-Clarity and go to the “further details” tab in patient records.
   
   
   
2. Click on the “Create Sample Merge Files” button at the bottom of the page.
   
   
   
3. Take a note of the file path that the file has saved to from the pop-up message
   
   
   
4. Go to your word document that contains your letter, click on “mailings” in the top bar (underlined below in blue).
   
   
   
5. Click “select recipients” from the ribbon that appears and then “use existing list”.
   
   
6. Find the file using the file path you noted from step 3. Select the merge file you are working on. Either RecallSampleMerge for recall letters or AdhocSampleMerge for ad hoc communication. Then click open.
   
   
   
7. This will open a new window. Click OK.
   
8. In “mailings” go to “insert merge fields” and select the field you want from the list.
   
   
   
9. Once you have inserted all the information you can save your document. If you have not already done so, make sure that the document is in the correct folder depending on the file path set out in the branches tab.
   

Once you have set up any word documents you need you can add them to i-Clarity in the Ad Hoc Comms tab of Maintenance.

Fill in the boxes at the bottom of the page from left to right.

1. Type communication name in the first box.
   
   
2. The next box is the contents box. 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. Select the tick box for where you would like to communication to be accessible from.
   1. Mktg This will allow the document to be sent from the Marketing module.
   2. Px This will make the document available from the send note button in patient records.
   3. Rx This will make the documents available from the prescription module
   4. CL This will make the documents available from the contact lens module
      
      
4. Choose what you would like to happen when a word document is generated. If you do not select either of these options, the word document will open and merge the patient details and you can choose what to do with it from there.
   1. Print If this box is ticked, when you open the document, it will automatically send to print. This is useful for things such as GOS forms.
   2. Save This will trigger the document to automatically save to patient files. If it is something that needs to be edited, such as a Dr referral letter, it can be opened and re-saved from within i-Clarity
      
      
5. Select the communication type from the dropdown list.
   1. Choose “Email” if you are using i-Clarity email services.
   2. Choose “Export” if you are using a mailing/email/text service outside of i-Clarity and you need a list of patient communication details.
   3. Choose “Letter” if you print the letters in practice or are using the i-Clarity mailing service.
   4. Choose “Phone” if you want to make a phone call. The recalls assigned as phone will appear in your task list as a task.
   5. Choose “SMS” if you are using the i-Clarity SMS service.
      
      
6. If the communication is specific to one branch you can select that branch from the dropdown list.
   
   
7. Click add.

Adding content to your ad-hoc communications

To add your content double click on the empty contents box 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'