Using NexHealth's Appointment Journeys, you can build a fully customized journey for any appointment type. This article illustrates an example using extractions.
The process of building a complete Appointment Journey includes 4 primary steps:
- Capturing all Extraction appointments and tracking the procedure codes
- Building Reminders for extractions
- Building an automated Post Appointment Follow-up sequence
- Building a custom recall sequence to book follow-ups
Step 1: Capturing all Extraction appointments and tracking the procedure codes
1. Navigate to Setup and select Appointment Types
2. Create an Extraction Appointment Type.
Name: This field is patient facing, so we recommend naming it in laymen's terms. Ex: Extraction instead of D7140
Show in online booking: Leave toggled on if you would like patients to be able to book this appointment type themselves.
Allow patient to cancel appointment: Leave toggled on if you want patients to be able to cancel and rebook the appointment within the Reminder Message
Duration: Set how long you would like the appointment to block on your calendar
Insertion Rule: Click Add Rule and select the procedure codes you would like added to this appointment when it is booked. This is important!
3. Navigate to EHR Appt Type Mapping. This is where we will add the procedure codes NexHealth will look for on appointments in your health record system to tag appointments as an Extraction.
4. Switch the If dropdown to Select code. Enter the procedure codes for extractions in the Select descriptor field.
5. Switch the Then dropdown to assign the Extraction appointment type. This will automatically assign all appointments scheduled in your health record system with the appropriate procedure codes as Extractions. We will use that in Step 2.
Step 2: Building Reminders for extractions
Now we will start building customized Reminders to send to patients scheduled for an extraction.
1. Navigate to Templates and ensure Customize templates by appointment type is toggled on.
2. Select Reminders.
3. This will open a list of all the Reminders in your system. By default, you will have at least one for All Appointment Types. We are going to create another reminder sequence that's just for extractions. Click +Add Reminders Sequence.
4. Then, select the Extraction appointment type.
5. That will open your Reminders sequence.
Edit the send times: Using the edit icon on the gray trigger tiles.
Edit the messaging: Using the edit icon on the purple message tiles. These are great to use for prep instructions and consent forms.
Add additional steps in the sequence (like extra messages): Use the plus sign between items in the sequence.
6. When you're finished editing, Toggle On in the upper-left. This will start sending Reminders to extraction patients as soon as they reach one of your triggers (ex: if you have a 1 day reminder and patients scheduled for extractions tomorrow, they will receive the extraction reminder instead of the general one.)
Step 3: Building an automated Post Appointment Follow-up sequence
Now that patients are receiving reminders for their extraction, we'll build the post-appointment sequence. This is a great way to start a direct conversation with patients to give them instructions as the heal and ask how they're doing.
1. Navigate to Templates and ensure Customize templates by appointment type is toggled on.
2. Select Post Appointment Follow-up.
3. This will open a list of all the follow-ups in your system. By default, you will have at least one for All Appointment Types. We are going to create another reminder sequence that's just for extractions. Click +Add Post-Op Sequence.
4. Then, select the Extraction appointment type.
5. That will open your Post-Op sequence.
Edit the send times: Using the edit icon on the gray trigger tiles.
Edit the messaging: Using the edit icon on the purple message tiles. This is the best place for care instructions and to add verbiage checking in. Optionally, you can also attach PDFs to your emails, if you have existing hand-outs you provide to patients.
Add additional steps in the sequence (like extra messages): Use the plus sign between items in the sequence.
6. 6. When you're finished editing, Toggle On in the upper-left. This will start sending Post-Op messages to extraction patients as soon as they reach one of your triggers. If a patient responds to an emailed follow-up, it will be sent to the email your admin selected during onboarding. If a patient responds to a texted follow-up, it will appear in your Messages.
Step 4: Building a custom recall sequence to book follow-ups
If you have patients schedule follow-up appointments after an extraction, you can send an automated recall to patients after they have completed an extraction appointment to book those.
1. Navigate to Templates and ensure Customize templates by appointment type is toggled on.
2. Select Recalls.
3. This will open a list of all the follow-ups in your system. By default, you will have at least one for All Appointment Types. We are going to create another reminder sequence that's just for extractions. Click +Add Recall Sequence.
4. Then, select the Extraction appointment type.
5. That will open your Recall sequence.
Edit the send times: Using the edit icon on the gray trigger tiles.
Edit the messaging: Using the edit icon on the purple message tiles. When editing your message tiles, be sure to add the 1-Click booking for your follow-up appointment type from the Appointment Slots smart commands.
Add additional steps in the sequence (like extra messages): Use the plus sign between items in the sequence.
6.
6. When you're finished editing, Toggle On in the upper-left. This will start sending Post-Op messages to extraction patients as soon as they reach one of your triggers. If a patient responds to an emailed follow-up, it will be sent to the email your admin selected during onboarding. If a patient responds to a texted follow-up, it will appear in your Messages.