Set up a follow-up reminder | Schedule a follow-up reminder from the appointment | Schedule a follow-up reminder from the patient's chart
A follow-up reminder prompts patients to schedule appointments on a date you recommend. These reminders can be set up in advance and customized to effectively encourage patients to book their appointments at the appropriate time.
Set up a follow-up reminder
- Select Schedule > Follow-up Reminders to open the Follow-Up Reminder Settings page.
- Select New Reminder.
- Select the type of reminder from the dropdown. DrChrono offers one-way email, text, and phone calls.
Text reminders can only be sent to phone numbers based in the US and its territories, such as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- Enter a number, select a time unit from the dropdown, and select before or after to schedule when the reminder will be sent.
In the example below, an email will be sent seven days before the appointment.
- To set more reminders, select New Reminder and follow the same steps.
- Select Update Reminders.
To learn how to add text to an email or text appointment reminder, refer to Add Text to Email and Text Appointment Reminders.
Best practices
Follow-up reminders use a 6:00 PM anchor time (based on the provider’s time zone) on the follow-up date, and reminder processing occurs hourly to ensure scheduled messages are properly sent.
- Schedule follow-up reminders using hours rather than minutes to ensure consistent delivery.
- Use the "before" setting when configuring follow-up reminders for optimal results.
Reminder timing and frequency
Reminders of the same type can only be sent 12 hours apart.
Quiet hours (text messages and phone calls)
- Allowed: 5:00 AM - 9:00 PM (provider's timezone)
- Blocked: 9:00 PM - 5:00 AM (provider's timezone)
- No time restrictions for emails
Schedule a follow-up reminder from the appointment
- Select Schedule > Calendar.
- Select an appointment to open the Schedule Appointment window.
- On the Appointment tab, below the appointment details, select the Arrange a Follow-up Reminder checkbox.
- Select a follow-up date using the date picker tool.
- Enter a follow-up reason.
- Select Save.
Schedule a follow-up reminder from the patient's chart
- Select Demographics from the patient chart sidebar.
- From the Demographics tab, scroll down to Medical Management & Notes.
- Select Edit to open the Edit Medical Management & Notes side panel.
- Select a follow-up date using the date picker tool.
- Enter a follow-up reason.
- Select Save.
