What's changing in Patient Messages | Read and reply to a message | Compose a new message | Filter, search, and flag messages | View a message in full screen | What to expect during the beta | Quick reference
Patient Messages has a redesigned inbox for reading and replying to patient messages. The new layout puts the full conversation, attachments, your reply, and your internal note in one screen, so you can respond to a patient without losing your place.
This redesign is rolling out in phases. This article covers the new Patient Messages experience as it works today in beta.
Message Center is being rebuilt one section at a time, not all at once. Only Patient Messages has the new design so far. Until every section is updated, some parts of Message Center will look and behave differently than others, and that's expected.
What's changing in Patient Messages
Only Patient Messages (under OnPatient) moved to the new design. Incoming messages, faxes, lab results, and eRx still use the current layout for now and will be redesigned in later phases.
| Section | Status |
|---|---|
| Patient Messages | Redesigned, live in beta |
| Incoming Messages | Current layout for now |
| Faxes | Current layout for now |
| Lab Results | Current layout for now |
| eRx | Current layout for now |
| Incoming Messages — Not Yet Redesigned | Redesigned Patient Messages — Live in Beta |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Read and reply to a message
When you select a message, the full conversation opens in a reading pane next to your inbox list instead of a separate window. The thread history, attachments, your reply, and your internal note all appear on one screen.
What's new in this view
- Scroll the thread to review the full back-and-forth history with a patient in one place.
- Select the back and forward arrows at the top of the pane to move to the previous or next message without returning to the list.
- Enter your reply directly in the thread. You don't need a separate compose window.
- The Leave an Internal Note box stays below your reply, separate from what the patient sees.
Attach more than one file to a message
Previously, each message supported a single attachment, so sending a multi-page document often meant splitting it across several messages. The redesigned composer lets you attach multiple files or images to one message, so you can keep related documents together and send fewer duplicate messages.
What still works the same way
Internal notes, print, star, and mark as read or unread all carry over to the new experience with the same behavior you use today. Only the layout around them has changed.
Compose a new message
- Select New Message on the top right of your inbox.
- Search for and select a patient (requires OnPatient access for this patient).
- Enter a title (required and appears as the thread subject).
- Enter your message.
- (Optional) Select Attach file
to attach one or more files. - Select Send.
to attach one or more files.
Filter, search, and flag messages
- Toggle between Show Unread
and Show All Messages
above your message list. - Select one or more messages to mark as read, mark as unread, or show archived.
- Star a conversation to flag it for follow-up.
- Use the Search Messages box to jump straight to a thread.
View a message in full screen
Select Open Full Screen View 
on an open message to view it in full screen mode. This gives the conversation more room and shows a Patient Summary panel next to it, including chart-level details like the patient's problem list, so you can review clinical context without leaving Patient Messages.
What to expect during the beta
Message Center is rolling out in phases through the end of 2026. Message threading and the new layout are the first phases and are in beta now, covering Patient Messages only. Incoming and outgoing fax sections are next, followed by AI fax summaries and a unified All Messages view. Because the rollout is gradual, some sections will still look like the current experience until they're updated. Your feedback during the beta period directly shapes what ships next.
This experience became available in beta at the end of August 2026. Watch for rollout announcements as additional sections update over the coming months.
Quick reference
| Task | Where to Go |
|---|---|
| Start a new message | New Message on the top right of the inbox |
| Move between messages | Back and forward arrows at the top of the reading pane |
| Attach files | Attach file  in the New Message window; multiple files are now supported |
| View full screen and chart context | Open Full Screen View at the top right of an open message
|
| Add an internal note | Below the reply box, separate from patient-facing replies |
| Filter messages | Show Unread  and Show All Messages  above the message list
|