Rx 365 and TouchStore Rx both support the sending of SMS Text Messages to patients through our partners at BulkSMS.com.

Below you will find steps to help you get patients set up for SMS and send SMS Text Messages to them.

First Time Setup

If you have never used the SMS Text Message functionality within your dispensary system you will need to contact TouchStore Support in order for us to setup your account with BulkSMS.com for use with Rx 365 or TouchStore Rx.

SMS Credit is required at all times in order to send SMS Text Messages through the system. Please note that while there is no license fee or setup fee there is, however, a charge for each Top Up of SMS Credit.

N.B. please do NOT set up your own BulkSMS.com account as we will not be able to link it your dispensary software.

Set Up a Patient For SMS

In order to send SMS Text Messages to patients you will first need to set up their PMR with their Mobile Number.

To set a patient's Mobile Number:

  • Navigate to the PMR of the patient you wish to set up to receive SMS Text Messages
  • Click Edit or press (KEYBOARD: F3) to edit their patient information
  • You will find the Contact section of the Edit F3 screen in the lower left of the screen
  • Here you can enter the patient's Mobile Number into the Mobile text box
    • Make sure to enter it in the format of 08** - do not include + or 353

staff

  • Click Ok or press (KEYBOARD: ALT + O) to save the entered Mobile Number

The patient's PMR is now set up to send SMS Text Messages.

Sending an SMS Text Message

In order to send an SMS Text Message to the Mobile Number assigned to a patients PMR:

  • Navigate to the PMR of the patient you wish to send the SMS Text Message to
  • Click Send SMS at the top right of the screen or press (KEYBOARD: ALT + D)

staff

You will now see the Send Ad Hoc SMS screen

staff

If you have a Template set up, you can choose it from the SMS Template drop down.

If you do not wish to use a Template, simply type the content of your message in to the SMS Content section.

You will see the number of Characters in your message along with the No. SMS's required to send your message to the right of the Mobile Number. One SMS Text Message can hold 160 characters.

N.B. Please that note multiple SMS Text Messages sent in one go will use up ONE (1) SMS Text Message worth of SMS Credit for each SMS Text Message to be sent.

Once you are ready to send the message, click Send or press (KEYBOARD: ALT + S)

A message will appear to advise you that the system has added this message to the SMS queue.

staff

Every 60 seconds, our system checks for any unsent SMS Text Messages and forwards them to our partners in BulkSMS.com for delivery to the patient's mobile.

N.B. please note you can also click Send SMS from any PMR and manually type in the Mobile Number you wish to send the SMS Text Message to. If you have a patient's PMR open, and that patient has a mobile number, the mobile number will appear by default but can be overwritten. The value you enter here will not overwrite the patient's Mobile Number.

- Schedule an SMS Text Message

If you would like to set up an SMS Text Message to be sent at some point in the future, you can use the Date / Time of Sending functionality in the Send Ad Hoc SMS screen to schedule the sending of the SMS Text Message.

To schedule an SMS Text Message:

  • Navigate to the PMR of the patient you wish to send the SMS Text Message to
  • Click Send SMS at the top right of the screen or press (KEYBOARD: ALT + D)
  • Fill out the content of your message as needed

staff

In the lower half of the screen you will see the Date / Time of Sending section. The option for Immediately is selected as default everytime you enter this screen.

In order to schedule the sending:

  • Click Selected Date and Time
  • Enter the Date and Time you would like to schedule for this SMS to send.
  • Click Send or press (KEYBOARD: ALT + S)

Your message is now scheduled for sending.

Every 60 seconds, our system checks for any unsent SMS Text Messages and forwards them to our partners in BulkSMS.com for delivery to the patient's mobile. During our check, if we find we have just arrived at the point in time to send your scheduled SMS Text Message it will only then be sent.

Create SMS Templates

If you send similar SMS Text Messages on a regular basis you can save yourself from typing them in their entirety each time by setting up a Template. This will allow you to pre-populate the SMS Text Message with template text and you can then either send the SMS Text Message or quickly amend it before sending.

To set up a Template for your SMS Text Messages:

  • Navigate to the PMR of ANY patient
  • Click Edit F3 or press (KEYBOARD: F3)
  • Click the SMS & Categories tab or press (KEYBOARD: ALT + G)

SMS

  • Double click the SMS type you wish to create

SMS

  • Click Insert button or press (KEYBOARD: ALT + I)

SMS

  • The New Label screen will open

SMS

  • Type the general message that you want to send when selecting this Template
  • Click Close or press (KEYBOARD: ALT + C) when complete
  • The Save Template as the screen will appear
  • Enter a meaningful name for your template and click Ok or press (KEYBOARD: ALT + O)
  • Click Close or press (KEYBOARD: ALT +C) to close the Maintain Ad Hoc label screen

You can now select your template from the SMS Template dropdown box when sending an SMS Text Message. The SMS Content section will populate with the text from the template and either send or amend the content before sending.

Check the status of SMS Text Messages

If you would like to see the status of SMS Text Messages you have sent, there is a report available in DataViewer that will show you all SMS Text Messages sent within a given date range along with their current status.

To run the SMS Report:

  • Open DataViewer
  • Enter your PIN
  • Select Patients in the Report Categories section
  • Click SMS Report

staff

  • Enter your From Date and To Date in the Report Panel
  • Click Run Report and wait for the results to load

staff

The Message Status column will display Sent or Not Sent. This will tell you if the SMS Text Message has gone from your system to BulkSMS.com.

The Delivery Status column will display the status of delivery from BulkSMS.com to the patient's mobile. Delivered to mobile indicates successful delivery.

Configuring the System for Automatic SMS

Rx 365 and TouchStore Rx support automated SMS generation to notify patients when their scripts are ready for collection or when a new prescription is required for repeat scripts. The SMS tab in Modules -> Configuration allows you to control how this functionality will behave in your system.

local-configurations

The main setting at the top of this section, SMS Messaging, controls how Automatic SMS are generated:

  • Not using SMS:
    • When this value is selected, no Automatic SMS are generated in the system. SMS can still be sent per patient using the Send SMS button on the PMR.
  • Using SMS, but don't prompt user:
    • When this value is selected, Automatic SMS are generated for patients based on their settings under Edit F3 in the SMS & Categories tab. Please see our Patient Maintenance section for more information on those settings.
    • This setting will not check for the Receive Automatic SMS setting when entering a patient's file.

  • Using SMS, prompt user:

    • When this value is selected, Automatic SMS are generated for patients based on their settings under Edit F3 in the SMS & Categories tab. Please see our Patient Maintenance section for more information on those settings.
    • This setting will check for the Receive Automatic SMS setting when entering a patient's file. If the setting, found in Edit F3 under the SMS & Categories tab, is disabled, you will receive a prompt to enable it when entering the patient's file

    sms-confirm

    • By selecting Yes the Receive Automatic SMS will be disabled. By selecting No, this prompt will not reappear the next time you enter patient's file. By selecting Ask Later, this prompt will reappear the next time you enter the patient's file.

The remaining settings primarily control the Template that will be used when sending various types of Automatic SMS:

  • Default Reminder Period: n/a
  • Default SMS Flat Fee: n/a
  • Default Per SMS Fee: n/a
  • Send Per Dosage SMS - minutes before due: n/a

  • Send on Complete: This setting will allow you to control during each dispensing whether you wish to send an SMS to the patient upon Completing that dispensing.

    • You will find the following button and keyboard shortcut (KEYBOARD: F2) will be available on the Current Dispense Screen:

    send-sms

  • Per Dosage SMS: This setting allows you to specify the Template you wish to use when Per Dosage SMS are being generated.

  • Completion SMS: This setting allows you to specify the Template you wish to use when Completion SMS are being generated.
  • Rx Reminder SMS: This setting allows you to specify the Template you wish to use when Rx Reminder SMS are being generated.
  • Rx Required SMS: This setting allows you to specify the Template you wish to use when you are repeating the last available repeat in a repeat prescription and a reminder SMS for the patient to get a new prescription is being generated.
  • SMS Register Letter: n/a

Configure a Patient for Automatic SMS

When you have the system set up for Automatic SMS, you will still need to configure individual patients to receive these Automatic SMS

To enable Automatic SMS for a patient:

  • Navigate to the patient's PMR
  • Click Edit F3 or press (KEYBOARD: F3) to open the Edit F3 screen
  • Select the SMS & Categories tab or press (KEYBOARD: ALT + G)

f3-sms-config

  • Receive Automatic SMS: tick this box to enable this patient to receive Automatic SMS
    • By default, when ticking this, any templates that are configured in Modules -> Configuration will be pre-populated against this patient

Any templates that are configured in Modules -> Configuration will be pre-populated against this patient when enabling Receive Automatic SMS however you are free to change these to the relevant templates for this patient:

  • Completion SMS: this setting allows you to specify the Template you wish to use when Completion SMS are being generated
  • Rx Reminder SMS: this setting allows you to specify the Template you wish to use when Rx Reminder SMS are being generated
  • Per Dosage SMS: this setting allows you to specify the Template you wish to use when Per Dosage SMS are being generated
  • Rx Required SMS: this setting allows you to specify the Template you wish to use when Rx Required SMS are being generated

Check how much SMS Credit you have left

In order to send SMS Text Messages your BulkSMS.com account must have enough SMS Credit to send the message(s).

If you wish to see how much SMS Credit you have left please contact TouchStore Support and we will be able to check this for you. If you need the ability to check it at any time, we can facilitate this for you also.

Top Up your SMS Credit

If you wish to Top Up your SMS Credit to allow you to send more SMS Text Messages, please contact TouchStore Support and we will be happy to organise this for you. Please note there is a charge for each Top Up of SMS Credit.

Restrictions

Please note that we do not currently support handling replies that patient's may send in response to the SMS Text Message you have sent them through the system.