Send direct SMS messages

Send SMS messages to individual patients from their biographics or clinical record.

If you have the Communications module or the SMS Feature module enabled and your user group has the SMS Messaging system right, you can send a direct SMS message to a patient from their clinical record or their biographics.

Tip: An SMS cannot be sent to a patient if in the patient record, Personal tab:
  • In the Mobile Phone field, there is no phone number listed
  • Patient has no phone is set
  • In the Preferred Contact field, No contact is selected

If both modules are enabled, the Communications module uses Telstra Health's SMS gateway (TH Messaging) to transmit SMS messages.

Remember: Do not send confidential or sensitive information using SMS.
To send a direct SMS message to an individual patient:
  1. In the clinical record or patient's biographics, click SMS iconSend SMS.
  2. In the Send SMS Message window, the patient's mobile phone number is displayed. The mobile number cannot be edited here.
  3. In the SMS Message field, enter a message. The message is restricted to 320 characters.
  4. Click Send SMS.

A new SMS Message clinical item is created in the clinical record on the Detail tab.

The status of the SMS message is displayed in the SMS Send Status field, initially with a status of Pending. The SMS message is sent when the CCareQueue_Communications service next runs. The message status in the clinical item is updated automatically when confirmation is received that the message has been sent or has failed.

Restriction: You cannot delete the record of an SMS sent from Communicare, including from the Detail tab.

Send individual SMS using Burst

To send an SMS message to an individual patient using Burst:
  1. In the clinical record, click SMS iconSend SMS.
  2. If you have sufficient credit to send a message, the Send SMS window is displayed with the patient's mobile phone number. This cannot be edited from the SMS window.
  3. In the Message field, type a message. The message is restricted to 160 characters.
  4. Click Send SMS.

A new SMS Message clinical item is created in the clinical record on the Detail tab. The SMS Send Status in the clinical item is updated automatically when confirmation is received that the message has been sent or has failed. If a phone number is invalid, the following message is displayed: Send Failed (Phone number is not valid).

Restriction: You cannot delete the record of an SMS sent from Communicare, including from the Detail tab.