A patient reminder text can say who it is from, that a review is due, how to book and how to opt out. It cannot name prescription medicines, make an offer or set a deadline, quote a patient review, rank your clinic or promise a result.
Messages are held to the same rules as your website, and they are the place clinics slip, because a text feels casual. This article gives you a structure, three sample messages, a list of what to cut, and a way to test a draft before it goes out.
Is a reminder text really advertising?
Treat it as advertising. A text from a clinic to a patient, inviting them to book, sits close enough to advertising of a health service that the safe approach is to hold it to the same rules as your website. That is how Conduit works: every message template is checked against the Ahpra and TGA wording rules before it sends.
I am not your lawyer, and rules on consent and messaging are a separate area from advertising wording. Ask your adviser about consent for the people on your list. This article is about the words.
What are the parts of a good reminder text?
Five parts, in this order:
- 1Who it is from. The clinic's name, because the message goes out in your clinic's name.
- 2Who it is for. The patient's first name.
- 3The reason. A review is due, which is a fact about their file.
- 4The way to act. One booking link.
- 5The way out. 'Reply STOP to opt out.'
That is the whole message. Everything else you might want to add, such as a treatment name, a price, a deadline or a line about how great the results are, either breaks a rule or adds pressure.
What do three compliant examples look like?
These are the shapes I use. Replace the brackets with your own details, and have your adviser approve the wording.
Hi [first name], you are due for your next review at [clinic name]. You can book here: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out
[Clinic name]: Hi [first name], it has been a while since your last visit. If you would like a review, you can book here: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out
Hi [first name], thanks for your enquiry to [clinic name]. Reply with a time that suits you and we will book your consultation. Reply STOP to opt out
The third is a reply to an enquiry, not a reminder, and it follows the same logic. It is the template Conduit's own message check shows on the home page, marked as clear and approved by the clinic.
What should you cut from a draft?
- Medicine and product names, direct or indirect, including everyday wording for these treatments
- Offers, add-ons at no charge and deadlines, including soft ones such as 'this week only'
- Patient reviews or praise, even a one-line quote
- Ranking claims, such as being first or ranked ahead of other clinics
- Promises about results and any wording that says a procedure is safe or comfortable
- Language that makes the reader feel bad about how they look
That list is the four rules shown on the Conduit home page plus two more kinds from the website check. If a sentence survives all six cuts, it is usually a plain sentence, which is the goal.
How long should it be, and how often should it be sent?
Short enough to read on a lock screen, and once. A patient hears from the clinic once when a review is due, not as a stream. A run of reminders starts to feel like pressure, and in a regulated field I would rather send one and let the patient decide.
You set how long after each treatment a review is due, with your practitioners. Conduit does not decide clinical timing. It holds the intervals you choose and applies them to the list. For how to find the people who are due, see how to find lapsed patients from your booking export.
Should the message mention the treatment the patient had?
I would not. A treatment name in a text raises two risks at once: it may be a prescription medicine name, and it puts a patient's health information on a lock screen where someone else may see it. 'Your next review' says enough.
The patient knows what they had. The booking link or your front desk can handle the details privately. Health information is sensitive information under the Privacy Act, as our security page notes, so lean towards saying less in a text.
How do you test a draft before sending?
- 1Read it aloud. If you would not say it to the patient at the front desk, rewrite it.
- 2Check it against the six cuts above, one by one.
- 3Run your website through the Ahpra check as well, so the site and the message follow the same rules.
- 4Send it to yourself and to a colleague on a phone and read it on the lock screen.
- 5Get your adviser to approve the template, then lock it.
Conduit does steps two and five for you in the product: each template is checked and your clinic approves it before anything sends. The check is a wording check and can miss things or flag things that are fine, so the approval is real. See what patient win-back is for how this fits together.