Manage Patient Correspondence via Communication Hub – CareStack: User Resource Center

The Communication Hub serves as a central location for practices to monitor all communications, such as emails, texts, and phone calls, between the practice and their patients. This feature allows users to track missed calls, manage emails, and send messages or emails to patients.

To learn about the patient inbox which segregates correspondence for a single patient, click here.

Note: The Communication Hub is available upon request. Users can email support@carestack.com to have it enabled.

Let's explore how to use the Communication Hub.

Topics Covered

Access the Communication Hub
Compose and Manage Emails
Send Text Messages
Log a New Call and Check Missed Calls

Access the Communication Hub

Watch this video for a concise summary.

Perform the steps below to get started.

Click Communication Hub from the Dashboard to access it.

The Communication Hub page consists of three tabs, namely Email, Text, and Call.

Click + Connect to log in to Gmail and/or Outlook as required.

Log in using the email credentials.

Once you log in, the Manage Emails modal will open up.

Select Location(s) to be mapped to the email.

Note: Once the locations are mapped to the email, it may take a few minutes for them to sync in the Communication Hub.

To edit or add new email(s),

Click Manage Emails on the top right.

Edit the desired Location(s) for the existing emails or click + Add Email to add a new email.

Note: If your practice prefers not to use email, they can use text messages and phone calls, allowing correspondence without email configuration. Contact support@carestack.com to configure this option.

Compose and Manage Emails

Explore this video for an in-depth walkthrough.

Compose a New Mail

Select the Email tab.
Select the required Mailbox.

Note: The Communication Hub supports Gmail and Outlook domains for email IDs.

Click + Compose Email.

In the Email modal:

You can choose to select an Existing Patient or an Unassigned patient.
- If you have selected the Existing Patient option, select the Patient from the list.

If you have selected the Unassigned option, enter the Email ID of the patient.

The From email address automatically defaults to the configured mailbox.
Enter the Subject for the email.
Enter the email Content or select a Template from the left.

Select Use Blank Template to create a template from scratch.
Select Upload HTML Template to import an HTML file.
To sort by Alphabetical Order, click the A icon.
Click Delete to remove the template.
Click Manage Templates to navigate to Practice Settings > Templates. Click here to know more.
To add any attachments, drag and drop files or click Browse Files to upload files from your system.
Click Send Email.

Note: Email Templates are created and managed in System Menu > Practice Settings > Templates.

Once you have sent the email, you can track them in the Sent folder on the left.

Check and Manage Emails

On the left side, you can see several Folders segmented to track all emails that were received, sent, starred, deleted, archived, etc. Let's explore each folder in detail.

Inbox: The main folder where all incoming emails are stored until they are moved, deleted, or archived. You can check the emails of Existing patients and Unassigned patients separately.

Sent: This folder displays all emails that you have successfully sent. This allows you to keep a record of outgoing messages for reference.

Draft: A folder for emails that have been started but not yet sent. Unfinished emails are automatically saved as Drafts, which allows you to later return and complete them before sending.

Starred: This folder displays the emails that were marked as important (starred) for easy access. Starred emails are flagged to indicate priority or significance.

To mark an email as Starred, click on the star icon on the intended email line item.

Archived: A folder for emails that are no longer needed in the inbox but are saved for future reference. Archiving removes the email from the inbox without deleting it.

To archive an email, hover over the email line item and click on the Archive icon.

Trash: A folder for deleted emails. Messages in the trash can often be recovered for a period of time, but they are eventually permanently deleted.
- To delete an email, hover over the email line item and click on the Delete icon.

Tip: Unassigned patients will be marked with a yellow question mark icon on the list. Once you select their message, you can see an Unassigned tag.

Read and Explore Emails

Click on a mail from a folder to see its contents.
- The contents include the email Body, Subject Line, Attachments, Email ID, Date and Time of the email.

You can see the patient's name as a hyperlink. Click on the patient's name to open the Patient Overview page.

You can Assign the email to a patient if needed.

Other options include the ability to Reply to and Forward the email.

Restore Deleted or Archived Emails

To restore deleted emails, perform the steps below.

Select the Trash label.
Select the intended deleted email(s).

Click the three-dot menu at the top.
Click Move to Inbox.

To move archived emails to the inbox:

Select the Archived tab.
Select the intended archived email(s).

Click the three-dot menu at the top.
Click Move to Inbox.

Bulk Actions

You can perform bulk actions such as Delete, Archive, or Mark as Read for multiple emails at once. Perform the steps below.

Select the intended Folder.
Select the required Emails by clicking on the checkboxes.
Click the three-dot menu and select the required bulk action.
- Delete
- Archive
- Mark as Read

Send Text Messages

Dive deep with this detailed walkthrough video.

To send a new text message to a patient, perform the steps below.

Select the Text tab.
Click + Message.

Choose if you want to send the message to an Existing Patient or an Unassigned patient.

For the Existing Patient option,

Select the Patient from the list.

For the Unassigned option,

Select the Country Code and enter the Phone Number.

Enter the Text Message in the field or, select a Template to populate a saved template.
To sort by Alphabetical Order, click the A icon.
Click the Image icon to insert an image.
Click the Emoji icon to add an emoji.
Click Send Message.

Note: Users can upload up to 10 images in JPEG, JPG, PNG, or GIF formats, with a maximum file size of 5 MB.

To view all text messages:

Select the Location from the grid. All messages from and to the selected location will be displayed.
- To display messages of all locations, select All Locations.

Use the Search Bar to find the intended patient's message.
You can view messages of Existing patients or Unassigned patients separately.

To revisit a message later, click Mark as Unread on any incoming message.
To see all unread messages, click the Unread button.

If you select the message of an unassigned patient, you can Assign it to an existing patient in the system.

Once you assign the message to an existing patient, you will receive a confirmation modal stating, 'All future messages will now be associated with this number, under their name'.
- Click Confirm to proceed.
When you assign an unassigned phone number to an existing patient, the chat history from any previous conversations with other numbers associated with that patient will merge into a single chat, displaying all interactions in one continuous thread.

Click a message to continue the conversation in the chat.
- You can enter a new message or select the template from the chat conversation.

Tip: Utilize the following Shortcuts to send a message easily.

Press Enter to Send.
Press Shift + Enter for the Next Line.

Note:

To view or send patient messages, users must have the relevant permission(s) enabled. To enable this permission, navigate to System Menu > Practice Settings > Administration > Profiles > Manage Permissions > Patient Engagement > Communication, and select View Patient Messages and Send Patient Messages.
To Add, Edit, View or Delete templates, navigate to Manage Permissions > Practice Settings > Template Settings (applies to Email, Memo, Text, Remark, Bulk, and Direct).

Log a New Call and Check Missed Calls

Watch this video for a step-by-step explanation.

View All Calls

On the Call tab:

You can view call details of All patients, Existing patients, and Unassigned patients.
You can see incoming calls, outgoing calls, and missed calls of patients.
- Incoming Calls will be highlighted with a yellow incoming icon.
- Outgoing Calls will be highlighted with a green outgoing icon.
- Missed Calls will be highlighted with a red icon.
To filter and view all missed calls, click on the Missed Calls filter button.

Click on a call line item to view more details such as the Phone Number, Location, Call Summary, Date, Time, and the user who Attended the call.

Log a New Call

To log a new call, perform the steps below.

Click + Log Call.

Choose if you want to send the message to an Existing Patient or an Unassigned patient.