How do I turn on confirmations for staff-booked appointments?
Go to Settings > Calendar & Booking > Appointment Reminders and turn on Send patients a confirmation when staff book an appointment. The setting is off until you turn it on, and changing it requires permission to manage calendar and booking settings.Is this the same as appointment reminders?
No. A confirmation is sent at the time staff book or change the appointment. Appointment reminders are sent ahead of the visit and are configured separately. Turning confirmations on or off does not affect your reminder settings.Does a patient receive a confirmation and reminders?
Yes. A staff-booked confirmation is sent at booking time, and any appointment reminders you have set up are still sent ahead of the visit.A patient opted out of appointment reminders. Will they still get a confirmation?
Yes. The appointment-reminder opt-out does not apply to staff-booked confirmations, so the patient still receives the confirmation. A text confirmation still requires a mobile number that is opted in to texts, so patients who have opted out of texts are not sent a text.Does the patient need to take any action when they get a confirmation?
No. The confirmation is informational, so the patient has nothing to confirm, accept, or click. It simply gives them the appointment details.Does the confirmation change the appointment’s status on the calendar?
No. Receiving or reading a staff-booked confirmation does not change the appointment’s status. An appointment’s status is only updated when a patient confirms through an appointment reminder, which is a separate feature. See Calendar Guide — Using automated appointment reminders.Will the confirmation ever be a phone call?
No. Confirmations are sent only by email or text, never by phone call. Elation tries the patient’s preferred method first, then text, then email. A patient gets a text when they have a mobile number opted in to texts, unless they prefer email. They get an email when they prefer email, have no textable mobile number, or the text cannot be delivered, for example when the number has unsubscribed.Which changes send an updated confirmation?
An updated confirmation is sent when staff change a patient-facing scheduling detail: the date or time, the provider, the location, or the visit type (in-person versus telehealth). Changes to only the reason, duration, visit instructions, billing, copay, or status do not send a confirmation.Does a recurring series send a confirmation for every occurrence?
No. A newly booked series sends one confirmation that covers the series. The email lists the upcoming occurrences, up to the next 10, and notes how many more there are. Extending a series to add occurrences sends one confirmation that lists the dates that were added. Shortening a series to remove occurrences sends nothing. Editing a series’ time, provider, location, or visit type sends one updated confirmation covering the occurrences that were edited.Does cancelling an appointment notify the patient?
No. Staff cancellations do not send a notification through this setting.Why didn’t my patient get a confirmation?
Common reasons a confirmation is not sent:- The setting is off for that appointment’s practice.
- The appointment was created or changed through an external integration rather than the Elation calendar.
- The appointment is in the past, such as a walk-in or a back-documented visit.
- The patient has no usable email and no textable mobile number.
- The appointment is not visible to the patient in their patient portal, such as one withheld from patients or booked on a resource calendar.
- The edit did not change a patient-facing detail.