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Bp Comms is an extensive practice-patient communications feature set of Bp Premier that allows you to:

• Send mail-merged appointment reminders, clinical reminders, health awareness communications (from a database search), and clinical communications for following up results to SMS or Best Health App.
• Send one-off messages to single patients from the patient record, inboxes, and appointment book.
• Create templates for SMS and App messages populated at send time with information from the database, and craft custom replies for automatic appointment confirmation.
• Automatically and manually record Contact Notes for an auditable history of communications with patients by phone, letter, and SMS.

Regardless of whether messages are sent to SMS or App, all messages use the same shared Bp Comms credits.

Setting up Bp Comms involves:

1. Adding Bp Comms credit and setting your threshold warnings.
2. Setting practice preferences for sending to SMS or App.
3. Setting up Bp Comms templates.
4. Enrolling patients and recording patient consent to receive messages.

Then you're ready to start sending messages!

Create a template

You can create as many message templates as you need.

1. Select Setup > Configuration from the main Bp Premier screen. Select the Templates icon.



2. Click Add on the right. The Add Bp Comms Template screen will appear.



3. Enter a Name for the template and select the Type of template from the dropdown.

The template type determines the functions in Bp Premier from which the template can be selected. For example, templates of type 'Result' are intended for selection when sending messages from the Inbox and Follow up Inbox screen, because those messages will relate to patient investigation results.

4. Type your template text into the text box.
5. The fields on the right hand side will be substituted with information when the reminder is sent. Double-click on a field to insert the field where the cursor is positioned in the template text.
6. Select Set as default template for this template type to automatically select this template when a new message of this type is created. You can change the template before sending a message.
7. Tick Template text can be edited before sending to allow a user to modify the template text before sending. If this option is not ticked, users will not be able to modify the message text from the template.

NOTE  Your practice should carefully consider which templates are editable by users before sending. Templates should align with your practice's guidelines for patient-practice communications. If you allow editing, you cannot guarantee that the message will conform to those guidelines. You may wish to allow editing only for messages of type 'Patient record', for example, where tailored messages may be required.

8. If you are creating a new 'Appointment' template, tick Appointment template expects a reply if the patient is expected to reply and update the appointment book.
9. Click Preview to view how the text will appear on a mobile device. If the message looks OK, click Close and Save to save the template.

Set up reply keywords

You can specify which keywords in a patient reply to an appointment reminder will automatically update the appointment book. This functionality is relevant for SMS replies only; Best Health App message reply text is not configurable.

1. From the main screen, select Setup > Configuration > Appt Reminders tab.



2. Both of the checkboxes under Appointment attendance automation must be ticked to enable appointment updates by SMS reply.
3. Click Configure appointment attendance replies to open the Automatic Confirmation Options window.



4. Tick Confirm or decline appointment when message begins with a keyword.
5. Tick Confirm or decline appointment when message contains a keyword if you want a keyword to be accepted if it appears anywhere in the reply.
6. Click Add next to the Confirm list of keywords. Type a new keyword and click OK to add the keyword to the list. Keywords are limited to 20 characters at most.
7. Add as may Confirm and Decline keywords as you need.

Keywords are only accepted as an exact match of whole words, even if you tick Confirm or decline appointment when message contains a keyword. For example, if you accept the keyword 'No', words like 'not' or 'nope' will not automatically update the appointment book. If a patient includes both Confirm and Decline keywords in a reply, the appointment will not be updated.

8. Click Ok to save your keywords and return to the Configuration window.

1. Search for the patient using any of the patient search methods: File > Open Patient, View > Patient, or press F2.
2. Click View details to open the Patient details screen.
3. If the patient does not have a Mobile Phone number recorded, you must record a valid number before you can click Bp Comms Consent. Mobile numbers should start with a 0 and not include the country code prefix.



4. Click Bp Comms Consent on the right-hand side of the screen.



5. The Bp Comms Consent window will appear.

Set consent



6. Under Consent Options, tick the Bp Comms message types that the patient consents to receive. Ticking a message type will enable other buttons in this window.
7. If you need to store a signed consent form for the patient, click Open Bulk Document Import to scan and import the signed consent form into Bp Premier.

NOTE  A user will need permission to access the Bulk Document Import tool. See Import bulk clinical documents for more information.

8. Click Link to signed consent. The Select signed consent window will appear.



9. Tick the form you want to link to as the most recent and correct consent and click Select to return to the Bp Comms Consent window.

1. Under Consent Status, you can change the Mobile Phone number.

The number must be in the Australian format of ‘0400 000 000’ (with or without spaces). The number must not have a ‘+’ or ‘61’ prefix. Incorrectly formatted numbers will be rejected by the message provider service and will not be delivered.

2. Click Enable to verify the patient's mobile number. The action required by the patient will depend on your Consent/Enrolment settings in Setup > Configuration: 
   • If Send patient SMS when enabling and Mobile number verification is required are both unticked, the patient receives no enrolment message, no patient action is required, and SMS enrolment is complete.
   • If Send patient SMS when enabling is ticked, the patient will receive an enrolment SMS message but no further action is required. SMS enrolment is complete.
   • If Mobile number verification is required is ticked, the Verification Required window will appear, summarising the patient's Bp Comms consent. Click Send to send a validation code to the patient's mobile phone, and enter the code into the box that appears. Bp Premier will validate the code and SMS enrolment is complete.

   NOTE  Best Practice Software recommend mobile number verification to ensure that the intended patient receives messages from your practice.

   

3. Click Save.

You can mail merge and send a variety of clinical and management message types in bulk to patients, and also send one-off messages to single patients from many functions in Bp Premier.

Send a single appointment reminder

To send a patient a single Bp Comms reminder, the patient must have an appointment in the appointment book.

1. Open the appointment book. Select the patient's appointment and click Utilities > Send message from the menu. The Send Message screen will appear.



2. Select a Template other than the default if you need to. The message box will be populated with the selected template and field information. You can edit the message if required.
3. Click Send.

Send a single message

1. From the main screen, select Clinical > Follow up Inbox.



2. Use the Filter by... and Checked by options to show only those results you want to work with. For example, if you are a nurse, you might filter on an action of 'Nurse to Advise', or 'All unactioned', so that you are only working with applicable reminders.
3. The leftmost column contains an icon that indicates one of: 
   • the patient's preferred contact method
   • the contact method of the last contact note for this reminder, if one exists.

   The legend along the bottom of the screen explains the different icons and colours that can apply.

4. If the icon colour indicates that a patient has been contacted about this reminder, click Record note to view the contact notes associated with that reminder, such as a phone attempt with no reply, or an appointment has already been booked.
5. If the patient preferred contact is SMS or App, click Send message to open the Send message screen. You can only select templates of type 'Result' if you open this screen from the Follow up Inbox.



6. Review the message text and click Send. The message will be sent and a contact note automatically created to record the message send.
7. Action the reminder according to your practice's guidelines, such as marking as contacted.

Send a message from the patient record

1. Select Bp Comms > Send patient message from the menu. The Send message window will appear.



2. Review the patient consent (green checkboxes) and ensure that the patient has consented to receive the type of message you are about to send.
3. Select whether to send via SMS or App. App will only be available if you have upgraded to Bp Premier version Jade SP1 and the patient has enrolled for the Best Health App with your practice location. SMS is available if the patient has enrolled for SMS messages. The default Send via selection is based on your practice's Preferred Practice contact method configuration setting.
4. Select the Template you want to use.
5. Modify the text if the template permits and click Send. The message will be forwarded to the messaging service.

A contact note represents any attempt by the practice to contact a patient, by phone, letter, or any electronic method consented to by the patient. A note records: the details of the patient or person contacted (if a next of kin or carer responds, for example); the contact reason; communication method; the number of contact attempts for related communications; and the success status.

Contact notes demonstrate a detailed history of patient contact throughout clinical workflows such as pathology and clinical reminders. Most contact notes are generated automatically from Bp Premier functions like a clinical or appointment reminder mail merge, but you can also record a contact note manually from places like the Followup Inbox.

Record a contact note

1. To add a general note, search for the patient (F2) and click View > Contact notes.

To add a clinical-related note, open the appropriate window in Bp Premier and click Record note.

2. Click Add. The Contact note screen will appear.



3. If you contacted (or tried to contact) someone other than the patient, select Contact type in the Other contact’s details section to indicate the relationship with the patient. The other fields will be populated with information stored in the database, if any.
4. Under Communication details, select the Contact reason and Contact method. For most functions, the Contact Reason will be preselected and cannot be changed.
5. If the contact method is 'Phone', select the person you spoke to from the Contact with field. If the contact person does not fit any of the listed contacts (such as a flatmate), select 'Not specified' and follow your practice guidelines for recording the contact (such as recording a name and relationship in User comments).
6. Add any User comments and select the Message status for the contact attempt at the bottom right. The options available depend on the Contact method selected, and may be automatically set.
7. Click Save to save the contact note and return to the Contact notes screen.

1. Press F10 to open the Patient list. Search for the patient by name, or click Advanced search to search by DOB, Medicare number, or HI number.
2. Select the patient from the list of search results and click Contact notes in the bottom right corner, or press Alt+C. The Contact notes screen will appear.



3. Use the Reason, Method, and Message status filters along the top to restrict the contact records shown. For example, select ‘Unsuccessful’ from the Status filter to view only unsuccessful contact attempts that need following up.
4. Select a date range and a Location to restrict the records shown.
5. Filter from where within Bp Premier the message was sent from by using the Origin list. The Origin list could contain the options All, Inbox, Follow up Inbox and Patient record. Options available in the Origin list depends upon from where within Bp Premier contact notes for this patient has been sent. Select All if you are searching for a Contact Note that was not sent from either the Inbox, Follow up Inbox or Patient Record.
6. Tick Show deleted at the bottom to include deleted contact note records in the list.
7. Click View to open a contact record, Print to print the selected contact note, or Patient details to open the patient demographics screen for the patient.

If you are upgrading from an earlier version to Jade or later and you are satisfied that you have sufficiently recorded patient consent already, Bp Premier offer a bulk SMS consent update utility for practices upgrading to Bp Comms. This utility will save time in the consenting process for Bp Comms.

The following conditions apply to the Bulk SMS Consents tool:

• The tool is only available for practices who have Bp Premier installed and who have consents previously obtained for SMS prior to the Jade upgrade.
• The tool will work on active patients who have a mobile number recorded and for whom Appointment SMS consent has already been enabled.
• Practices will be able to select the types of consents they wish to enable in bulk. As part of the tool, practices will have the option to send a bulk SMS message out to included patients to inform them that they will now receive messages for the practice consents you have enabled.
• Verification of mobile phone number is not available using this tool.
• Practices must return a signed deed poll before Best Practice Software can provide the tool.

How do I obtain the utility?

The tool will not be publicly available. You must submit a signed deed poll and request the tool from Best Practice Software Support.

1. Download the Deed Poll form here.
2. Have your company director sign the deed poll and return the signed document to support@bpsoftware.net.
3. Support will provide a link to download the tool and instructions.
4. Run the utility tool on your Bp Premier server. Follow the steps provided.

Practices should read the Deed Poll thoroughly and carefully consider the contents before signing, returning, and obtaining the tool. Once the tool is run, there is no ‘undo’ process.

The following supplementary materials may be useful for Bp Premier users new to Bp Comms.

• Bp Comms Consent Quick Reference Guide
• Bp Comms Roll out Quick Reference Guide
• Bp Comms Make the Switch Quick Reference Guide
• Bulk SMS Consents utility deed poll
• Example Bp Comms consent form
• Bp Comms User Guide

With Bp Comms, you can send a variety of reminders and message types to your patients. Four consent options are available in patent demographics to records the message types a patient has consented to receive:

Each consent type refers to a particular type of message sent from a function in Bp Premier .

Best Health App FAQ

Best Health App Masterclass FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Bp Comms

Frequently asked questions about Bp Comms Consent