How to contact patients via SMS and email
With Anima, you can contact any patient via SMS and email in just a few clicks. Patients don't even need to have an Anima account.
You can send messages to individual patients, or bulk messages to up to 100 patients at a time.
You can invite patients to submit a particular request through Anima, or send them your own custom message.
There are 3 key steps to sending a message in Anima:
Enter the patient(s) contact details
Add the patient(s) to the recipient list
Compose and send your message
To send messages to patients, click on Contact patients.
First, select how you want to enter the patient(s) contact details. There are 4 options. Click each of these links to read more about how to use that method:
Search for patient by NHS Number
Search for patient by name
Manually** enter patient details
Import patient list
Search for patient by NHS number and Search for patient by name: for these method, you will need to be on a device that is connected to your EHR, have your EHR open and be logged in.
Once you have entered the details for a patient, click Add to recipient list.
If you want to add another patient to your recipient list, follow these instructions to add their details. You can use different methods to find subsequent patients' contact details: for example, you can search your EHR to find the contact details for one patient, then add the details for another patient manually.
Once you have added patients to the recipient list, you're ready to select what message you want to send.
There are 2 options.
- Request the patient completes an Anima review
- Send a custom message
When you have selected which type of message to send, use the checkboxes to select whether you want to send an SMS text message, an email, or both.
If any of the patients in the recipient list do not have either a phone number or an email address listed, Anima will warn you. These patients will not receive messages sent via that method (i.e. patients with no listed phone number will not be able to receive texts. You will still be able to send them emails).
Compose your message (note the character limits!) and optionally add an attachment (read more on how to attach files to messages here).
Click send message to patient and you're done!
You can send messages to individual patients, or bulk messages to up to 100 patients at a time.
You can invite patients to submit a particular request through Anima, or send them your own custom message.
There are 3 key steps to sending a message in Anima:
Enter the patient(s) contact details
Add the patient(s) to the recipient list
Compose and send your message
To send messages to patients, click on Contact patients.
First, select how you want to enter the patient(s) contact details. There are 4 options. Click each of these links to read more about how to use that method:
Search for patient by NHS Number
Search for patient by name
Manually** enter patient details
Import patient list
Search for patient by NHS number and Search for patient by name: for these method, you will need to be on a device that is connected to your EHR, have your EHR open and be logged in.
Once you have entered the details for a patient, click Add to recipient list.
If you want to add another patient to your recipient list, follow these instructions to add their details. You can use different methods to find subsequent patients' contact details: for example, you can search your EHR to find the contact details for one patient, then add the details for another patient manually.
Once you have added patients to the recipient list, you're ready to select what message you want to send.
There are 2 options.
- Request the patient completes an Anima review
- Send a custom message
When you have selected which type of message to send, use the checkboxes to select whether you want to send an SMS text message, an email, or both.
If any of the patients in the recipient list do not have either a phone number or an email address listed, Anima will warn you. These patients will not receive messages sent via that method (i.e. patients with no listed phone number will not be able to receive texts. You will still be able to send them emails).
Compose your message (note the character limits!) and optionally add an attachment (read more on how to attach files to messages here).
Click send message to patient and you're done!
Updated on: 25/07/2023
Thank you!