5 Lessons for Mass Texting Your Patients (without coming off like a jerk)

If you annoy patients, you end up getting blocked.
You don't wanna be THAT clinic, right?

Here at TDC, we LOVE mass texting. It’s super helpful for all kinds of situations at your clinic - announcing an upcoming workshop, offering a new service or product, or even sending out timely updates. And since text messages are opened almost 5x more than emails (98% of texts are opened vs. 18% of emails), they can be a more reliable option.

However, texting is not without some issues. Since we have seen hundreds of users sending thousands of messages, we’re often behind the scenes helping clinics who royally screwed things up, and got blocked by dozens and dozens of their patients (you don’t want to be THAT clinic, do you?). 

So here are some 5 lessons that we’ve learned about mass texting that you should follow to avoid getting blocked.

Lesson 1. Give the Patient Some Context in Your First Few Messages

Unless you’ve been using 2-way texting with your patient base from Day 1 (which is rare), your entry into mass texting will probably be with a new number. And even if it's the same number, your patients aren’t used to you texting. So just like in social situations, have some decorum. Don’t send that “Special Offer” as your first text…

Instead, we believe in the PATCH Framework for Healthcare Communication. Whether you know it or not, the “H” stands for humility. So instead of trying to do what feels like a quick cash-grab, be humble and inviting.

Start by giving them some context. Make the patient feel welcome. Just as you did when you got a new phone back in the day. Here are some good examples:

“Hey, it’s Dr. Josh from TrustDrivenCare. This is my new texting line. Feel free to hit us up if you need anything!”

“Hi <FirstName>! It's TrustDrivenCare. Hope you have a wonderful weekend (we’re using our new texting line, and we’re maybe too excited)!”

“Hey there <FirstName>. It's Dr. Josh, your (hopefully) favorite chiropractor. We just got 2-way texting in the office. Is it OK if we text you in the future?”

That last example asks a question - this is what we call a “Conversation Starter.” It’s a good way to encourage that patient to answer you. When they answer - and therefore engage - in 2-way texting, you have just opened up the best, most efficient form of communication. You’ve won.

Lesson 2. Early On, Ask Questions… And Respond.

With mass texting, you’re playing the long game. If you can successfully open up this form of communication, you’ll have an amazing pathway to use for everything from promotions to announcements. It's also an incredibly easy way to let everyone on today’s schedule know that the doctor went home sick and everyone needs to reschedule.

But to get to that point, we need to have a reliable pathway first. The best way to do that is to get patients to respond early on. This 2-way communication strategy ensures their trust in you. It's more efficient to them as well… Unless they think you’re just going to send offers and demands.  

So be sure to ask questions AND reply.

You can probably see this working in your own life. Those people who ask you questions and actually care about you are the ones you respond to the most. And your weird uncle who only texts when he needs a favor is probably the last person on your reply list. 

For your first foray into mass texting, try to end every text with a Conversation Starter question. Statements like “Is that ok?” or “Do you still need it?” or “Should I save you a spot?” are great.

But if you want to turn those Conversation Starters into actual relationships, don’t forget to reply! Depending on the number of people you texted, blocking 30 minutes at the end of the day might be a good strategy to ensure everyone gets responded to. (This is simple in TDC with our mobile app…. You can respond from a coffee shop or even from your couch in your pajamas!) 

Yes, this time is an investment. But we’re playing the long game here.

Lesson 3. Use The Patient’s Name

If there is one word that everyone in the world likes, it's their own name. Using names helps things feel personalized. It shows that you care (unless you misspell their name!).

A good mass texting software will make it easy to add names. This is typically referred to as a “Merge Field”, meaning the system will “Merge” their specific data into the message. You’ve most likely experienced this in emails you get from retailers like Amazon. In our system, you can usually find them by clicking a + button and finding “Contact.”

A really good software will also allow you to merge in other info such as appointment dates/times, types of treatment, etc. However, for the appointment info, you must be tied into your EMR system. If you’re using Jane, TrustDrivenCare is one of the few systems that can pull that data in automatically. 

Small details such as names matter, but when you’re moving fast - if you have to cancel and reschedule the rest of this week’s patients, for example - they can be forgotten. This is where templates shine. Having pre-written messages that use specific language and have been spell-checked by another team member can save your bacon when things get stressful. We can cover this later.

Lesson 4. Keep It Short

I’m gonna make a BOLD prediction… I bet that, for 90% of your day, you rely on text messages more than anything else. 

So does everyone else. 

Sure, you might respond to emails for work, and maybe do a phone call or two. But these days, texting is the most common method of communication. 

And NOBODY has time for long, boring text messages. 

Let me tell you from experience… Clinics screw this up ALL THE TIME!  We’ve had clients that send out novels via text messages. I’ve seen texts with 3 separate, different offers in a single message. Oh, and with 2 different links in it as well. AND a different phone number to call! Huh?

The world moved to text messages because they are fast and efficient. So don’t ruin that by copy/pasting the body of an email into your texting software. People will respond… With a STOP message!

The problem there is that now you can’t send ANY messages. That pathway is now closed. And it’s YOUR fault! So send messages that are short and to the point. Just like you would want.

Lesson 5. It’s a Game, Learn the Rules!

Any game has rules. And the rules aren’t set by us. In the world of Mass Texting, the phone carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Rogers) are the rule setters.

They want people to have a great experience, and so they need to keep out the riff-raff. They can’t allow you to get hundreds of spam texts all day long, or other people might want to cancel their subscriptions. These big players must set rules to keep the game clean. We’ve learned these the hard way, so you don’t have to.

1. You MUST get A2P approved. That’s short for App To Person, and since this isn’t your personal line, you MUST be an approved business to send. Be ready to file your Tax ID number or EIN, along with your business address and legal name. This is the first way to filter off the riff-raff. If you haven’t set this up and need a hand, just give us a shout and we’ll help you with that.

2. If you ask for a response, don’t suggest a second number. The “magic” of integrating texting and calling is that the patient can call the very number that just texted them. But if you say “Call us back at 702-455-89XX” in your message, the phone carriers think that’s spammy behavior or “spoofing”. Just use 1 line for everything. It’s cool and oh-so-modern. 

3. Be careful of words like “420,” “joint,” “vape,” or even “flower.” Cannabis sales via text is restricted by most carriers… but for us, this really sucks. My clinic is called Engage Spine and Joint center. And if we did afternoon appointments in 20-minute blocks, we’d really have a rough time. If this occurs, you’ll see a specific code displayed next to your message. If you get a “Carrier Violation” code, it usually means the language is the issue. So re-write it.

However, all of these rules are lightened if the carrier sees a healthy back-and-forth history of two-way messaging with the patient. And similarly, if all the messages are ONLY from your office with no responses, they will be tighter with the rules. Learn the rules above to fix it!

As we said, Mass Texting in healthcare clinics is an awesome ability. Google research indicates that a good administrative professional can handle 60-80 separate text message conversations per hour. Whereas they can only handle 8-12 phone conversations. As you can see, the payoff is huge. But if you screw this relationship up from the start, it’ll be an uphill battle to try to fix it. 

So, want to make texting a reliable mode of communication in your clinic? Follow the rules, and generally be a good human. 

And if you’re looking for an easy-to-use software that allows for mass texting (along with a bunch of other clinic-specific features), get a demo of Trust Driven Care. It was born in a clinic and it’s built to improve patient communication. 

Schedule your demo at this link!