Skip to main content

Client announcements

An announcement is a practice-wide notice: a holiday closure, a change in office hours, a new policy, an insurance plan you now accept. You write it once, and every active client with a Client Portal login gets an email and sees it in their portal. Clients cannot reply to an announcement, so nothing a client might say reaches the whole practice.

Announcements are included on paid plans.

In this guide, we'll cover:

  • Sending an announcement
  • Who receives it
  • What clients see
  • Removing an announcement
  • Contacts and guardians
  • FAQs
No client details

An announcement goes to everyone. Never put a client's name, diagnosis, appointment or anything else about a specific person in one. If you notice client details after sending, remove the announcement right away.

Sending an announcement​

  1. Click the megaphone in the top bar.
  2. Click Create announcement.
  3. Choose All active clients or My active clients. The practice owner and practice managers can send to everyone; other clinicians send to their own clients.
  4. Enter a Title (up to 128 characters) and a Message (up to 5,000 characters).
  5. The panel shows how many clients will receive it. Click Send, then Send now.

To throw away a draft, click Cancel and then Discard.

Who receives it​

Every active client in the chosen group who has signed in to the Client Portal at least once. A client who has never activated their portal login is not counted; invite them from their Portal tab first.

The sample client never receives announcements.

What clients see​

Each client gets an email that says a new announcement is waiting and a button to sign in. The email never contains the announcement itself. In the portal, Announcements in the top bar opens a panel with every announcement, newest first, and a note that replies are turned off. An unread count shows on the link until the client opens the panel.

Removing an announcement​

Sent it by mistake, or it no longer applies?

  1. Click the megaphone and open the announcement.
  2. Click Remove, then Remove again to confirm.

Clients see that an announcement was removed but can no longer read its text. Your practice keeps the full text, who removed it and when.

Contacts and guardians​

A client's contacts who have portal access (a parent or guardian, for example) receive the client's announcements too, unless you turn that off: on the client's profile, open Edit client → Contacts, edit the contact and uncheck Receive this client's announcements. The box is on for every contact with portal access.

FAQs​

Can I pick specific clients? No. An announcement goes to all active clients or all of your active clients. For a few clients, send a secure message.

Can I see who read it? Not yet. Announcements have no read receipts. If knowing matters, use a secure message.

Can I schedule one for later? No. Announcements go out right away.

Can I attach a file or an image? No. Announcements are text only. To share a document, use Share documents on the Clients page.

Can clients opt out? No. Every client with a portal login receives announcements. Contacts can be turned off per client, as described above.

Why don't I see the megaphone? Announcements are included on paid plans and need the Client Portal to be set up. Scheduler, biller and supervisor-only seats cannot send announcements.