Email Confirmations

Flex can automatically update your patients' appointment statuses in Open Dental. When you send a confirmation via email or text, the appointment status will update to 'Flex Texted' or 'Flex Emailed', depending on how the message is delivered.

Once a patient confirms through email or text, their appointment status will update to 'Flex Confirmed' helping your staff know who they do/do not need to reach out to with a quick glance.

To access your 'Email Confirmation' event settings:

1. Log in as an 'Administrative' User.
2. Navigate to your Flex 'Settings'.
3. Click the 'Texts & Emails' tab.
4. Choose the 'Timeline' sub-section.

5. Next, select the 'Email Confirmation' event. You will be presented with the following settings:

• • Enable/Disable event toggle.
  • How far in advance of the appointment should we send this?
  • Don't send this message if the scheduled date from the appointment is within this number of days of the date it was created.
  • What time of day should we send this?
  • Include web forms when due toggle.
    
    • If enabled:
      • Forms to include for existing patients.
      • Forms to include for new patients.
  • Email subject line.
  • Include calendar invite toggle.
  • Edit Confirmation Email Template.
  • When sending forms:
    • Email subject line.
    • Include calendar invite toggle.
    • Email Confirmation template button.

6. To edit an email template select 'Edit Email Template' or 'Email Confirmation (Forms)' depending on which you intend to update. The edit window will open displaying the default copy of the confirmation email. For a helpful guide on using handlebars, click here.

In my example below, the email confirmation is enabled, sending out four days prior to the appointment, not sending if the creation date was five days from the appointment itself, sending at 8:00 pm (20:00), and including a calendar invite:

✅Notes:

• This feature is what confirms appointments in Open Dental. While other event types—like Appointment Booked, Appointment Reminders, and Same-Day Reminder—help keep patients informed and on time, they don't update the appointment status. Only Confirmation events (email and text) do that. When a patient clicks the 'Confirm' button in the email, Flex automatically updates the appointment status in Open Dental, giving your team a real-time view of who's confirmed. Want to understand how other reminders work? You can learn more about them here:
  1. Email Reminders↗️
  2. Text Reminders↗️
  3. Appointment Date (Same Day Reminder).↗️
• For a guide on setting up text confirmations, view this resource: Text Confirmations.↗️

The self check-in kiosk can also update patient's Open Dental appointment status'. For a brief walkthrough check out this video with a set up guide inside: Self Check-In Kiosk Intro Video.↗️

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If you have questions, please contact Flex Support.

Thank you!