Notifications and reminders

Notifications are managed from Settings → Notifications. In the left sidebar, click Settings (1) at the bottom, then click Notifications (2) in the Account section. The page includes clinic-wide Emails and SMS cards, message templates, an Intake section with Send and Reminders groups, visit reminder settings, and a separate Your bell notifications section for your own in-app notifications. Use Emails (1) and SMS (2) for clinic-wide notification defaults, Message templates (3) to edit notification wording, the Intake section (4) to choose when visit intake is sent and remind patients to finish it, and Your bell notifications (5) to manage your own in-app alerts.

How do I choose email and SMS notification defaults?

In the left sidebar, click Settings (at the bottom). In the settings menu, under Account, click Notifications to change the practice-wide defaults.

Owners and admins see organization-level cards for Emails and SMS. Everyone else sees Your bell notifications on the same page and can change their own in-app notification preferences.

1. In the left sidebar, click Settings (at the bottom), then click Notifications in the Account section.
2. In the organization-level Emails or SMS card, find the notification you want to change.
3. Turn the notification on or off.
4. When Save changes appears in the dock, select it.

Notifications are grouped as Account & lifecycle, Visits, Messaging, Billing, and Forms & consents. Each row explains the event and shows whether it is sent to patients or to your team. The visit booked row now says it can include forms, consents and interviews sent with the visit, and the patient update rows for forms, consents and interviews now say they can be included with a booked visit. Patient update emails include Patient interview completed, described as "When a patient completes an interview.", and Interview received, described as "When an interview is ready for the patient to complete, including one sent with a booked visit." The other patient update rows now say Consent ready to sign, described as "When a consent is ready for the patient to review and sign, including one sent with a booked visit.", and Form received, described as "When a form is ready for the patient to complete, including one sent with a booked visit."

If SMS is not available, Ona shows a warning that SMS requires a provisioned phone number. In the left sidebar, click Settings (at the bottom), then click Omnichannel under Communication to set one up. Until the number is set up, SMS notification toggles and SMS reminder channels are disabled. Patient texts also require the patient's SMS consent and a phone number on file.

For channel setup, see Setting up your channels.

How do I choose when visit intake is sent?

On the same page, the Intake section sets when visit consents, forms and interviews are sent to the patient. In Send, each intake type has its own timing. Use Consents timing (1), Forms timing (2), and Interviews timing (3) to set each kind separately.

1. In Intake, under Send, choose a timing for Consents, Forms and Interviews.
2. Choose On booking to send that intake type when the visit is booked.
3. Choose Scheduled to hold that intake type until before the visit.
4. If you choose Scheduled, enter a number of hours or days before the visit.
5. When Save changes appears in the dock, select it.

Scheduled intake must use at least 1 in the selected unit. Minutes are not offered for intake timing. Individual services can override visit notification settings from the service editor.

How do I remind patients to finish their intake?

On the same page, use the Reminders group (1) in the Intake section, then select Add reminder (2) to add intake reminders. An intake reminder resends the forms, consents and interviews the patient hasn't finished, with fresh links. Intake reminders go out whether Visit reminders is on or off.

1. In Intake, under Reminders, select Add reminder.
2. Set how long before the visit the reminder sends.
3. Choose Email, SMS, or both.
4. Add more reminders for more nudges, for example 3 days and 1 day before the visit.
5. When Save changes appears in the dock, select it.

A new intake reminder starts 1 day before the visit, by email and SMS when SMS is set up. A reminder that finds nothing unfinished sends nothing. If a reminder would go out before any intake has been sent, Ona warns that there is nothing to remind about yet. Turn a reminder's switch off to pause it without removing it.

How do I schedule visit reminders and confirmation requests?

On the same page, turn on automatic reminders before each visit. A confirmation request is a reminder that asks the patient to confirm attendance. Use Visit reminders (1) to turn the feature on, Add reminder (2) to add another rule, Time before visit (3) to set when it sends, Reminder kind (4) to choose between Reminder and Confirmation request, and SMS (5) to include text messages when they are available.

1. Turn on Visit reminders.
2. In Reminders, select Add reminder.
3. Set how long before the visit the reminder sends.
4. Choose Reminder or Confirmation request.
5. Choose Email, SMS, or both.
6. When Save changes appears in the dock, select it.

A new reminder starts as an email Reminder 1 day before the visit. Use the Intake section for unfinished forms, consents and interviews instead. See How do I remind patients to finish their intake?. A reminder must keep at least one channel selected. If SMS is not set up for the practice, SMS is disabled.

How do I set patient defaults for visit reminders?

On the same page, choose the reminder channels used for patients who have not picked their own notification preference. Use Email (1) and SMS (2) to choose the default reminder channels, and Stop after confirmation (3) to skip any remaining reminders once the patient confirms.

1. Turn on Visit reminders if it is off.
2. In Patient defaults, turn Email on or off.
3. Turn SMS on or off if SMS is available.
4. Turn Stop after confirmation on if remaining reminders should be skipped after the patient confirms.
5. When Save changes appears in the dock, select it.

By default, Email is on, SMS is off, and Stop after confirmation is on. Intake reminders still go out after confirmation. SMS reminders still require the patient's SMS consent and a phone number on file.

How do I edit notification templates?

On the same page, open the message-template editor and customize the wording for each notification and channel. Use Notification (1) to choose which notification you are editing, Email (2) to switch between channels when both are available, Subject (3) for the email subject line, Message (4) for the template body, and Variables (5) to insert the placeholders this template supports.

1. In Message templates, select Edit templates.
2. Choose a notification.
3. Choose Email or SMS if both channels are available for that notification.
4. Edit Subject for email templates and Message for the template body.
5. Add only variables listed under Variables for that template.
6. Select Save template.

Email subjects can be up to 200 characters. Message bodies can be up to 5,000 characters. Message is required. Placeholder issues block saving, and the editor shows clickable issue rows under Subject and Message so you can jump to each one. The preview uses sample patient data, and SMS previews estimate message segments with the opt-out line shown in the preview, warn when the SMS is too long to send, and explain when Unicode characters reduce segment capacity.

How do I reset a template to the default copy?

On the same page, switch a customized template back to Ona's built-in copy.

1. In Message templates, select Edit templates.
2. Choose the customized notification and channel.
3. Select Reset to default.
4. In the confirmation dialog, select Reset template.

The customized text is discarded, and that notification uses the built-in copy again.

What can't I do here?

In Settings → Notifications, review clinic settings. These limits apply:

• Only owners and admins can manage the clinic-wide notification settings from Settings.
• SMS notification toggles and SMS reminder channels are disabled until the practice has a provisioned phone number.
• Patient texts require the patient's SMS consent and a phone number on file.
• The Intake section uses hours or days for scheduled send timing, not minutes.
• Intake reminders have their own add, edit and remove controls, and they warn when a reminder would go out before any intake has been sent.
• A reminder rule cannot be saved with a time less than 1 minute before the visit.
• A reminder rule must keep at least one channel selected.
• A template cannot be saved with an empty Message, a Subject over 200 characters, a Message over 5,000 characters, or placeholder issues in the subject or message. SMS previews also show when a message is too long to send and when Unicode characters reduce segment capacity.
• Everyone else can change only their own bell notifications, not the clinic-wide Emails, SMS, Message templates, Intake, or Visit reminders controls.

Common questions

Why are SMS settings disabled?

SMS requires a provisioned phone number. In Settings → Notifications, open Omnichannel under Communication to set one up. Return to Notifications in Account when the number is ready.

Can I send different intake types at different times?

Yes. In Settings → Notifications, Consents, Forms and Interviews each have their own timing in the Intake section’s Send group. Set each one to On booking or Scheduled. Visit booked notifications can also include forms, consents and interviews sent with the visit, and the matching patient notifications can also be included with a booked visit.

What is the difference between Reminder and Confirmation request?

In Settings → Notifications, Reminder sends a visit reminder. Confirmation request asks the patient to confirm attendance. Intake reminders are managed separately in the Intake section and resend unfinished forms, consents and interviews.

Do patient preferences override the patient defaults?

Patient defaults are used for patients who have not picked their own preference. SMS still requires the patient's consent.

Why can't I save a template?

Check that Message is not empty, the character counts are within the limits, fix any placeholder issues listed under Subject or Message, and look for SMS preview warnings about a message being too long to send or Unicode characters reducing segment capacity.