This article shows you how to send daily appointment reminders (calls or text messages) to your patients or clients from Microsoft Office Excel or a similar spreadsheet that can save as CSV - Comma Separated Variable format. This article shows how to manage your schedule in MS Excel and then send the daily export file to your account at 1-800 Notify.
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Note: You can also use Google Sheets to do the same thing (click here).
1. Download the sample Excel file attached to this article.
1800Notify-schedule.xlsx
2. Open the file in Microsoft Excel or similar spreadsheet package.
NOTE: Whatever package you use to open this spreadsheet, you will need to be able to export a single tab or day in the spreadsheet to CSV - Comma Separated Variable format.
- Only put one day's appointments on one tab in the spreadsheet.
- Appointment times do not need to be in order.
- Each appointment is on a separate row.
- Only the first 5 columns are required, the next 5 are optional.
3. Add a New Day (Tab) for Scheduling by Copying an existing Day (Tab)
Right-click the day tab at the bottom and select Move or Copy.
4. In the Move or Copy window, check the box next to Create a copy and click OK.
5. You will see a new tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet. Double-click on that tab to change the name to the new day. E.g. 6-3-2015.
6. Now, make sure to adjust column D to the new date by copying and pasting. Then, add new appointments by overwriting the old ones and adding new rows below.
7. You can optionally add provider names and appointment types. For example, you might want to give a different message ("arrive 15 minutes early") for new patients by adding the word "NEW" in the Appt. Type column.
8. Make sure to SAVE your work as an Excel Workbook (either XLSX or XLS format).
WARNING: You cannot save the entire workbook in CSV format, that only will save the single tab (date you are currently viewing) - You use the CSV format only when you want to export and upload the day for calls with 1-800 Notify.
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WHEN YOU'RE DONE EDITING AND WANT TO SEND THE FILE...
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9. From the File Menu, select Save As, then Computer and select a Folder that you can easily find later when you need to select the file to upload to www.1800notify.com.
10. Now, change the File name to the date of the appointments (e.g. 6-3-2015) and from the Save as type, select CSV (comma delimited) (.csv)
11. You will see a warning message, click OK.
12. You will see another warning. Click Yes.
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Now, you're done exporting this day's schedule to the CSV file, you now need to upload and schedule the reminder calls and texts in your secure account on www.1800notify.com by following the steps in this related article:
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