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Communications
Write letters, medical certificates, referrals, and email or send them securely.
Communicate with Patients
Users can communicate with patients electronically using SMS and email.
SMS
Send scheduled SMS messages from Helix to patients for appointment and recall reminders, or send ad hoc messages as required.
Track SMS
Track the delivery status of SMS messages sent from Helix.

Communications
Write letters, medical certificates, referrals, and email or send them securely.
- Communicate with Patients
  Users can communicate with patients electronically using SMS and email.
  - SMS
    Send scheduled SMS messages from Helix to patients for appointment and recall reminders, or send ad hoc messages as required.
    - Enable SMS
      Before you can send SMS messages from your practice to a patient, you must enable SMS messaging for your centre and seek and record a patient's consent to receive SMS messages.
    - Appointment Reminders
      Helix can automatically send appointment reminders to patients via SMS.
    - Send SMS
      If configured, send SMS messages to individual patients from the appointment book or the patient's record.
    - Track SMS
      Track the delivery status of SMS messages sent from Helix.
  - Email
    You can send emails to patients and healthcare providers from the Letter Writer.
  - Letters
    Use letters or templates to write medical certificates, WorkCover certifications, referrals, health assessments, death certificates, veterans affairs requests, and so on.
- Address Books
- Message Centre
  Use the Message Centre to manage recalls, tasks, investigation results and health summaries, and to send messages and review the communications log.
- Referrals
  A health care professional writes a referral to request that another HCP or healthcare organisation provide an expert opinion, diagnosis, or treatment for a patient's medical condition.
- Create and Send Secure Documents
  Send referral letters, medical certificates, health assessments or other medical documents securely to other clinicians using Secure Message Delivery (SMD).
- Printer Settings
  Configure up to four printers for general printing, imaging requests, pathology requests, and prescriptions.

Track SMS

Track the delivery status of SMS messages sent from Helix.

SMS messages sent from Helix are listed on the

Message Centre > Comms Log tab.
Example SMS messages in the Comms Log

Example SMS messages in the Comms Log

The Comms Log displays the recipient, details of the SMS message, including the centre from which it was sent and the first 250 characters of the message, and the status of the SMS. Messages may have a status of one of the following:

Successfully Delivered - Helix has received confirmation that the SMS has been delivered to the recipient.
Request Sent - the SMS message has been sent to the SMS provider.
Request Pending - the SMS message is queued for sending.
Request Failed - the SMS message could not be sent and has not been delivered to the recipient.

If required filter the messages: select an SMS message type from the Message Type list.

Table 1. Message types
SMS message type	Message type filter in Comms Log
Automatic appointment reminders	`Appt. Reminder`
SMS sent automatically when an appointment is rescheduled	`Appt. Rescheduled`
Appointment updates or information sent manually	`Appt. Book SMS`
SMS sent manually from the patient record to an individual	`Ad Hoc SMS`