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Opting Patients Out of Automated Text Communication

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Angela Ortner

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Texting patients using Yapi Leap (our new web app)? 🤔 In that case, looks like you're in the wrong place. Instead, go to the corresponding topic in our Leap Help Center:

Dentrix Users | Open Dental Users | Eaglesoft Users

While we hope that all patients appreciate of the automated texts you can send through YAPI (like reminders and new patient paperwork), we know that some patients prefer not to receive them.  Patients can opt out by texting back "STOP" to any text they receive or you can opt them out yourself by following the steps below.  

Note: YAPI is unable to read your patients' communication settings from Dentrix, Open Dental, or Eaglesoft, so you must opt them out in YAPI for them to stop receiving automated texts.  If you need to opt patients out of receiving emails, see our article Opting Patients Out of Automated Email Communication.

Table of Contents

 

Opting Out an Individual Patient

To opt an individual patient out of receiving all automated texts from your practice (which includes appointment reminders, recall reminders, and new patient welcome texts if you've set them up):

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  1. From the YAPI Dashboard, click Patients Patients.png  and select Patient Finder.

  2. Enter the patient's last name in the empty box and click Search.

    Screen_Shot_2022-06-28_at_2.21.10_PM_2.png

  3. Locate the patient in your list of search results and click on their name.

  4. From the dropdown menu, select Communication, then Set Communication Options:

    Screen_Shot_2022-06-28_at_2.20.53_PM_2.png

  5. Deselect the Enable Communication box next to the patient's mobile phone number and click OK:

    Screen_Shot_2022-06-28_at_2.20.38_PM_2.png

    Tip: You can also opt a patient out of emails by deselecting the Enable Communication box next to their email address.
    Note: The Reminder Preferences and Marketing and News sections are no longer supported.  Making changes to these sections does not affect whether patients receive emails and texts through YAPI.

 

Opting Out a List of Patients

You can opt out multiple patients at once by creating a text (.txt) file with all their mobile phone numbers and importing it into YAPI:

Step 1: Creating a Text File of Phone Numbers to Opt Out

Dentrix Users
  1. Follow How to Set Up Patient Reports by Filters instructions on the Dentrix Help Center and in the last step, select Open in Excel. 

  2. Remove all columns from the Excel Spreadsheet except for Pager. 

  3. Remove the first row from the Excel Spreadsheet that says "Pager."
  4. Remove all quotation marks from each phone number.
  5. Then, save the file as a .txt file and close Excel.

    If opened in Notepad, your final file should look like this:

    Screen_Shot_2022-06-29_at_10.39.32_AM.png

Open Dental Users
  1. Follow the Patients Report instructions on the Open Dental website to create a report that lists patients' Wireless Phone only.

  2. In the report, click Export and save the report as a .txt file. 

  3. Open the .txt file and delete the word "WirelessPhone" from the first line.  Then save the file.

    If opened in Notepad, your final file should look like this:

    Screen_Shot_2022-06-29_at_10.39.32_AM.png

Eaglesoft Users

For Eaglesoft Users, mobile phone numbers can't be exported to a list like home and work phone numbers can.  If you need to import a list of patients' mobile phone numbers, we suggest you create that list in a Notepad document (with one phone number per line) and save it as a text (.txt) file. 

If you need to opt-out patients' home and/or work phone numbers:

  1. Follow the Filter the Patient Master Report instructions on the Eaglesoft Help Center to create your list of patients. 

  2. Right-click on the report and select Save Data As.  Then save the report as an .xls (Excel) document. 

  3. Open your report in Excel and remove all columns from the Excel Spreadsheet except for either home_phone OR work_phone. 

  4. Remove the row that contains the header "home_phone" or "work-phone".

  5. Re-save the file as a .txt file and close Excel.

    If opened in Notepad, your final file should look like this:

    Screen_Shot_2022-06-29_at_10.39.32_AM.png

  6. Optional: If you saved your patients' list of home phone numbers above, repeat this process for their work phone numbers (or vice versa).
Tip: Not able to export a list from Dentrix, Open Dental, or Eaglesoft?  You can create your own list in Notepad and save it as a .txt file. Simply list of all the phone numbers you need to opt out, with one number per line: 

Screen_Shot_2022-06-29_at_10.39.32_AM.png

Step 2: Importing Your List into YAPI

  1. In the YAPI Dashboard, click Setup and Manage Setup_and_Manage.png.  Select Manage Opt-Out Lists, then Migrate Opt-Out List.

    Screen_Shot_2022-06-29_at_9.24.27_AM.png

  2. In the window that opens, locate the file you created in Step 1 above.

  3. Click on the file and then click Open.

    Screen_Shot_2022-06-29_at_9.25.01_AM_2.png

  4. To double-check that these phone numbers were added to your Do-not-contact Phone List, see Viewing Who Is on Your Email Opt-Out List below.

 

Viewing Who Is on Your Text Opt-Out List

To view a list of all patients who have been opted out of texts (including patients who have opted out by replying "STOP" to a text from you):

  1. From the YAPI Dashboard, click Setup and Manage Setup_and_Manage.png. 

  2. Select Manage Opt-Out Lists, then Do-not-contact Phone List:

    Screen_Shot_2022-06-28_at_3.36.20_PM.png

  3. When prompted, enter your YAPI password and click OK.

 

Opting a Patient Back In

If a patient is on your Do-Not-Contact Phone List and you need to opt them back in:

Opt_Back_In_Text.gif

  1. From the YAPI Dashboard, click Setup and Manage Setup_and_Manage.png.  Select Manage Opt-Out Lists, then Do-not-contact Phone List.

  2. When prompted, enter your YAPI password and click OK.

  3. Locate the patient you want to opt back in and select the checkbox next to their name:

    Screen_Shot_2022-06-29_at_10.45.18_AM_2.png

  4. Click Remove.

  5. When asked if you're sure, click Yes.

 

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