Appointment Campaigns in ALOHA® are a powerful tool that automates communications like reminders, intake forms, and directions, tailoring them specifically to each appointment type. This guide will walk you through creating, managing, and troubleshooting these automated messages so you can streamline patient engagement and ensure timely communication in ALOHA.
✨ When You Need This Guide
You want new patients to complete forms before their visit
You need to share directions, pre-visit instructions, or prep info
You’d like to send different messages based on confirmation status
You want to send messages exclusively for online-scheduled appointments
You want to send pre-visit paperwork, like intake forms, automatically to new patients.
“Can I send a message just to new patients?”
“How can I remind patients to fill out their intake form?”
“Can I set up reminders that only send if an appointment isn’t confirmed?”
“How do I create messages based on appointment types?”
“How can I prevent retroactive messages from being sent to existing patients?”
What This Covers (And What It Doesn't)
✅ How to create, customize, and link messages/forms to specific appointment types, including conditional steps and troubleshooting common errors.
❌ How to create the actual text templates or intake forms that you will link to your campaigns.
Prerequisites/You'll Need
Access to your ALOHA Admin account.
The names of the Appointment Types you want to use.
The templates you plan to use your campaign.
✅ Create and Configure Your Appointment Campaign
Follow these steps to build and launch your custom appointment-based messaging campaign in ALOHA.
Start a New Appointment Campaign. Navigate to Campaigns > Show Templates. In the top right corner, click + Add.
In the next pop-up, be sure to select Appointment. This tells the ALOHA system your campaign is linked to scheduled visits.
Select the Appointment Types to Target Find the Appointment Type field in the setup screen. Type in or select the specific appointment type(s) this campaign should apply to (e.g., "New Patient Visit," "Adjustment").
Build Your Automated Campaign Sequence. Click + Add Step to start adding actions to your campaign. For each step, choose the timing, action (text, email, tag, etc), and templates you want to send.
Customize your campaigns to include:
📝 Pre-visit instructions or reminders
Internal Reminders (Call-to-Action)
Save and Launch Your Campaign Once all your steps are added and customized, click Save Campaign.
Then, find the campaign on your main list and click the gray toggle next to it to turn it ON (make it green). Your campaign is now live and running!
🔄 Add Conditional Reminders Based on Confirmation
You can create steps that only trigger if the patient hasn’t confirmed their appointment yet.
Click + Add Step to begin building your sequence
Choose the timing, channel (text/email), and content of each step
Customize the message to include:
📎 Links to digital paperwork
🗺️ Directions to your office
📝 Pre-visit instructions or reminders
Configure timing to send messages a few hours before the appointment (e.g., 4 hours prior)
Here’s how:
In the step builder, under When, set your timing (e.g., "1 day before")
Under Status, choose “If not Confirmed”
🔁 If a patient doesn’t respond to the first message, this ensures they’ll still get the follow-up—no one falls through the cracks!
💡 Common Questions
My appointment types aren't appearing as choices when I try to add them to a campaign. | The "Patient Visit" setting for those types might be turned off in your main system settings. | Go to Settings > Gear Icon > Integration > Edit Appointment Type Settings. Turn the "Patient Visit" toggle ON for any appointment type you want to see in your campaigns. |
I recently renamed an appointment type, and the campaigns aren't recognizing the new name. | The ALOHA system needs to register the change by syncing a new appointment of that type. | Book a future test appointment using the renamed appointment type. Leave it scheduled until visible in Aloha (up to 24 hours). Once the system registers the change, you can reattach the updated appointment type to the appropriate campaigns. |
Automated messages are not sending to any patients. | The campaign may be disabled. | Go to Campaigns > Show Campaigns and enable the campaign (gray toggle turned green). |
My patient didn't get a second reminder message. | The second step might be set up to be conditional on the appointment status (e.g., only send if "not Confirmed"), and the patient may have already confirmed. | Double-check the Status field within the second message step to ensure it is set correctly. If you want everyone to get it, set the Status to Any Status. |
A new campaign isn't sending messages to all eligible patients right away. | ALOHA processes a limited number of patients (about 10-15) at a time when a campaign is first activated to ensure optimal deliverability rates. | Wait a couple hours for the system to gradually add all remaining eligible patients to the campaign if a large amount were eligible. |
🎉 You'll Know It's Working When
The campaign toggle is green, showing it is active and running.
Your patients automatically receive the custom messages, links, and forms you set up based on their upcoming appointment type.
Conditional messages correctly only send when the patient's appointment status matches the step's filter (e.g., a reminder only sending if they haven't confirmed).
💬 Need Help? We're Here!
Our support team is ready to help you perfect your campaigns! Contact us if you have any questions or need further assistance with ALOHA:
📞 Phone: 800-563-0469
📧 Email: support@getaloha.com
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Preventing Retroactive Messages
If enabling the Appointment Confirmation Message sends "Thank you for scheduling" texts to many existing patients, it may be due to the campaign step being configured to trigger "1 minute into campaign." This causes the system to evaluate all existing scheduled appointments and send retroactive messages. To prevent this:
Adjust how patients are enrolled in the campaign.
Apply a pre-processing step to exclude already-scheduled patients before re-enabling the campaign. This avoids unintended retroactive messages.
Appointment Campaigns are tied to specific appointment types, so make sure those are mapped in your system
You can use both confirmed and unconfirmed status filters to fine-tune your messaging
New patients can be sent forms automatically—just add a link in the campaign step!
Test campaigns before activation using placeholder appointment types to avoid affecting real patients
Monitor campaign performance regularly to ensure they meet your needs