Qliva's communications system lets your clinic send the right message at the right time, automatically. You build reusable templates, set triggers that fire when something happens, and optionally chain them into multi-step sequences.
Templates
Templates are the building blocks of every message your clinic sends. Each template is a reusable email or SMS design that you fill with merge tags — placeholders that are swapped out for real values at send time.
Creating a Template
Go to Admin Portal → Communications → Templates → New Template.
- Channel: choose Email, SMS, or Both
- Email templates have a subject line and a formatted body
- SMS templates have a body only — no subject line, no formatting
Merge Tags
Use these tags in your template body (and subject line for emails). Qliva replaces them automatically when the message sends.
| Merge tag | Replaced with |
|---|---|
{{patient_first_name}} | Patient's first name |
{{patient_full_name}} | Patient's full name |
{{practitioner_name}} | Practitioner's full name |
{{clinic_name}} | Your clinic name |
{{clinic_phone}} | Your clinic phone number |
{{clinic_email}} | Your clinic email |
{{appointment_date}} | Appointment date (formatted for AU) |
{{appointment_time}} | Appointment time (formatted for AU) |
{{appointment_type}} | Appointment type name |
{{booking_link}} | Your clinic's public booking page URL |
{{portal_link}} | Patient portal login link |
{{form_name}} | Name of the linked intake form |
Triggers
Triggers are rules that automatically send a template (or sequence) when something happens in your clinic.
Creating a Trigger
Go to Admin Portal → Communications → Triggers → New Trigger.
- Choose an event (trigger type)
- Choose the template or sequence to send
- Optionally set quiet hours to avoid sending during late nights or early mornings
- Save and activate
Available Trigger Types
| Trigger | When it fires |
|---|---|
| Appointment Booked | When a patient books — online or added manually |
| Appointment Cancelled | When an appointment is cancelled |
| Consult Note Signed | When a practitioner signs a consultation note |
| Pathology Results Released | When results are released to the patient |
| Patient Inactivity | When a patient has had no appointment for a configured number of days |
| Intake Form Not Completed | Fires at 72h, 48h, 24h, and 4h before the appointment if the form is still incomplete |
Filtering by Appointment Type
The Appointment Booked trigger can be filtered to fire only for specific appointment types. For example, you might want to send a welcome sequence only for Initial Consultations, not Follow-ups.
Quiet Hours
Set a time window during which messages are held rather than sent immediately. When the quiet window ends, any held messages are released and sent.
Transactional vs Marketing
Appointment confirmations, pathology results, and clinical communications are transactional — they bypass marketing consent requirements. Promotional or marketing messages require explicit patient opt-in.
Sequences
Sequences let you chain multiple messages together on a schedule instead of sending a single one.
Example: After an appointment is booked → send a welcome email immediately → send a preparation reminder 24 hours before → send a follow-up 3 days after.
Creating a Sequence
Go to Communications → Sequences → New Sequence. Add steps, setting a delay and template for each.
- Delays can be set in minutes, hours, days, or weeks from the trigger event
- Patients can be enrolled in multiple sequences at the same time
Send History
The Send History log shows every message your clinic has sent or scheduled.
- Filter by patient, date range, channel (email or SMS), or delivery status
- View delivery timestamps and email open events
- See error details for any failed sends
Appointment Reminders
Appointment reminders (e.g. "send an SMS 2 hours before") are a separate feature from communication triggers. Configure them under Settings → Reminders.
For full details, see Appointments (Admin).