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The following steps will be addressed by your Implementations Coordinator, but we've also highlighted the process here. If you have already been through the Onboarding Process, you can skip to the Exploring the Engage Portal section.
You'll need to add your Portal URL to MacPractice Preferences. Second, you'll need to ensure Patients are opted in via the Communications Tab of the Patients Ability. And finally, when first visiting your Portal, you'll need to go through the Express Wizard to initially configure the Portal.
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There is also a button to open the patient in the Engage ability. We'll cover the functionality in the Engage Portal later in the article.
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We have also implemented a Database Utility to update these checkboxes for all the patients in your database.
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To access this Database Utility, you'll need to navigate to the Managers Ability > Database Utilities, and search for "Update Patient Appointment Reminder Settings".
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Remember that we do advise that an office make a backup of your database prior to using any Database Utility as a precaution to avoid any unintentional changes. |
Setting up Reminder Colors in the Schedule
Prior to using MacPractice Engage, it is important to we recommend that you configure your Schedule's Appointment Display to reflect when an appointment is confirmed in the Engage Portal.
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Setting up by using the Express Wizard
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When a user first accesses the Engage Portal, they'll be presented with the Express Wizard. You'll click the green "Get Started Now" button to begin setting up your Engage Portal. This will configure your Reminders and Confirmations and other details for your practice. Our Implementation Coordinator will walk you through the Express Wizard for your Office in all likelihood, but we'll leave these instructions here that walk you through each step for later reference.
You will need to access the Engage Portal from a browser window first to fully utilize the Express Wizard, as part of the Express Wizard deals with enabling pop-ups in order to facilitate notifications. Popups are not able to open in the MacPractice software.
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It's important to note that while the Express Wizard does a good job of getting you up and running quickly, there are plenty of options available to fine tune your reminders to better fit your practice's needs. You may also need to customize your messages in Email and SMS Templates. These topics will be covered later in the article. |
Once you click the "Get Started Now" button, you'll be taken to Office Settings. In this article, you can click on each section that is present in the Express Wizard below to expand it and read more about it.
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 Here, you'll be able to set the details regarding your practice. The majority of the fields should be pulled from the details you filled out on the Registration Page step, but you can adjust these if necessary in the Settings Tab > General Settings in the left Sidebar > Office Settings. Once you're satisfied, click the "Save and Continue" button at the bottom. Information entered into these fields can be pulled into messages. For example, the Practice SMS Name will always be pulled into your messages.
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Click Save and Continue to move on. The next screen allows you to customize your email header. |
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 Here you can upload a logo to include on your e-mails, or reset the header to remove one. You can also customize any text and color included using the editing tools provided. Once you're satisfied with the formatting of your header, click the "Save and Continue" button on the lower right to move on to Popup Settings.
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 This section instructs the user to enable Popups on your browser. You'll want to ensure that your browser is not blocking pop-ups when using the Engage Portal, since these pop-ups will be used as notifications and you won't want to miss messages. This page of the Express Wizard will help you identify how to enable pop-ups for your browser when on the Engage Portal. |
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The next page in the wizard assists the office with Birthday messages. Here the office can see a preview of a birthday message and text to be sent to patients on their birthday. The office can turn this option on and off as desired, and also set a time of day when a birthday notification should go out. The Birthday Notification image cannot be changed from the Express Wizard. There are a few templates available that you can review later with additional options. Once you're satisfied, continue on by clicking the Save and Continue button to take you to the Confirmations window. |
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 Confirmation Notifications allow you to set when a 1st, 2nd, and/or Voice Confirmation are sent to patients. You can use the |
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days” selector to tweak when a confirmation should be sent out prior to an appointment, or disable a particular confirmation.
Once you're satisfied with the options set, continue on to Early Reminders. |
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 The next page is where the office can set Early Reminders. Early Reminders give patients a heads up about their upcoming appointment. If responded to, Early Reminders will not confirm an appointment like a Confirmation message would. Early Reminders can be enabled/disabled, set a timeframe before an appointment and set the time of day the messages should be sent out. When you're ready to move on to Same Day Reminders, click Save & Continue. |
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 The next page is to allow the offices to set messages for Same Day Reminders. This is a simple reminder sent to the patient so they don't forget their appointment the day of. If responded to, Same Day Reminders will not confirm an appointment like a Confirmation message would. This can be turned on and off as desired, and you can set a timeframe before the appointment and set a time to not send reminders before.
When satisfied, click Save & Continue to move onto Recalls. |
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 The next page is where Recall Notifications can be set. Much like the prior sections, each setting, including voice, can be enabled/disabled depending on the office’s preference. If all contact details for a given patient are filled out, and all of your Recall Notifications are turned on, a patient could feasibly receive an Email notification, a SMS notification, and a Voice call notification for that one Recall Notification. You may want to consider this and ensure you understand how many reminders are going out. Once you’re happy with the changes, they can click Save & Continue to move to the final page! |
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 On the final Send Messages page, the office has the chance to review their Automated Messaging and Automated recall timelines. This gives the office a good visual representation of when their messages will go out, and how many. There is also a check box to “Send out today’s reminders now”. This box is checked by default and will immediately send out any reminders that should go out today based on the options you've selected in the Express Wizard. In most cases, this checkbox should not be checked until AFTER the Portal URL is entered into MacPractice, and you've also had a chance to fully review all the options available. Once you are satisfied, click Finish to continue. You will now be taken to the Home Page, where you can begin to explore the Engage Portal. |
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There are two ways to access your Engage Portal: Via the Engage Ability, or by navigating to the URL provided in your Registration email. The advantage of using the browser over the integrated Ability in MacPractice is that the browser window will issue popup notifications if you receive messages.
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