Patient Messaging

Reading messages

1. Click Chat in the portal navigation
2. The left panel shows all active conversations, sorted by most recent activity
3. Unread conversations have a green dot and an unread count badge
4. Click a conversation to open it in the main panel

Replying to a patient

1. Open the conversation
2. Type your message in the text box at the bottom
3. Press Enter or click Send

Messages are delivered instantly. The patient is notified on their dashboard.

Conversation management

• Archive — Removes the conversation from the main list but preserves the history
• Mark as unread — Useful to flag conversations to review later

Who can access chat?

Access to chat is permission-controlled. Only staff with the can_view_chat permission can see patient conversations. See Roles & Permissions.

Privacy

• Conversations are encrypted at rest and in transit
• Local Health Care staff cannot read the content of messages
• Patients can delete their account and request message removal via the account deletion process

Chat availability

The Chat feature must be enabled for your clinic. If you don't see the Chat tab, contact support to have it activated.