Instinct EMR's Preventive Care Reminders automatically send email and SMS notifications to pet owners when their pet has upcoming or overdue preventive care services—such as vaccines, annual exams, dental cleanings, and diagnostics. Once configured, the system handles outreach across your entire patient population without any per-patient setup.
Before you begin
You must have the admin_manage_preventive_care_reminders permission assigned to your user role to create or edit reminder configurations.
To view configurations without editing, the admin_view_preventive_care_reminders permission is sufficient.
The Preventive Care Reminders feature must be enabled for your practice. Contact support for more information.
For SMS reminders, Client Chat must be active for your practice. Contact support at [email protected] if Client Chat is not enabled.
Note: Practices not currently using Instinct’s vaccine or service reminders will have reminders disabled by default when this feature is first enabled |
Create a reminder group
Reminders are organized into groups. Each group defines which reminder labels to include, which locations it applies to, and when notifications are sent.
Go to Admin → Reminders → Preventive Care Reminders.
Select + New Reminder Group.
Enter a Group Name (255-character maximum).
Under Location, select the specific location(s) this group applies to, or choose Include All for all locations (solely applies to multi-location practices).
Under Inclusion List, select the active Reminder Labels to include in this group.
Under Select the Reminders Schedule, choose when notifications should be sent. Available intervals are: 90, 60, 30, 14, 7, and 3 days before the due date.For each interval, specify the delivery method (email, SMS, or both) and whether it's a Due Soon or Overdue notification.
Select the check mark in the upper right to save the schedule.
Note: Every practice starts with a Default Configuration containing all active reminders. If you create a new group for a specific label, first edit the Default Configuration to remove that label—a label can only be active in one configuration at a time. |
Customize reminder messages
After setting the schedule, you can personalize the email subject line, email body, and SMS message for both Due Soon and Overdue notifications. If a delivery channel isn't selected for a reminder, that section will be grayed out.
To customize a message:
Select the reminder configuration you want to edit.
Under Email Reminders, edit the subject line and body for Due Soon and/or Overdue notifications.
Under Text Message Reminder, edit the SMS body. Keep messages under 1,200 characters — the character count displays in the lower right corner.
Use the available variables (snippets) by typing two curly brackets {{ in the body of a message to personalize reminder messages.
Available variables include:
{{patient_name}}: pet's first name
{{patient_full_name}}: pet’s full name (first and last name)
{{patient_pims_id}}: pet’s PIMS ID
{{patient_age}}: pet’s age
{{patient_sex}}: pet’s sex
{{patient_breed}}: pet’s breed
{{patient_species}}: pet’s species
{{primary_contact_first_name}}: account’s primary contact first name
{{primary_contact_last_name}}: accounts’ primary contact last name
{{reminder_label_list}}: list of services due with dates
{{reminder_label}}: Reminder Label name
{{reminder_product_type}}: reminder product type (Product, Vaccine, etc.)
{{location_name}}:clinic or location name
{{location_phone}}: practice phone number
{{location_address}}: Practice address
{{location_website}}: Practice website url
{{practice_name}}: Practice name
To reset any message to the system default, select Apply Default and confirm when prompted.
Tip: For multi-location practices, use {{location_name}} to show the specific location name or use {{practice_name}} to show the overall practice name. |
Enable SMS reminders for a client
SMS reminders require chat notifications to be turned on per phone number.
Open the client's Account via the Business Office or by clicking Owner in the patient information bar.
Click the 3-dot menu next to the client's phone number.
Select Turn on chat notifications.
Note: By default, chat notifications are set to off. There is no need to turn off chat notifications unless you intend to prevent a client from opting back in. |
Preview and test your reminders
Before enabling a configuration, use the preview tool to verify what clients will receive.
Select the reminder configuration.
Click Preview in the upper right corner.Review the Due Soon and Overdue email and SMS previews.
To send a live test, enter a phone number or email address and send. Tests use real location data with sample patient details.
Note: If your practice does not have SMS enabled, the SMS toggle and phone input fields will not appear in the preview. |
Save and enable a Reminder
After configuring the schedule and templates, click Save Settings.
You'll see a "Care reminder configuration saved successfully" confirmation.
New reminders are disabled by default. To activate a reminder, open the reminder settings and toggle Running to on in the upper-right corner.
To disable a configuration at any time, toggle Running off. A warning message will appear before the change takes effect.
From the main Preventive Care Reminders page in Admin, you can search for Reminders by name or filter by location.
How reminders are sent
Bundling: If multiple reminders are due on the same day for one patient, they are combined into a single message. Reminders due on different days are sent separately.
Suppression: If a patient had an appointment within 30 days of a scheduled reminder, that reminder is skipped. The next reminder in the series still sends on schedule. Deceased patients are automatically suppressed.
Multi-pet households: Reminders for multiple pets within the same household are sent in separate emails and/or text messages.
No cross-channel fallback: If a reminder is configured for SMS only and the owner has no eligible phone number, no reminder is sent. Configure reminders as both email and SMS where possible to ensure coverage.
Legacy reminder retirement: The previous email-only reminder system is scheduled for retirement on September 15, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to set up reminders per patient?
No. Configuration is at the Reminder Label level. Every patient with that label attached to their record is included automatically.
What if a service doesn't have a Reminder Label configured?
No reminder will be sent. Reminder Labels must be set up in Instinct (Admin → Inventory → Reminder Labels) for the system to calculate due dates and trigger outreach.
Can I send reminders in a language other than English?
Yes—message templates are fully customizable. You can write the template in any language. Note that all recipients will receive the same message; language cannot be customized per individual recipient.
Can a pet owner opt out of SMS reminders?
Yes. Replying STOP to an SMS will opt them out via Twilio. For email, there is currently no self-service unsubscribe option.
Why didn't a reminder send even though care is overdue?
The most likely cause is suppression. If the patient had an appointment within the last 30 days, the system assumes the service was offered and skipped the reminder. This is expected behavior.
A staff member can't see Preventive Care Reminders in Admin — why?
Verify the user's role includes admin_view_preventive_care_reminders or admin_manage_preventive_care_reminders.
Still need help?
Contact support via live chat or email [email protected]