LIVE / DIRECT / REQUEST CALL TEXTS
DIRECT PATIENT TEXTING THAT ENDS PHONE TAG - LIVE, TWO-WAY AND HIPAA-COMPLIANT
Dialog Health lets your team text patients directly from one HIPAA-compliant console, live and two-way. Patients reply in the thread, and those who need a call raise their hand.
Unanswered Call → Direct Text → Patient Replies "YES" → Priority Callback → Visit Back on Track
Reach patients who screen unknown calls
Request-a-call texts: call back only who asks
On-message texting from every department, every time
130+ languages with AI Translator
No app for patients, nothing to install for staff
Real-time delivery, replies and clicks in AnalyticsPRO
Trusted by leading healthcare organizations.
SOME MESSAGES CAN'T WAIT FOR A CAMPAIGN
Automation handles the predictable. It doesn't handle the case that moved up to tomorrow, the pre-op nurse who needs an answer before 3 p.m., the missing authorization, the patient who hasn't confirmed, or the one who just needs a human. Those moments still mean a call, and the call still goes to voicemail. A direct text reaches the patient where they already look, live, and gets a reply in the same thread while the problem is still fixable.
98% of texts are opened, most within 3 minutes
9 in 10 patients prefer to hear from their provider by text
A 0.004% opt-out rate - patients want these texts
WHY DIRECT LIVE PATIENT TEXTING BEATS ANOTHER VOICEMAIL
Reach Patients Who Won't Pick Up
Text one patient, caregiver or staff member in seconds, with no app to download on either end.
Locked, Approved Templates
Lock departments to approved messages so teams move fast without going off message.
Request-a-Call Texts
"Reply YES to request a call from a nurse." Patients raise their hand, and you stop calling everyone.
Every Patient's Language
AI Translator sends and receives in 130+ languages, translated in real time.
A Live, Prioritized Inbox
Replies land in real time. Anything that needs a human routes to Priority Triage, and staff get an email alert.
Links Patients Trust
Branded, trackable DH Links show exactly who clicked, and who didn't.
CASE STUDY
REDUCE CANCELLATIONS
REAL RESULTS
East Valley Endoscopy Reduced Same-Day Cancellations by 66% With Dialog Health
East Valley Endoscopy, an AMSURG GI and endoscopy center in Mesa, Arizona, was averaging about 16 patient cancellations a month - driven mostly by NPO non-compliance, no-shows, and poor prep. Every one meant an idle procedure room, a slot no one could backfill, and a patient whose colonoscopy or EGD got pushed out.
Using Dialog Health's console, the center built its own four-message, two-way workflow: a 10-day confirmation, 5-day reminder, 3-day compliance reminder, and 2-day appointment + NPO reminder. Patients could confirm or flag a conflict by text, so openings got filled earlier. The goal, tracked through a QAPI study, was a 10% reduction in same-day cancellations. They got 66%.
66% fewer same-day cancellations
63% better NPO compliance
56% fewer no-shows
89% fewer prep issues
ANALYTICS AND REPORTING
ANALYTICSPRO, REAL-TIME, ACTIONABLE DATA
Sending is part one. Knowing it worked is part two. AnalyticsPRO shows in real time who got your message, who didn't, who replied and who clicked, along with RCS read receipts. Messages in. Call list out. Roll it up by console or across the enterprise to compare facilities.
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MADE FOR SITUATIONS WHEN A PATIENT NEEDS A HUMAN, FAST
Dialog Health's HIPAA-compliant direct texting scales from a single department to the entire enterprise, serving:
Hospitals & health systems: post-discharge check-ins, patient access and enterprise-wide governance
Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs): prep questions, NPO confirmations and day-of changes, fast
Multi-location & specialty practices: one on-message voice across every location
Contact centers & patient access teams: text-first outreach that triggers inbound calls, many conversations at once
Typical users: schedulers, pre-op and post-op nurses, care coordinators, patient access and contact center agents, front desk and billing staff.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is direct patient texting, and how is it different from automated reminders?
Automated reminders go out on a schedule without anyone pressing send. Direct patient texting is the on-demand side: a staff member texts one patient, a caregiver or a small group from the console, right now. It covers "we tried to reach you" follow-ups, live two-way conversations and request-a-call texts. Most organizations use both, with automation for the predictable and direct texting for everything else.
Is it HIPAA-compliant to text patients directly?
Yes, when it's done on a platform built for it, following the "minimum necessary" principle. Dialog Health is HIPAA-compliant and SOC 2 Type II certified, with role-based access, MFA and a full, exportable message history. HHS guidance also recognizes a patient's right to request communication by alternative means, such as text. Best practice is to keep sensitive clinical detail out of the text itself and point patients to a call or a secure link instead.
What should staff include in a direct text, and what should they leave out?
Include your organization's name, the patient's first name, a clear ask ("please call us back at…" or "reply YES to request a call"), a phone number and opt-out language. Leave out diagnoses, procedure details, results and anything that reveals a specific condition. Locking departments to approved templates makes this the default instead of something each staff member has to remember.
How do consent, opt-in and opt-out work under the TCPA?
Texts about treatment and care operations generally rely on prior express consent, which is typically given when a patient provides their mobile number. Always confirm your approach with counsel. Under the FCC's revocation rules in effect since April 11, 2025, patients can opt out by any reasonable means, such as replying STOP, and requests must be honored promptly. Dialog Health manages subscriptions and opt-outs natively at the patient level, and keywords like Text2Join let patients opt themselves in.
How do "request a call" texts work?
You send a text such as "If you have questions, reply YES to request a call from a nurse." Automated Flow Replies understand real-world answers (yes, ya, y, sí), route them to Priority Triage, and email staff when something is waiting. Instead of calling an entire list, your team calls only the patients who asked. That's how Hackensack Meridian cut post-discharge calls to 31% of patients.
Who on our team can send direct texts, and how do we keep everyone on message?
You decide. Role-based access controls who can send, from which department and whether free text is allowed. You can lock a department to approved templates so it moves fast without going off message, and every message is logged in an exportable history for audits and quality review.
What happens when a patient replies after hours or with a clinical question?
Replies land in a real-time, prioritized inbox with the message context attached, and anything that needs a human is flagged to Priority Triage with an email alert. Best practice is to write your after-hours and emergency guidance into your templates (for example, "for emergencies, call 911") and to staff the inbox during your texting windows. The platform is secure texting, not an emergency line, and your templates should say so.
Why not just let staff text patients from their personal cell phones?
Personal phones leave no organizational audit trail. Conversations walk out the door when a staff member leaves, and a lost phone full of patient texts is a potential breach. Personal numbers also invite clinical questions to an unmonitored channel. Dialog Health keeps every conversation in one governed, cloud-based console with nothing to install and no app for staff or patients.
How do we know if a text was delivered, read or clicked?
AnalyticsPRO shows delivery, replies and link clicks in real time, broken down by who got the message, who didn't, who replied and who clicked. Branded DH Links add person-level click tracking, and RCS, powered by Dialog Health, adds read receipts and a verified, branded sender. You can roll results up by department, facility or the whole enterprise.
Can we text patients and caregivers in their preferred language?
Yes. AI Translator translates outbound and inbound messages across 130+ languages in real time, right from the "Translate to…" dropdown, so staff compose in English and patients read and reply in their own language. That matters: KFF estimates that as of 2024, 28.5 million people in the U.S. ages five and older, nearly one in ten, have limited English proficiency. CAIPA used Dialog Health to reach 90% of 22,000 patients across seven Chinese dialects.
Does direct patient texting integrate with Epic, Cerner or athenahealth?
Yes. Dialog Health works with the EHR/EMR you already run, including Epic, Cerner, athenahealth, Meditech, ModMed, Greenway, NextGen, eClinicalWorks, Veradigm and Salesforce. Connections are available through bidirectional REST and SOAP APIs, HL7 SIU and ADT feeds, CSV via sFTP or UI upload, or custom integrations, so patient lists and contact details stay current.
What number do texts come from, and how fast can we go live?
Most organizations text from a registered 10DLC long code, typically live in about 2–5 weeks, or a dedicated short code in about 6–8 weeks, with carrier registration handled as part of onboarding. RCS, powered by Dialog Health, adds a verified sender with your name and logo. The console itself is cloud-based, and white-glove kickoff and training get your team texting quickly.
Will direct texting replace our phones or contact center?
No. It makes them smarter. Texting handles the quick, routine exchanges and tells you exactly who still needs a call, so your phone time goes to the conversations that matter. Contact center agents can also manage several text conversations at once, where a phone call handles only one.
What results should we expect, and how is it priced?
Results vary by organization and use, but Dialog Health clients have seen a 92% decrease in pre- and post-op calls, a 97% reach rate on a referral campaign, and 523 staff hours saved in a single year of post-discharge texting. Pricing is tailored to your size and use case. The fastest way to get a number is a no-pressure, 15-minute demo mapped to your workflow.
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