Messages

Messages is for quick notes between staff: covering a session, a room change, a question about a chart. Messages stay inside NeatPractice. Open Messages in the main menu.

Messages are for your team only. They are separate from anything patients or families send the clinic.

Every built-in role except Read-only Auditor can use Messages. If Messages is missing from your menu, your role has Messaging: Staff Use turned off; ask an administrator (see Roles and permissions).

Your inbox#

Inbox lists the conversations you are in, the latest first. A conversation with new messages shows in bold with its Unread count, and the number beside Inbox in the menu adds up everything you have not read. New messages appear while the page is open; you do not need to refresh.

Archived lists conversations you archived. Archiving hides a conversation from your inbox only; nothing is deleted, and the next message in it brings it back.

Starting a conversation#

1. Click New Message.
2. In To, pick one or more teammates. Only teammates whose role can use Messages are listed.
3. To start a named group, turn on Name the group and enter a name such as Front desk huddle.
4. Write your Message and click Send Message.

Writing to one teammate without a group name continues your existing conversation with them, so each pair of people has one direct conversation.

Linking a patient chart#

Turn on Link a patient chart and pick the patient. The message carries a link to the chart, never a copy of it. Teammates who can open that chart see the patient's name and can click through; anyone else sees that a chart was linked, without the name. You can link only charts you can open yourself.

Reading and replying#

Click a conversation to open it. Messages read from the oldest at the top to the newest at the bottom; click Show Older Messages for earlier ones. Opening a conversation marks it read.

Write in Reply and click Send. Messages cannot be edited or deleted once sent.

Groups#

In a group, any member can click Edit Group to rename it or change who is in it. Someone you remove no longer sees the conversation; their earlier messages stay in it, and adding them back restores it. To leave a group yourself, open the menu at the top of the conversation and click Leave Group. Direct conversations can be archived but not left.

Notifications#

When a message arrives in a conversation you had fully read, you get a notification that says only New message. It never shows who wrote it or what it says, and neither does an email or phone notification. Choose how you get notifications in Notifications.

How long messages are kept#

Messages are kept until your clinic sets a limit. An owner or administrator can set one under Setup > Communication, on the Quiet hours and policies tab, in Staff message retention; see Communication. Once a limit is set, messages older than it are removed each night. Messages that are still kept are included when your clinic exports its data.