Notification Channels
How patients and staff get notified — WhatsApp, Email, and SMS.
Notification Channels
The notification system sends alerts to patients and staff when key events occur. Notifications are dispatched through configurable channels based on the event type.
Available Channels
Channel | Description |
|---|---|
Messages sent via the WhatsApp Business API (Dialog360 integration) | |
Emails sent via AWS SES | |
SMS | Text messages via third-party SMS provider |
Push | Mobile push notifications |
Patient Notification Events
The system generates notifications for 13 patient-facing events:
Appointment Events
Event | Channels | When It Fires |
|---|---|---|
Appointment Confirmed | WhatsApp, Email | When a booking is confirmed (payment received or no payment needed) |
Pending Approval | When an appointment needs doctor/admin approval | |
Appointment Rejected | WhatsApp, Email | When an approval request is rejected |
Appointment Cancelled | When an appointment is cancelled (by patient, staff, or system) | |
Appointment Rescheduled | WhatsApp, Email | When an appointment is moved to a new slot |
Appointment Completed | After the consultation is finished | |
No-Show | When a patient is marked as not having attended | |
Appointment Reminder | WhatsApp, Email | Scheduled reminders before the appointment (24h, 2h, 30min) |
Walk-In Events
Event | Channels | When It Fires |
|---|---|---|
Token Called | When the patient's token number is called to the counter/room | |
Approaching Turn | When the patient is close to being served (configurable threshold) |
Clinical Events
Event | Channels | When It Fires |
|---|---|---|
Prescription Ready | WhatsApp, Email | When a doctor issues a prescription |
Report Ready | WhatsApp, Email | When a diagnostic report is verified and delivered |
Emergency Event
Event | Channels | When It Fires |
|---|---|---|
Emergency Leave | WhatsApp, Email | When a doctor takes emergency leave and appointments are cancelled |
Emergency leave notifications include the refund amount and a reschedule link for affected patients.
Notification Delivery
Notifications are processed asynchronously via a message queue:
- Exchange: events are published to a topic exchange with routing keys matching the event type
- Queue: a dedicated notification queue consumes events
- Deduplication: each event has a unique ID — duplicate events within 5 minutes are ignored
- Prefetch: the consumer processes up to 10 messages concurrently
Template Variables
Each notification uses a template with dynamic variables. Common variables available across events:
- Patient: name, phone, email
- Appointment: booking reference, slot date, slot time, status
- Doctor: doctor name
- Centre: centre name
- Financial: amount, payment status
Walk-in notifications additionally include token number, queue name, position in queue, and assigned room.
Staff Notification Events
Beyond patient notifications, the system also generates staff-facing events for internal operations:
- Bill generated — alerts billing staff
- Refund processed — alerts finance team
- Deposit received — alerts accounts
- Package events (purchased, redeemed, expired, exhausted)
- Test requested — alerts lab staff
Staff notifications use routing rules (described in Routing & Reminders) to determine which staff members receive each alert.
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