Messaging and notifications
Secure messaging with families
Message patients and guardians from Chat, write in your language while they read in theirs, see the original, use the team space, and ask Sefton Help.
Chat > Messages is one inbox for patient conversations, provider-to-provider threads, and the practice team space.
Starting a conversation
New conversation: choose the recipient type (patient, providers, or practices), pick the recipient, and write. A patient conversation reaches the guardians marked as communications contacts and the patient’s portal Messages tab.
Translation both ways
Write in English (or Spanish). If the family’s preferred language differs, they read your message in their language with the original available; when they write back in theirs, you read it in yours with their original underneath. Nothing about the family’s language needs to be remembered by you.
Team space and Sefton Help
Team space is the internal channel for the practice. Sefton Help (the assistant) answers questions about billing, workflows, and the product from inside Chat.
Search
Search messages finds text across conversations, including translated text.
Alerts
Families who opted in receive a generic “new message” alert by email or SMS. Your own notification preferences for messages are under Settings > Notifications.
Frequently asked questions
How does the translation work in both directions?
The family's preferred language is on their record. Your message is translated into it when it is delivered; their reply is detected and translated into yours. Both sides can always see the original text.
Does the family get an email or text with the message?
Only a generic alert that there is a new message, if they opted in. The content is visible only inside the portal.