Cloud SMS

Patient communication: Dr. Flex confirms appointments via SMS with Retarus

Dr. Flex provides online appointment scheduling solutions for medical practices. They send appointment information and reminders to patients via Retarus Cloud SMS.

Initial Situation

Standard Providers with Issues

Dr. Flex processes approximately 3.5 million appointments per year for more than 11,500 physicians through its platform. The company offers its solutions to medical professionals across various specialties, including dentistry, orthodontics, implantology, oral surgery, orthopedics, gynecology, and general medicine.
Before switching to Retarus, Dr. Flex used standard e-mail and SMS providers. However, these providers lacked dedicated enterprise features such as guaranteed delivery or comprehensive security certifications. SMS delivery issues were frequent, particularly with time-sensitive notifications. There was also a lack of transparency regarding delivery quality and audit-proof tracking. Using e-mail as an alternative proved inefficient and not sufficiently scalable.

Objective

Improved Delivery Quality and Process Security

Dr. Flex must communicate critical appointment information and reminders to patients in a GDPR-compliant, reliable, and timely manner. Since the previous solution no longer met the requirements for delivery quality and process security, a new service provider was sought in mid-2024. The most crucial requirements were high delivery quality and speed (including internationally), GDPR and ISO 27001 compliance, transparent reporting and monitoring, easy API integration into the existing infrastructure, and scalability for high volumes.

Retarus was ultimately selected due to its enterprise-grade security, excellent delivery rate, and flexible API. Personalized support and 24/7 customer service also played a key role in the decision.

Our goals with regard to stability and delivery rate were fully met. In hindsight, we could have rolled it out company-wide right from the start.

Dr. Felix Wohlgemuth, Product Development and Strategy, Dr. Flex GmbH

Approach

Three-Phase Rollout

The implementation in the Product Development and Operations departments took approximately eight weeks from the decision to the productive go-live. The project was divided into three phases: technical integration and API connection, testing with selected message types, and rollout to all production systems. The integration was done via a REST API into the existing SaaS platform.

The Retarus API was seamlessly integrated. The biggest challenge for Dr. Flex was adapting its notification system to the new API logic provided by Retarus. This was efficiently resolved through close coordination with Retarus’ technical support. Minor issues with API parameters were quickly addressed during the testing phase.

Benefits and Advantages

Noticeably Higher Efficiency

While automated notifications for patients were already in place, introducing Retarus’ Enterprise SMS Services made them significantly more reliable, secure, and scalable. The implementation enabled the standardization and automation of processes that previously required manual adjustments. No additional hardware was needed, as Retarus’ services are fully cloud-based.

Thanks to Retarus, Dr. Flex has achieved significantly higher efficiency. For instance, SMS delivery failure rates were reduced by more than 30%. Additionally, the effort required for manually addressing communication issues decreased significantly. The availability of Retarus’ services is very high, and there have been no significant outages or disruptions since the implementation.

The Retarus’ solution provides Dr. Flex and its clients with maximum reliability and compliance in patient communication. The employees appreciate the ease of use and the reduced workload in daily operations. No special training was required thanks to the intuitive API and clear documentation.

Key Facts

Flexibility and scalability
Easy integration via REST API
GDPR and ISO 27001 compliance
Guaranteed Service Level (SLA)

Conclusion and Outlook

Further Retarus Services Planned

Dr. Flex has integrated Retarus Enterprise SMS Services into its platform and uses it to handle all patient communication for its clients. Based on the positive experience, Dr. Flex also wants to use Retarus for internal communication processes and escalation notifications in other areas of the company. The company is currently evaluating additional services, such as Retarus Transactional Email, to further standardize its communication infrastructure.
Overall, the implementation went smoothly. Dr. Flex considers the support provided by Retarus during the implementation to be very professional and collaborative.

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