Send attachments to your patients including PDFs, images, short videos, and forms. Attachments are helpful in cases where patients require more in-depth information such as detailed peri-procedural instructions before or after their visit. Attachments can be sent through Manual Messages or Automations. If the attachment contains any Protected Health Information (PHI), you must follow your organization's guidelines for storing and transmitting that information in accordance with HIPAA.

Note: Attachments must be under 10 mb. Any attachments over this limit will fail to send to the patient and an error message will display in the Patient Channel. 

Send Attachments

Manual Messaging

1. Use the Paper Clip icon to include one or more attachments to the message. 
2. Select the Paper Clip icon to open the attachments modal. To attach files, select Choose Files to Attach. 
3. Select the appropriate files from your File Finder:
   1. Choose one or more attachments (Use Ctrl + Click, Shift + Click, or Command + Click to select multiple attachments). 
   2. Make sure the file names do not contain special characters. 
4. Once you have chosen the file(s) you wish to send, review the file name(s) to make sure you have attached the correct ones for the patient. Then, click Attach X Files, where X represents the number of files attached.
5.  A number icon will appear displaying the amount of files attached. 
6. Include a message to the patient. A message must be sent to the patient along with the attachments, otherwise, the text cannot be sent. 
7. Determine whether you would like to send the content as a Secure or Unsecured message. Important: Attachments over 600KB are required to be sent as a Secure Link, regardless of what you have configured. This prevents the message from being filtered out by the patient’s phone carrier. 
8. Click Send text with X attachment(s). Attachments can be sent via Text or Email. 
9. Files sent to and received from the patient are viewable in the Attachments section of the Patient's Facesheet.
   
10. You will also be able to view the sent and/or received attachments directly from the Patient Channel by clicking on the message. 

Automations

The process for including attachments in Automations is very similar, but instead of a Paper Clip icon, you will see a Select Files button. 

A few notes: 

• You can only attach files to Text messages within Automations.
• You can only attach files to Automations from the Practice Automations page. You cannot attach rich Media Attachments at the Default level. 
• You will not receive the over 600KB file size warning within the Automation window, however, if the file is larger than 600KB it will automatically be sent as a Secure Message, regardless of what you have configured. 

Leading Practices for Sending Attachments

In addition to keeping the total file size under 600KB, check out these tips for sharing attachments with your patients.

File Naming Conventions

Ensure the file name does not include the following special characters: ! $ % ^ & * ( ) + = { } [ ] | \ / : ; " ' < > ` ,

If these characters are included, Artera will clean up the file name so that it removes the special character(s) and the attachment can be successfully sent.

Non-Supported Media

You will notice that Word documents (.docx,. .doc) and .CSV files are grayed out upon selection. These are non-supported file types and cannot be sent through Artera. Please use a PDF, JPG, BMP, PNG, or a video file instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which file types can patients successfully send in? 

Patients can send in the following file types: GIF, JPEG, PNG, Emotes & Emojis. Any other file types sent in by a patient will generate a File Error message in the Patient's Channel:

NOTE: The File Error message will not display within the Patient's Channel if the patient sends in .doc., .docx., .xls., or .csv files, however, those are unsupported file types. 

Are attachments supported with Broadcasts and Campaigns? 

No, attachments are not supported within Broadcasts nor Campaigns.

Are attachments integrated into my EMR? 

Even though rich media files are stored in Artera, they are not imported into your EMR. If you need to store a file in the patient's official chart in your EMR or scheduling system, you will need to save the file to your desktop and upload it to your EMR directly. 

Is there a file size limit for videos?

Yes. If a video file is greater than 600 kb, a message will appear within the Patient Channel indicating the video will be sent as a Secure Link. NOTE: Videos can only be sent outbound to patients. Inbound videos from patients will error out within the Patient's Channel.

Which video file formats are supported?

Commonly used video file formats such as .mp4 and .mov are supported. 

Can we send voice memos to patients? 

At this time, voice memos are not supported and cannot be sent to patients. 

Can attachments be copied and pasted into a message? 

Yes, users can paste attachments from their computer's clipboard into a message within the Patient Channel. When pasting attachments, the Attachments Modal will appear indicating the files that have been attached.