Case Study: Appointment Reminder Automation

Client / Context
Occupational Therapy practice needing a reliable way to send appointment reminders. The challenge was that each patient had different preferences for how often they wanted to be reminded and who should receive the reminders (patient, patient family members/supports, or both).

Problem
Previously, staff had to manually track and send reminders, which was time-consuming and prone to errors. They needed a system that:

• Automatically sent reminders based on the contact’s chosen frequency (24 hours before, 48 hours before, same-day, etc.)

• Directed reminders to the right recipient(s) (patient, caregiver 1, caregiver 2)

• Synced with the practice calendar so messages went out only for confirmed bookings.

Solution (What I Built)

• Designed a workflow in GoHighLevel (GHL) that triggered as soon as an appointment was scheduled.

• Used custom fields to capture reminder preferences and recipient selection during intake.

• Created conditional logic in the workflow so reminders went to the right person(s) at the right time.

• Set up both SMS and email reminders, tailored to match the contact’s preferences.

• Added fail-safes to prevent duplicate or unnecessary reminders.

Result

• Reduced manual admin work by 80% for the front office.

• Improved show-up rate for appointments, since reminders were consistent and reliable.