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In this guide, you will build a simple Automation for: Sending a birthday Email to patients whose birthday is today. This is a friendly first example because it uses the three main pieces of PracticeMate Communications work:
  • a Recipe to find the Patient Cohort
  • an Email Template to hold the wording
  • an Automation to bring them together

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Before you start

You need:
  • a Recipe named Patients whose birthday is today
  • an Email Template named Birthday email
If your practice uses different names, choose the matching Recipe and Template from your own list.
Do not use Run Now until your team is ready for the Automation to contact patients. Build, save, and review the Automation first.

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Open a new Automation

Open Automations, then select Create Automation. The Automations page with the Create Automation button available above the Automations table. PracticeMate opens a blank Automation editor.

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Name the Automation

In Automation details, enter:
  • Name: Birthday Card Email
  • Description: Sends patients an email on their birthday.
The name and description are for your practice team. Patients do not see them.
Use a name that describes the workflow clearly. Birthday Card Email is easier to recognise later than Birthday automation or Test email.

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Choose when it runs

Leave When set to I trigger this manually while you build the Automation. Manual means PracticeMate will not run this Automation automatically. It will only run when a Member chooses Run Now. If your practice is ready for this to happen automatically every day, choose On a recurring schedule instead, then set the Timezone, Frequency, and Time. For a birthday workflow, a daily morning schedule is usually the natural choice once the team is ready.

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Select the birthday Recipe

Under Run, open Using Recipe. Choose Patients whose birthday is today. The Using Recipe menu showing available Recipes, including Patients whose birthday is today. After you choose the Recipe, PracticeMate shows an expected patient count based on the last time that Recipe was run.
The expected count is a guide. It helps you check whether the selected Recipe looks sensible before the Automation runs.

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Add the Email step

In Do this, select Add First Step. In the Add Step dialog, open Action and choose Send Email. The Email settings appear beneath the Action selector. Open Using Template. Choose Birthday email. Select Add Step. PracticeMate adds the configured Send Email step to the Automation. The Send Email step now uses the Birthday email Template.

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Review the complete Automation

The complete Automation should read like this:
  • Run: I trigger this manually while building, or On a recurring schedule when your team is ready, using Patients whose birthday is today
  • Do this: Send Email using Birthday email
Your editor should look similar to this finished example.

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Save the Automation

Select Save Automation. PracticeMate checks that the Automation has:
  • a valid name
  • a selected Recipe
  • at least one Automation Step
  • required selections inside each step
Saving also locks the selected Recipe Version and Email Template Version into the Automation.
Later edits to the Recipe or Birthday email Template will not quietly change this Automation. If you want the Automation to use a newer Recipe or Template version later, open the Automation and choose Update to latest when that option appears.

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Check the Settings tab

After saving, open Settings. The Automation Settings page showing Processing Rules, Prevent reprocessing, Credit Limit, and Communication Limit. For a birthday Email, Prevent reprocessing is usually helpful. It stops PracticeMate from sending again to patients this Automation has already processed for the same Recipe. You can also check the Credit Limit before running the Automation.

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Check the Runs tab

Open Runs when you want to see Automation Run history. For this walkthrough, the Birthday Card Email Automation may not have previous runs yet. The Runs tab for an Automation with no runs yet, showing Run history, No runs yet, overview cards, and Run Now. A populated Runs page looks like this example: A populated Automation Runs page showing a selected run with status, total patients, credits used, timing, and step activity. The Runs page helps your practice see what happened each time the Automation ran.

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What you learned

You used:
  • Automation details to name and describe the workflow
  • Run to choose when the Automation starts and select a Recipe
  • Do this to add a Send Email step
  • Using Template to choose the Birthday email Template
  • Save Automation to store the workflow
  • Settings to review processing and limit controls
  • Runs to review previous Automation Runs
You have built your first PracticeMate Automation.
Next, use the Automation editor reference when you want a complete guide to every control and available step.