SMS/email notifications to patient families and referral sources

Purpose

1.1. Notify patient families and referral sources via SMS and email in real-time about air ambulance dispatch status, ETAs, patient movement updates, and handoff confirmations.
1.2. Automate multi-channel outreach ensuring critical information reaches all stakeholders quickly, improving response coordination, situational awareness, and patient family comfort.

Trigger Conditions

2.1. Air ambulance dispatch confirmed.
2.2. ETA updates received from pilots or crew in-flight.
2.3. Patient handover at destination facility.
2.4. Critical incident status change (delay, reroute, landing, diversion).
2.5. Arrival confirmation and mission close-out.
2.6. Manual override by dispatch manager for urgent communication.

Platform Variants

3.1. Twilio (SMS/Voice)
• Feature: Messaging API; Configure SMS workflow for dispatch status triggers.
3.2. SendGrid
• Feature: Mail Send API; Auto-generate formatted notification emails.
3.3. Plivo
• Feature: SMS API; Real-time patient status SMS for family/referral sources.
3.4. Nexmo (Vonage)
• Feature: SMS Messaging API; Configure for dynamic notification sender IDs.
3.5. MessageBird
• Feature: Programmable SMS; Set up notification templates and automations.
3.6. AWS SNS
• Feature: Publish action via SNS Topic; Multi-channel (SMS/email) blast.
3.7. Microsoft Graph API (Outlook)
• Feature: sendMail endpoint; Dispatch critical emails to contacts.
3.8. Slack (for referrers)
• Feature: chat.postMessage API; Instant message channels with case IDs.
3.9. PagerDuty
• Feature: Events API v2; Trigger notifications based on dispatch event payload.
3.10. HubSpot
• Feature: Workflow Automation; Enroll families/referrers for notification drip.
3.11. Salesforce (Marketing Cloud)
• Feature: Journey Builder; Send transactional SMS/emails for each event.
3.12. Zapier
• Feature: Webhooks + SMS/Email app actions; Orchestrate multi-step alerts.
3.13. ActiveCampaign
• Feature: Automations trigger; Email/SMS split based on recipient preference.
3.14. Mailgun
• Feature: /messages API; Batch-sent transactional emails for dispatch updates.
3.15. Google Workspace (Gmail API)
• Feature: Users.messages.send; Push emails to families/referrer contacts.
3.16. ClickSend
• Feature: SMS API; Personalize updates with merge fields (name/ETA).
3.17. SimpleTexting
• Feature: Campaign SMS API; Broadcasts for grouped family notifications.
3.18. Infobip
• Feature: SMS API; Global delivery for international patient families.
3.19. OneSignal
• Feature: Notifications API; Push/SMS hybrid notification to app contacts.
3.20. Moonsend
• Feature: Transactional Triggers; Email templates for unique incident numbers.
3.21. Intercom
• Feature: Messenger; Direct messages based on dispatch stages.

Benefits

4.1. Reduced manual workload for dispatchers—no need for repeated direct calls/email.
4.2. Consistent, immediate, and auditable information flow to families and referrers.
4.3. Customizable delivery by channel and language for accessibility.
4.4. Reduced risk of miscommunication during high-stress mission scenarios.
4.5. Enhanced overall service transparency and customer satisfaction.