Setting up and managing campaigns

Creation date: 9/24/2026 12:19 PM    Updated: 9/24/2026 12:19 PM

Campaigns organize patient outreach into SMS, email, and staff follow-up steps. This guide shows how to create a campaign, choose patients, save a draft, start outreach, and make changes.

1. Create your campaign

Open Campaigns in the main navigation, select Add a New Campaign, then Get started. In Details, enter a clear name, an optional description, and a color. Select Continue.


Before you begin

- Decide who should receive the outreach, what each message should say, and which staff will handle follow-up.

- Campaigns must be enabled for your organization. Ask your administrator if the tab or configuration controls are missing.

- Save as draft while preparing. A draft can contain patients, but its sequence will not send until you start it. Launch campaign on the final screen creates and starts it immediately.


2. Choose how patients enter the campaign

On Patients, select the initial source. This choice loads the starting population; you can add more patients later.


Source

Use it when

Manual

Staff will add patients individually after setup.

Upload MRNs

You have a CSV of patients already in Calvient. Choose the file during setup.

From the EHR

You want to enroll patients using appointment and patient filters. Enrollment runs in the background.


Prepare an MRN CSV

Put one MRN per row in the first column; an optional first-row header may be mrn. Preserve leading zeros. The import matches existing patients and does not create new patient records.

Duplicate rows and patients already enrolled in this campaign are skipped, including prior completed or ended enrollments. Review the import counts and download unmatched MRNs. If an MRN matches multiple patient records, resolve that ambiguity before retrying; that upload enrolls nobody.


3. Build the sequence

Select a step to edit it. Use Add SMS step, Add email step, or Add manual step to add work; drag steps into order. Keep Complete last. The app adds a Paused status automatically.

- SMS and Email send automatically when eligible, then advance the patient. Select a matching message template for each automated step.

- Manual waits for staff. After the work is done, staff update the task status to the next step.

- Delay (days) counts from when the patient enters that step. A zero-day delay is eligible immediately, subject to sending rules.

With Only send during the client’s business hours checked, automatic sends run on weekdays from 8 a.m. to before 6 p.m. in the organization’s time zone, excluding recognized holidays.


4. Set up messages and forms

In an SMS or email step, choose a Message template or select New. Use Individual Message and the matching channel. Enter a description and contents, then Save. The new template is selected for the step.

Type @ in Contents to open the smart value picker. Choose values such as patient first name, and ensure the message makes sense when populated. Email steps also offer an optional subject.

Attach a form when needed

Choose a Registration form on the step. If submitting it should finish the patient’s campaign, check Complete the campaign when the form is submitted. When this is the final outreach step before Complete, the sequence waits for submission after sending the form.

Templates can also be managed under Config → Campaigns → Message Templates. Review shared-template edits carefully because other steps may use the same template.


5. Assign the team and finalize

Under Users & Teams, select Add user or team for the people who will work the campaign. Auto-assignment uses round robin across users with full access. Add at least one user or team when it is on, or turn it off for manual assignment.

On Finalize, review the details, patient source, sequence, and team. Use Edit to return to a section.

Choose Save as draft to prepare without sending. Choose Launch campaign only when the audience and every automated step are ready. SMS and email steps need templates before launch.


6. Start pause and resume

For a saved draft, go to Config → Campaigns → Campaigns. Open the campaign’s three-dot actions menu and select Start sequence. The status changes to Active.

Campaign status

What it means

Draft

Saved and not started. Adding patients does not start it.

Active

Eligible automated steps can send. Manual steps still wait for staff.

Paused

Sending is stopped for the whole campaign until resumed.


To stop campaign-wide sending, open the same menu and select Pause sequence. To resume, select Start sequence again. Resuming makes eligible work available; it does not reset the campaign to draft.

Before starting or resuming, check the patient population, templates, delays, forms, and staff coverage. Patients whose delays are already satisfied may become eligible promptly.

7. Tweak settings and work patients

Open the actions menu in configuration and choose Edit. From the campaign work queue, More actions → Configure Campaign opens the same editor.

- Settings changes the name, description, color, auto-archive interval, and maximum hold duration. Select Save changes.

- Sequence changes steps, timing, templates, and forms. Select Save sequence. Pause an active campaign before changing its outreach plan, then resume when ready.

- Tags, Columns, Users, and enabled Custom fields organize the queue and access. A step with send history or active patients cannot be removed.

Daily work

Open Campaigns and choose a campaign. Use Task to add an individual patient, or More actions → Bulk Add for MRN upload and filtered enrollment. Filter by status or assignee; use table or board view.

Open a patient’s task and its Sequence tab to inspect the current step, next action, message history, and form activity. Pause or Resume affects that patient only. Complete finishes their campaign; End Sequence archives the task and retains sequence history.


8. Quick troubleshooting

What you see

What to check

Nothing is sending

Check Draft or Paused campaign status, patient pause or hold, the current step, its delay, and sending hours. Manual steps require staff to advance the status.

Daily limit reached

A patient can receive one campaign SMS and one campaign email per organization-local day, across campaigns. The allowance resets at local midnight; schedule rules still apply.

A template is missing

Use an Individual Message template for the step’s channel. Select or create it before starting the campaign.

Delivery needs review

A previous message may have been delivered. Further sends are blocked for review. Ask support to verify delivery before attempting another send.

A patient is absent after import

Review unmatched and already-enrolled counts. Confirm the MRN exists in this organization and check queue filters or archived tasks.

Sent but the patient reports no message

Inspect the delivery status and history. Sent alone does not prove receipt; ask support to investigate before resending.


Before contacting support

Have the campaign name, affected step, approximate time, visible status or reason, and a patient/task reference ready in your approved support channel. Include whether the issue affects one patient or the entire campaign.

Remember

Saving, enrolling patients, and starting the sequence are separate actions. Avoid deleting and recreating a campaign to troubleshoot delivery: it removes the campaign and its tasks instead of resolving the underlying issue.