The Patient Inbox gives patients a way to message your clinic directly from your profile page — without creating a NgipenHub account. Free clinics can use a limited lightweight inbox, while paid plans unlock fuller usage for active patient acquisition. It reduces the friction of a first contact and gives you a centralized thread for each patient conversation, all within your dashboard.
How Patient Conversations Work
When a patient sends a message from your profile, a new conversation thread is created in your Inbox. Each conversation is tied to a unique guest token — a private link the patient uses to view the thread and your replies without logging in. The conversation persists as long as the patient has their link saved.
Your Inbox shows all conversations ordered by most recent activity. Unread conversations are highlighted so you never miss a new message.
Replying to a Message
Open a conversation and type your reply in the text box at the bottom. Your reply is sent immediately. The patient sees your response the next time they open their conversation link. There is no built-in notification push to the patient — they rely on the email notification sent when your reply comes in, so write a reply that can stand on its own without additional context.
What Makes a Good Inbox Response
- Respond within the same business day — patients who ask questions and do not hear back quickly often move on to another clinic.
- Answer the question directly. If they ask about pricing, give a number or range — not "it depends."
- Include a call to action. End your reply with "Would you like to book an appointment?" or "You can call us at [number] to schedule."
- If the question is too complex for text, offer a phone call instead.
Patient Contacts (CRM)
Every patient who books an appointment or sends a message is automatically added to your Patient Contacts list. This is a simple CRM view that shows you the contact's name, email, and history of interactions with your clinic. You do not need to add contacts manually — the system builds the list for you.
- Add private notes to each contact — visible only to your clinic staff. Use this for treatment history, preferences, or follow-up reminders.
- View the full booking and message history for each contact in one place.
- Patient Contacts is a Pro-only feature.
Spam and Inappropriate Messages
The messaging system has rate limiting and duplicate message detection built in to reduce spam. If you receive a message that is clearly spam or abusive, you can ignore it — there is currently no report button, but this is on the roadmap. For persistent abuse, contact NgipenHub support with the conversation details.
Patient messages that convert to bookings are the highest-value conversations. Track which message threads led to an appointment and use that to refine how you respond to common questions.