Messages is the patient's written conversation with the clinic — not a live chat and not an urgent channel. Every practitioner has a separate thread; the conversation list is on the left, the selected thread's content on the right.
This is not an emergency line. Say so to patients plainly when you invite them to the portal: urgent matters go by phone.
How to do it
The patient starts a conversation
The New Message button opens a Start a conversation dialog listing the people they can write to. The list covers every active practitioner, owner and admin in the clinic — including those who have never treated this patient. People with a conversation already open are marked Existing chat.
Writing and sending
The text field prompts: Type a message… (Enter to send, Shift+Enter for newline). A thread shows the last 200 messages. When the patient opens the thread, all your messages are marked read.
The body chart as an attachment
A body chart is the only attachment the patient can add to a message. The Attach body chart button opens a figure on which the patient marks the spots; once saved, the confirmation Body chart attached appears together with a Remove body chart button. Photos and documents cannot be sent this way — you upload those from the patient card.
Notifications
A message from the patient sends a notification to the practitioner it is addressed to. A message from the clinic sends a notification to the patient in the mobile app — and deliberately bypasses quiet hours, because it counts as current business, not marketing. The unread count sits beside the Messages entry in the portal menu.
When something doesn't work
Failed to load conversations.
What this means: The thread list did not load — usually a momentary loss of connection.
Failed to load messages.
What this means: The thread list loaded, but the content of the selected conversation did not.
There are no practitioners available to message right now.
What this means: The clinic has not a single active account with the practitioner, owner or admin role.
Could not attach body chart — please try again.
What this means: The marked areas did not save before the message was sent.
Who has access
Practitioner Clinic Admin ReceptionistA thread is visible to the patient and to the one person in the clinic it is addressed to. Reception does not see other people's threads with patients — unless the patient wrote to them directly.
Every message sent leaves an entry in the audit log. How long it is kept is covered by retention.
Related
- Body chart — how to read what the patient marked.
- Portal notifications — when the patient gets a notification.
- Notification preferences — what can be switched off on the clinic side.
Related features
Patient portal: what the patient sees
An overview of the Patient Portal — how the patient gets access, what is in the menu, how they switch between clinics, and what they see when there is no access.
Exercise programs in the portal
How a patient works through an assigned program — logging exercises, the set runner with rest, a quick daily check-in, history and milestones.
Body map
A figure in four views on which you mark pain and other symptoms — with a comparison to the previous visit, a layer of the patient's own reports, and insertion of the marks into the note.
My notification preferences
Your own settings — what Heltio should remind you about, how loudly, on which device, and during which hours it should stay quiet.
Push notifications
Browser push for the team and mobile-app push for the patient — who gets what, who turns it on, and what push does not cover.