The pharmacy network's patient database is segmented by age, risk group, and last vaccination date, then activated with staggered WhatsApp and SMS waves carrying self-booking links. Capacity balances itself across branches, and flu shot bookings more than tripled without a single call campaign.
Typical results
9%
No-show rate
0
Overbooked days
9
Branches auto-balanced
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
Every October, nine branches ran flu season on posters and whoever the pharmacist remembered to call. High-risk seniors never heard about eligibility, walk-in surges swamped one branch while another sat idle, and by December the network had vaccinated a fraction of its own patient list — people who bought there every month.
Before and after
Flu shots per season
3.1×No-show rate
−59%Staff hours on campaign calls
−93%The automation
We segmented the patient database by age, risk group, and last vaccination date, then built staggered campaign waves: personalized WhatsApp messages first, SMS fallback for the unreached, each carrying a self-booking link to the nearest branch's live calendar. A capacity balancer paces the sends — when a branch's week fills, new bookings redirect to nearby branches with open slots. Automated reminders land the day before each appointment, and a dashboard tracks bookings and coverage per segment.
How it works
- 01
Segment the base
The patient database is sliced by age, risk group, and last vaccination date.
- 02
Staggered waves
Personalized WhatsApp messages go first, with SMS fallback for anyone unreached.
- 03
Self-booking
One tap opens the nearest branch's live calendar and books the slot.
- 04
Capacity balancing
When a branch's week fills, new bookings redirect to nearby branches automatically.
- 05
Reminders
Day-before reminders cut no-shows, and the dashboard tracks coverage per segment.
Starts from
- Patient database
- Age & risk segments
Delivers
- WhatsApp & SMS links
- Self-booked slots
- Branch load balancing
The impact
Flu shot bookings typically rise about 3.1x compared with a poster-and-phone season — from about 1,400 to 4,300 across nine branches — with no phone campaign and no overbooked days. Reminders cut no-shows from 22% to 9%, and high-risk patients, messaged first, tend to be the strongest-responding segment.
Questions about this automation
How are patients chosen for each campaign wave?
The patient database is segmented by age, risk group and last vaccination date. High-risk patients are messaged first, followed by broader groups in staggered waves. Each wave is paced against open capacity, so the network sends only as many invitations as its branches can actually vaccinate that week.
What happens when a branch's calendar fills up?
The capacity balancer watches each branch's live calendar. Once a branch's week is full, new booking links point to nearby branches with open slots, and the send rate slows when the whole network is close to capacity. This keeps any single branch from being swamped while another sits idle.
What if a patient doesn't use WhatsApp?
Personalized WhatsApp messages go out first, and anyone who cannot be reached on WhatsApp gets an SMS with the same self-booking link. Booked patients receive a reminder the day before, and a dashboard tracks bookings and coverage per segment. This is a multi-step build, usually rolled out in stages.