Contacts in Spruce represent the people your practice communicates with - patients, referral partners, or other providers. Contacts can be created manually, imported via CSV, or auto-created when unknown numbers reach your practice. Each contact record stores phone numbers, email, custom fields, and links to all conversations. Contacts can be deleted when no longer needed.
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Contact Types
When creating a new contact, you'll have the option between two Contact Types: Patients and Professionals.
Patient Contacts: You should save a contact as a Patient when they are a patient/client of your practice. Saving your contact as a patient gives you the opportunity to invite the patient to Spruce from the contact card. It also serves as a helpful indicator on which patient has the app (and may be messaged securely) and which does not.
Professional Contacts: Professional Contacts are individuals that are not within your Spruce organization, such as colleagues and pharmacies that you commonly communicate with for care coordination. By saving these individuals as contacts, you can more easily send information to them and quickly source previous communications that you’ve exchanged. Note: You cannot invite a professional to Spruce to sign up with an individual account at this time.
Adding a Contact
Whether you are adding a new Patient or Professional Contact, the first step is to navigate to your Contacts tab. You can find your Contacts tab at the bottom of your screen on the mobile app and in the left sidebar from the web.
- First, select "New Contact" on the web or the "+" sign on mobile and choose whether you want to save your contact as a Patient or Professional Contact.
- Fill in relevant information for your new contact (e.g. Name, Phone Number, Fax Number, Date of Birth, etc.).
- Click Save.
- Once you save the contact, you may choose whether or not you'd like to invite the contact to download the Spruce app. To invite them to download the app, click onto their Contact and select "Invite to Spruce." If they download the app you will be able to exchange secure messages (different from SMS).
Custom Contact Fields
You can create custom fields within your contacts to deliver a more robust, personalized view of the contact within Spruce. For example, you may want to add a custom field that captures insurance information or that houses a link to an EHR record. Once you create a custom field at a high level, it will also be available to use on all your other contacts. (Note: you may add custom fields, contact by contact, as well).You can also create a new custom field from your settings, under "Clinic Preferences" ("Organization Preferences"). Upon creating a new custom field, you'll be able to fill in a value for it within any contact card by clicking "edit" and scrolling to the bottom section called "Additional Fields". Once you save the contact, the new custom field and associated value will be visible on the contact.
Deleting Contacts
To delete a contact, navigate to the Contacts tab and select the Contact you wish to delete, then select 'edit'. If you are on the web, you'll see a trash icon in the top right. Select that, and then confirm that you'd like to delete the contact. Please note that a contact for a patient connected securely on Spruce cannot be deleted.
❗ Please note that deleting a contact on Spruce will NOT delete any conversations that are associated with that contact. Deleting a contact will delete only the information about the contact, not any actual communication that you and the contact have had on Spruce.
Icons and Quick Actions
Icons are an effective tool to better understand the status of a contact. Grey means that the contact is not connected on Spruce and may only be messaged over SMS or standard phone. Blue means they are connected on Spruce and may be messaged securely within the Spruce app. "Quick actions", at the top of the contact card, provide an easy path to communicate with the patient through all supported channels. If the patient does not have the app, then video calling will be disabled.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I add a new patient contact to Spruce?
Tap New Contact in the Contacts view, enter the patient’s name and phone number, and save. You can also import contacts in bulk via CSV.
Can I delete a contact in Spruce if they are no longer a patient?
Yes, you can delete a contact from your contact book. Deleting a contact removes it from your contact book but conversation history will not be deleted. Please note that a contact for a patient connected securely on Spruce cannot be deleted.
Can Spruce auto-create contacts for incoming messages?
Yes. When an unknown number contacts your practice, Spruce automatically creates a conversation thread with an unsaved contact, which can then be associated with a new or existing contact.