The Spruce app is organized around three main areas: inboxes (where conversations with patients live), contacts (your patient and contact list), and settings (for configuration).
IN THIS ARTICLE
The Spruce Inbox
The Inbox acts very much like an email inbox, except it is shared (by default) with all members of your team. This is a key differentiator over a personal phone or email inbox, because those messages are not easily shared with your colleagues. Your Spruce inbox will provide a global view of all of your conversations at a glance. You will have certain Inbox filters as defaults when you sign up and they may look slightly different when you are a solo clinic versus a group practice. You can create Inbox Filters to organize the conversations. Read more about Conversations Filters and Contact Filters in those linked articles.
Within Inbox and Team you will see a blue action button (plus sign on mobile and "New" button on web). This is where you can start a new event such a new Secure Message, SMS, Email, Fax, Note or Invite Patient. On Team tab you can use the action button to create a new team conversation or to invite a teammate to your account.
Different default inboxes:
All
The All filter contains all unassigned and unarchived conversations. The conversations in the All Filter are shared and visible to everyone on your team. They will remain in this Filter until they are either archived or assigned to someone on your team. We can also configure your account to not show this by default if you are a part of a group practice, just message us to let us know. This filter may be listed as Inbox or All depending on when you started using Spruce.
Assigned to Me*
The Assigned to Me (formerly known as Mine folder) filter contains all unarchived conversations that have been assigned to you. This filter is unique to each person (what you see is your Assigned to Me filter is different than what a colleague sees in theirs). When a conversation is assigned, any replies within the conversation will only notify the assignee. When you archive a conversation, it will automatically be unassigned so that any future replies will appear in the All and can be managed by anyone on your team unless you have the message to auto-assign to you based on your settings for your number or Spruce Link. *Please note: The "Assigned to Me" Filter only appears after you have invited a teammate to join your practice.
Starred
The Starred Filter contains all conversations you have starred for reference or follow-up. The Starred Filter is personal – it only shows the conversations you have starred, not conversations starred by teammates.
Notes
This filter may be used to compile your reminders, session notes, and more. Notes are internal-facing, meaning your patients won’t have access to them. To create a new note, just tap the + button.
Support
Here you will find helpful messages from Team Spruce that will walk through how to create your Spruce phone line, make a call, set up call forwarding, and set up your voicemail. You’ll also learn how to send a secure message, create a new conversation, initiate a video call, invite a patient, and create a group message. To message support, just tap the “Message us” button at the top of your screen.
Archived
The Archived Filter contains all conversations that have been archived by any team member. The Archived Filter is global – every team member sees the same contents in this filter. We recommend archiving conversations after you respond to the patient and have no other follow-up actions to take. This keeps your Inbox Filter neat and tidy.
Custom Filters/New Filter
Custom filters are available and may be added by clicking on +New Filter. You may add a Filter Name, Conversation Tag, Contact Tag, the Conversation Types (i.e., Secure Message, Calls & SMS, Fax, etc.) and which Spruce Links this filter is applicable for.
For example, you may want to create a Custom Filter called “New Patients”, “VIP” or “Urgent”.
Team
This filter houses all of the internal communication within a practice. If you are a provider with multiple clinicians, this filter will behave much like a messaging app and enables communication between colleagues without a patient involved. Team members may send direct messages to one another and even send unique threads with different subjects. Only the members of the conversation can see the messages. If other colleagues are looped in, they may then see the entire thread.
Note: all of the above filters are designed for organizational purposes. You can reorganize these filters as you like. You can also create notifications for the filters that are most important to you. Each provider can create notifications for their specific needs.
Contacts
Contacts are an exciting new feature in this release that enables providers to now find conversations within contact cards. Contacts are now separate from Conversations and contain all of the patient details. Contact cards are a useful tool because they retain every message you’ve exchanged with a patient (even archived messages), they may include notes about sessions, and may be tagged with intuitive naming conventions for easy follow up, and bulk messaging.
Pages
The Pages Filter enables you to page teammates or send yourself a reminder by typing @ in an internal note. It contains all conversations in which you have been Paged (or sent yourself a note). Once you resolve the Page, the associated conversation will no longer appear in your Pages Filter. The Pages filter is personal – it only shows conversations in which you or a team that you are on has been Paged. It will not display Pages directed at teammates. Learn more about Pages.
Settings
Your Settings folder is where your Organization Profile lives, it is also where you may Share Clinic information, and address Clinic Settings (add teammates, update billing, and adjust organization preferences). From Settings you may add more information about yourself (your practice or you as a person if you’re a solo practitioner), choose how you’d like to be notified, and find your Spruce Link(s) to invite patients to download the app and message with you securely. And, Settings is also where you will find your Workflows, including Saved Messages, Auto-Welcome Messages, and Auto-Replies.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the Spruce app organized?
Spruce is built around inboxes (conversations), contacts (your patient list), and settings (configuration).
Is the Spruce app the same on mobile and desktop?
Most functions are available across all platforms but there are some that are desktop / web only.
Where are my fax conversations in Spruce?
Faxes appear as conversations in your inbox and are denoted with a gray fax icon.