What changed?
Previously, when an appointment included multiple patients, SimpleDVM sent a separate email for each patient. For example, if you booked an appointment for 3 pets, the client would receive 3 individual emails — one for each pet.
Now, SimpleDVM sends one email per appointment, regardless of how many patients are included. All patient names are automatically listed together in the email.
How does it work?
When an email automation is triggered (e.g., "Appointment Confirmed"), SimpleDVM consolidates all patients on the appointment into one email. The {{patientName}} template variable now automatically includes all patient names.
Examples of how patient names appear in emails:
1 patient: Buddy
2 patients: Buddy and Max
3 patients: Buddy, Max and Luna
Do I need to update my email templates?
No. Your existing templates will continue to work exactly as before. The {{patientName}} variable now automatically handles multiple patients — no changes needed on your end.
What changed in the Communications tab?
Communication List:
Single-patient communications display the patient name as before.
Multi-patient communications show up to 3 patient names with a +N badge indicating additional patients.
Communication Detail (View Communication):
Single-patient communications display the patient name and species as before.
Multi-patient communications show a "Patients (N)" label with a scrollable list of all patient names and their species.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my clients notice a difference?
Yes — clients with multi-patient appointments will now receive fewer emails. Instead of one email per pet, they receive a single, consolidated email listing all their pets.
Does this affect SMS notifications?
No. This change only applies to email automations.
Does this affect manually sent emails?
No. This only applies to automated email notifications triggered by appointment events, vaccinations, and invoices.
What about existing communication records? All existing communication records remain unchanged and will continue to display correctly.