# Inbox ## Overview The Inbox is a centralized communication workspace in Welkin that brings all patient conversations into one place across Secure Email, Email, SMS, and Live Chat. Instead of managing messages one patient at a time or switching between pages and tools, care teams can view, triage, and respond to communications across multiple patients and channels from a single inbox. Embedded directly into the Care Portal navigation, the Inbox supports both individual provider workflows and team-based collaboration. Messages can be assigned, tracked, and closed with clear ownership, ensuring that every patient inquiry is handled promptly and consistently. This structure helps prevent missed messages, duplicate replies, and breakdowns in handoffs between team members or shifts. The Inbox is built on a real-time WebSocket architecture, so updates appear instantly as users interact with messages. Team members can see when others are viewing or typing in the same conversation, which enables smooth collaboration without page refreshes and reduces the risk of overlapping responses. At the same time, patient context such as demographics, care team information, and recent encounters remains available alongside each conversation, eliminating the need to navigate away to understand the full clinical picture. Designed for healthcare operations at scale, the Welkin Inbox provides a secure, auditable record of all patient communications while remaining flexible enough to support different roles, permissions, and workflows. It turns patient messaging from a fragmented, reactive task into a coordinated, team-driven process that supports efficient care delivery and a consistent patient experience.
*** ## The Designer Portal ### Enable Inbox By default, the Inbox is not included in the Care Portal sidebar. To make it available, it must be explicitly added in the Designer for each role that requires access. This allows organizations to control which users can access the Inbox and which level of visibility they have. To enable the Inbox, create a draft in the Designer and add the Inbox item to the menu configuration for the appropriate user role. Once added, save the role configuration. If a user needs access beyond their personal inbox, additional permissions must be granted through Security Policies to allow access to shared or global inboxes. After completing the configuration, publish the changes to make them available in the Care Portal. ### Permissions When Inbox access is added to a role, **My Inbox** becomes available automatically. Access to shared inboxes is controlled through Security Policies. * **Inbox Care Team** – allows users to access the Care Team Inbox. * **Inbox Full Patient** – expands access to include both the Care Team Inbox and the All Patients Inbox, providing visibility across all patient communications within the permitted scope. * **Inbox API** – allows API clients to access all inboxes programmatically. *** ## The Admin Portal ### Direction of Notifications for the Communication Center In the Admin Portal, you can control where notification clicks direct users. Notifications can either open the new Inbox experience or continue routing users to the legacy patient communication center. This setting is configured in **Admin Portal → Feature Settings → Environment → Inbox Notifications**. When Inbox Notifications are enabled, clicking a notification opens the Inbox. When disabled, notifications continue to direct users to the patient-level communication center. *** ## The Care Portal ### Inboxes Inbox availability depends on the permissions assigned to a user's role. Each inbox is designed to support a specific workflow and level of responsibility. **My Inbox** is a personalized workspace where users manage communications related to their assigned patients. It includes: * **Assigned to me** – communications assigned to the logged-in user * **Primary Contact** – communications from patients where the user is set as primary contact * **Unrecognized** – communications assigned to the user where no matching patient exists on their care team * **Sent** – communications sent by the user **Care Team Inbox** is a shared workspace for managing patient communications across a care team. It includes: * **Directed** – communications from patients where the user is part of the care team * **Unrecognized** – the email belongs to several patients, and the user is on the care team for some or all of them **All Patients Inbox** provides a management-level view of all patient communications within the user's access scope. It includes: * **Directed** – all incoming communications * **Unrecognized** – all unrecognized communications ### Communication Status Each communication has a status of **Open** or **Closed**. The goal is to respond in a timely manner and avoid leaving communications open unnecessarily. Any incoming message automatically sets the communication status to Open, even if the conversation was previously closed. This indicates that staff action is required. After a response is sent to the patient, the communication is automatically marked as Closed and appears in gray in the communications list, indicating that no further response is needed. When sending a message, users can choose how the status is handled: * **Send and keep Open** – sends the message without closing the communication, for cases where a follow-up is expected. * **Send and Close** – sends the message and closes the communication. This is the default behavior when clicking Send. The current communication status is shown next to the message input field and can be changed manually at any time. ### Message Sending Block When you open a communication, you'll see a reply section below the conversation where you can type a message to the patient. This area shows who the conversation is associated with (a patient, a contact, or an unrecognized communication), the current communication status, and the Send button. In the lower-left corner of the reply box, there are tools to help you compose your message: * **Use a template** – Message templates can be created in the Designer. Clicking this icon opens a list of available templates. After selecting one, you can edit it as needed. * **Text formatting** – Opens a small formatting toolbar for your message. Available for emails only. * **Emoji** – Opens a panel with a selection of emojis you can add to your message. * **Attach a file** – Opens the document picker, which includes all documents associated with the patient. You can also upload a file directly from your device. * **Secure email** – Sends the message as a secure email. When selected, the Send button changes to "Send securely". Available for emails only. ### Patient Info Each communication includes a patient information panel accessible from the patient icon on the right side of the conversation. This panel can be expanded or collapsed as needed. The general information section displays the patient's name, age, and contact details. From this view, users can also open the patient profile to make edits if they have the appropriate permissions. Additional profile information includes demographic details, preferred language, the patient's current local time, and contact methods. Phone numbers can be used to initiate calls when supported, and email addresses can be copied directly. Care Team information shows the members involved in the patient's care, along with the designated primary contact. The Recent Encounters section displays up to five encounters for the patient. The system first looks for upcoming encounters from the current date onward. If fewer than five future encounters are available, the most recent past encounters are added to reach a total of five. Selecting an encounter opens its detailed view. ### Search and Filters The Inbox includes search and filtering tools to help users quickly locate communications. Messages can be searched by: * Phone (to/from) * Email (to/from) * Patient/contact name * Text content inside the communication You can also use filters to find communications. By default, all filters are enabled, so all available communications are shown. * **Status** – filter to view only Open or only Closed communications. * **Channel** – filter by SMS, email, or chat. Since the Care Team Inbox and the All Patients Inbox are used to manage shared patient communications, you can choose to view either all communications or only those that are not assigned to any user. ### Assigning Communication to a User Incoming communications may be assigned automatically when the system can match the recipient address or number to a specific user. If a message is not assigned automatically, it can be assigned manually. To assign a communication, users can select the **Assign** option in the communication header and choose from a list of available users. The list includes only users who have access to the related patient. Once assigned, the communication appears in the selected user's inbox, and the assignment can be changed or removed if needed. ### Response to Unrecognized Email Unrecognized communications must be linked to a patient before a response can be sent. To do this, users assign the communication to a patient using the **Link** option. If multiple patients or contacts share the same email address or phone number, all matching records are shown for selection. If the correct patient is not listed, users can search for other records and complete the assignment manually. Once the communication is linked to a patient, it becomes eligible for response. > **Note:** Currently, a communication must be assigned to a patient before a response can be sent. In a future update, staff will be able to respond to unrecognized messages directly. ### Threading in Communications When an unrecognized email is first received, it must be assigned to a patient. After assignment, any replies received within the same email thread are automatically associated with that patient, eliminating the need for repeated manual assignment. If the patient sends a new email outside the existing thread, it is treated as unrecognized and must be assigned again. Threading is not supported for SMS messages, so each incoming SMS reply is treated as a separate unrecognized communication and must be assigned individually. ### SMS Sending Line When sending an SMS, users can select the organizational phone number from which the message will be sent. If a label is configured for the number, it is displayed in the selection list; otherwise, the phone number itself is shown. Each sending line creates a separate communication thread. If a patient exchanges messages across multiple lines, each line appears as a distinct communication in the Inbox. The selected sending line is displayed alongside the patient's name for clarity. *** ## Related Topics * [Communication Center](/care/communication/communication-center.md) – comprehensive messaging overview * [Communication Templates](/care/communication/communication-templates.md) – message templates * [Calls](/care/communication/communication-center-calls.md) – phone call management * [Chat](/care/communication/chat.md) – live chat functionality * [SMS](/care/communication/communication-center-sms.md) – text messaging * [Email](/care/communication/email-functionality.md) – email functionality * [Manage Unrecognized Communication](/care/communication/manage-unrecognized-communication.md) – unrecognized senders --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. 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