Care Team Channels vs Service Team Channels vs Staff Only Channels

Wellifiy’s messaging system allows secure, real-time communication between patients and Team Members, as well as internal communication between Team Members about a patient.

Messaging channels are linked directly to the patient’s profile, helping teams coordinate care while keeping conversations organised and secure.

Messaging is available in:

Clinical Portal
Patient Mobile App
Patient Web Portal

💬 Types of Patient Channels

There are three channel types associated with a patient.

👩‍⚕️ Care Team Channels

One patient + multiple Team Members

Care Team Channels are used for communication related to a patient’s care or service delivery.

Typical participants may include:

Clinicians
Counsellors
Coaches
Case managers

These channels allow patients to communicate directly with the Team Members who are supporting them.

Because these conversations may include sensitive care information, Organisations typically limit access to Team Members directly involved in the patient’s care.

🧑‍💼 Service Team Channels

One patient + multiple Team Members

Service Team Channels are used for operational or support communication.

Typical participants may include:

Reception
Admin staff
Support teams
Service coordinators

These channels allow patients to ask questions related to:

appointments
logistics
support requests
general service enquiries

Separating these conversations from care-related messaging helps Organisations maintain better privacy and clearer communication workflows.

👥 Staff Channels

Team Member-only channel linked to a patient

Staff Channels are used for internal communication between Team Members about a patient.

Key characteristics:

🔒 Not visible to the patient

👥 Multiple Team Members can participate

🧠 Used for:

internal coordination
care planning
operational discussions

⚡ Activating Patient Messaging Channels

Messaging channels can be activated in two ways depending on how your Organisation has configured messaging.

Automatic Activation

Organisations can configure channels to automatically activate when a patient is created.

This is managed in:

Administration → Portal Settings → Message Centre Activation Rules

For both Care Team Channels and Service Team Channels, you can configure:

Automatic Channel Activation

Choose whether the channel should be automatically created when a patient is added to the platform.

Automatic Team Member Assignment

Select which Team Members should automatically be added to the channel.

This ensures patients can begin messaging immediately after being created.

Example Use Case

An Organisation may offer a 24/7 support service.

By enabling automatic activation of the Service Team Channel and assigning support staff:

The channel is activated automatically when the patient is created
Patients can immediately message the support team

Manual Channel Activation

If automatic activation is not enabled, Team Members must activate channels manually.

To activate a messaging channel:

Open the Patient Profile in the Clinical Portal
Go to Communication → Message Centre
You will see available channels such as:
- Care Team Channel
- Service Team Channel
- Staff Channel
Click Activate Messaging for the channel you want to create

Once activated, the channel will appear in the Team Member’s Message Centre channel list.

👥 Adding or Joining Team Members

Once a channel has been activated, additional Team Members can be added.

Option 1: Add from inside the channel

Open the channel in the Message Centre
Click the Action menu (•••)
Select Edit
Click + Team Member to add additional participants

Option 2: Join from the Patient Profile

Open the Patient Profile
Go to Communication → Messaging

If the channel is already active, the button will display Join Channel instead of Activate Messaging.

Clicking Join Channel will add the channel to your Message Centre channel list.

🔒 Channel Participation Rules

To ensure patient messaging remains functional:

A patient messaging channel must always include at least one Team Member.
If a Team Member assigned to a channel is archived, the system will automatically add the Allocation Clinician if necessary to ensure the channel still contains an active Team Member.

This prevents situations where patients are left without a Team Member in their messaging channel.

📌 Key Points

💬 Care Team Channels connect patients with their care providers.

🧑‍💼 Service Team Channels allow operational or support communication.

👥 Staff Channels are private conversations between Team Members.

⚡ Messaging channels can be automatically activated when patients are created.

👩‍⚕️ Team Members can join or add themselves to channels after activation.

🔒 All conversations are securely logged and encrypted.