10DLC registration for medical practices
If your practice texts patients about appointments, portal messages, or telehealth visits, you need to register for 10DLC first. Here is what to register, sample messages that pass, and what never belongs in a patient text.
Patients expect a text before their appointment, and reminders cut no-shows. Carriers treat that messaging like any other business texting: it needs 10DLC registration before it delivers reliably. Reminder and notification campaigns are a standard use case and approve cleanly when the opt-in and samples are right.
This applies to primary care and family medicine, urgent care, specialty clinics, chiropractors, physical therapy clinics, optometrists, therapy and behavioral health practices, and labs. Hospitals and health systems register the same way, usually with more campaigns.
What medical practices text customers about
- Appointment reminders and confirmations
- Check-in, running-late, and wait-time notices
- "New message in your portal" and "results are ready" alerts, with no details in the text
- Telehealth visit links
- Annual visit and recall reminders
Compliant sample messages
Illustrative templates. Each names the brand, matches the use case, and shows opt-out.
How medical practices collect opt-in
Collect consent on the intake form and in the patient portal with its own checkbox: 'Text me appointment reminders and practice updates at this number.' Keep it separate from the consent to treat and the privacy acknowledgment, so the text consent is clearly optional. Record who checked it and when.
Watch out
Keep protected health information out of the text. No diagnoses, test results, medications, or the reason for the visit. Say a result is ready and send them to the portal instead. For behavioral health and other sensitive specialties, even the practice name can reveal why someone is a patient, so use a name patients recognize that doesn't name the specialty, and make sure it matches your registered brand.
Common questions
Do medical practices need 10DLC to text patients?
Yes. Any practice texting patients from a standard US number through scheduling, EHR, or texting software needs 10DLC registration. Appointment reminders and notifications are a standard, well-supported use case.
Is texting patients HIPAA compliant?
Texting appointment logistics is common. Texts with clinical details need much more care. Keep protected health information out of SMS, use your patient portal for anything clinical, and have your compliance lead or attorney review your texting policy. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
Can I text patients their test results?
Don't put results in the text. Send a notice that results are ready and link to your patient portal, where the patient logs in to see them.
Should text consent be part of our intake paperwork?
Yes, as its own optional checkbox. Bundling it into the consent to treat or the privacy acknowledgment makes it look required, and reviewers want consent to texts to be a separate choice.
Does this apply to chiropractors, PT clinics, and therapy practices?
Yes. Chiropractors, physical therapy clinics, optometrists, urgent care, and therapy practices send the same reminder and notification texts and register the same way. Behavioral health practices should take extra care with the sender name, since it can reveal why someone is a patient.