SMS Medical Appointment Reminders WebApp
by Steven Yan

https://youtu.be/tSKfUlj_sYA

Setup Instructions:

1. Clone repository and cd into the created directory

git clone 
cd sms-reminder-flask

2. Create a virtual environment with a directory name venv:

python -m venv [directory name]

3. Activate virtual environment:

source venv/bin/activate

4. Change into the app directory of the repo, and install prerequisite packages to run Flask webapp:

cd app
pip install -r requirements.txt

5. Copy env.example file to .env and fill in the listed values:

export SECRET_KEY = 'your_secret_key'
export CELERY_BROKER_URL = redis://localhost:6379
export CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND = redis://localhost:6379

export TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID = 'your_twilio_account_sid'
export TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN = 'your_twilio_auth_token'
export TWILIO_NUMBER = '+1XXXXXXXXXX'

6. Create Flask application variables:

export FLASK_APP = reminders.py
export FLASK_ENV = development

7. Run the migrations:

flask db upgrade

8. Install Docker Desktop and start a Redis server to serve as a broker for Celery tasks:

docker run -d -p 6379:6379 redis:latest

9. Start development server:

flask run

10. Create another virtual environment to send reminders with a separate Celery worker process:

cd ..
python3 -m venv env

11. Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

12. Activate Flask development environment:

export FLASK_ENV = development

13. Start the Celery worker:

celery -A tasks.celery worker -l info

Project Description:

Here are the challenges presented from client:

• Easily lose track of postcard reminders
• Manual entry of appointments into calendar
• Different levels of computer literacy for veterans

Here are our proposed solutions:

• Needs calendar integration (ICS universal for all phones)
• Develop webapp for provider
• Develop mobile app for patient
• Automated SMS reminder system for non-tech savvy veterans

Provider End:

• Develop web application to interact with hospital server to send and receive relevant informatio through APIs
• Without technical details from VA, we created an interfacce for manual entry of patient appointmnets using a SQLAlchemy database within Flask microframework
• Customize SMS reminders according to the following actions:
  • confirmed
  • rescheduled
  • modified
  • canceled
  • no showed

Patient End:

• Use Twilio platform to send and receive SMS messages
• Patients will receive an initial text after booking their appointment
• They will have capability to respond to SMS to receive ICS file for easy integration
  • Currently iPhone have capability to create calendar events from any SMS with time details, but Android requires additional software
• At a default of 48 hours prior, patient will receive second SMS reminder to confirm or cancel appointmnet
  • reminder time adjustable to different intervals

Screenshots:

Index Page:

New Appointment Page:

Sample SMS Reminders:

Presentation:

Folder Structure:

├── README.md					<- top-level document for explaining project
├── _app							<- folder of Flask application
│   ├── _config					<- notebook for displaying augmentations
│   ├── _forms					<- folder of forms scripts
│   ├── _migrations			<- notebook for pretrained models
│   ├── _models					<- folder of models script
│   ├── _static					<- folder of CSS, Javascript, and image files
│   ├── _templates				<- folder of HTML files
│   ├── _views					<- folder of views script
│   ├── application.py		<- script for defining routes and application
│   ├── database.py			<- script for SQLAlchemy database
│   ├── dev.sqlite				<- database file
│   ├── Procfile				<- file for Heroku deployment
│   ├── reminders.py			<- script for initiating application
│   ├── requirements.txt		<- file for Heroku deployment
│   └── tasks.py				<- script for running Celery tasks
├── _docs							<- folder of project documentation
└── _images						<- folder of jpeg and png files

Contact Information: