SMS program terms

Program name and purpose

Program name: Parora billing notifications.

Purpose: a healthcare practice notifies its patient that a balance is outstanding on the patient's account and provides a secure link where the patient can see the detail and pay.

This is the entire program. It sends no offers, no promotions, no appointment marketing, and no content unrelated to a balance the patient's own practice is owed.

Who sends the messages

Messages are sent by PARORA LLC on behalf of the patient's healthcare practice. Every message names the practice in the first words of the message body, so a patient always knows which office is writing.

Nothing sends automatically. A member of the practice's billing staff reviews each balance and approves the batch before any message leaves.

How consent is obtained

Patients provide their mobile number to their healthcare practice and consent to billing communications through the practice's own intake or registration process — the paperwork or online form a patient completes when they become a patient of that office, or update their contact information.

Parora never buys, rents, scrapes, or otherwise acquires phone numbers. A number reaches Parora only when the practice that collected it uploads it, and every practice agrees in writing that it has obtained the consent described here.

This is the opt-in language practices are asked to use:

Consent and your care

Consent is not a condition of receiving care, and it is not a condition of any purchase. A patient who declines text messages, or who opts out later, receives the same care and the same billing options as everyone else.

Message frequency

Messages are transactional. They are tied to a balance on the patient's account and to the reminder schedule the practice sets — for example, an initial notice when the balance is approved for sending, and a small number of reminders afterward if it stays unpaid.

This is not a subscription and not a recurring campaign. A patient who owes nothing receives nothing. A patient who pays receives no further reminders for that balance. Practices also set quiet hours, and messages are not sent outside them.

What a message contains

A message body contains the practice name and a secure link. That is all it ever contains.

A message never contains a balance amount, a patient name, a date of service, or any clinical information — no diagnosis, no procedure, no notes. Anyone who reads the message over a patient's shoulder learns only that the office sent a statement.

The financial detail sits behind the link, on a page that expires, is rate-limited, and can require a date of birth before it shows anything.

Cost

Parora and the practice never charge a patient for a message. Message and data rates may apply, depending on the patient's mobile plan and carrier.

How to stop messages — reply STOP

Reply STOP to any message to stop all further text messages from that practice's Parora program. STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END and QUIT are all honored.

The patient receives one final confirmation message:

A patient can also ask the practice's office to turn text messages off for them, which has the same effect.

How to get help — reply HELP

Reply HELP to any message for help. The patient receives:

For a question about the balance itself, contact the practice directly. The practice holds the record and is the only one who can change an amount.

After you opt out

Opting out stops the text messages. It does not erase the balance, and it does not take away any way of paying it. A patient who has opted out can still:

• receive a statement by mail or email from the practice;
• call the office and pay by phone;
• pay in person at the office;
• ask the office to resend the secure payment link by email.

Opting out never affects a patient's care or their standing with the practice.

Delivery

Message delivery depends on the patient's carrier and device. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. If a message cannot be delivered, the practice can reach the patient another way.

Privacy

Parora is a HIPAA Business Associate and signs a Business Associate Agreement with every practice. Mobile numbers are used to send that practice's billing notifications and for nothing else — never sold, never rented, never shared with advertisers, and never used for marketing. Our full privacy policy explains what we hold and what we never hold.

Contact us

Questions about this program: