Purpose: use the Unified Inbox to review patient conversations, respond to patients, create follow-up tasks, and access patient details during recruitment.

1. Inbox layout

The Inbox is the main workspace for patient communication. Start by choosing the right queue, then review the thread before taking action.

Steps / callouts

1. Choose My Inbox, Team, or Unassigned. The number next to each queue counts patients with an unread incoming message or call, or an overdue task. Each patient counts once.

2. Use the Next action strip, filters, or sort only when needed.

3. Select the conversation from the list.

4. Check the patient header and study strip.

5. Review any pending task.

6. Read the interaction timeline.

7. Use the action icons to call, log a call, schedule an appointment, add a cadence, create a task, or open the patient profile.

8. Use the composer for SMS, Email, Note, or Questionnaire.

Avoid

• Replying before reviewing the latest interaction.

• Working Team or Unassigned without checking ownership.

2. Send an SMS or email

Use the composer at the bottom of the conversation. Review the thread first so the patient does not receive duplicate or conflicting information.

Steps / callouts

1. Confirm the selected patient.

2. Check study and status context.

3. Review recent timeline activity.

4. Choose SMS or Email. A tab is hidden when the patient has not consented to that channel.

5. Write the message.

6. Send once reviewed.

Check

• Correct patient and study.

• Latest interaction reviewed.

• No duplicate message already sent.

3. Create a follow-up task

Create a task when follow-up is needed on a future date. Notes should be clear enough for another recruiter to pick up the next step.

Steps / callouts

1. Select task type: Call, SMS, or Email.

2. Choose the due date and time, or pick Tomorrow, In 2 Days, Next Week, or In 2 Weeks. Due times use your organization timezone.

3. Use the custom date field if needed.

4. Add clear next-step notes.

5. Create the task.

Task note standard

• Write the actual next action.

• Update or complete the task when done.

Delfa also creates follow-up tasks for you. When a patient asks to speak with a person, a Call task is created automatically. These tasks appear in your inbox with the Complete task next action, and on the Communications page.

4. Open patient details

Use the patient profile panel when the conversation does not give enough context. Check consent before contacting the patient.

Steps / callouts

1. Open the patient profile panel.

2. Review Patient Info, Study Assignments, or Site Assignments.

3. Check communication consent.

4. Use Overview for key patient details.

5. Use the phone icon only when call consent is valid.

Important

• Do not call, text, or email where consent is revoked.

• Use the full profile when more detail is needed.

5. Add a cadence

Add a cadence only when the patient should enter that workflow. Confirm the patient status and study context first.

Steps / callouts

1. Search for and select the cadence.

2. Review the selected cadence.

3. Check the studies included in that cadence.

4. Complete the required source field.

5. Start the cadence execution.

Before starting

• Check contact details and consent.

• Avoid conflicting active cadences.

6. How your inbox is sorted

Your inbox is a work queue, not a mailbox. It's ordered so that the patient at the top is the one who most needs you right now, and you can work straight down the list without deciding what to pick up next. If you only ever call the top of your inbox, you'll be spending your day on the right people.

The default order: Priority

By default your inbox is sorted by Priority. Rather than putting patients into fixed sections, Delfa scores every patient in your queue continuously and reorders them as things change. Two things drive that score: what the patient needs and how long they've been waiting for it. A patient's position isn't fixed — it rises as they wait and falls once you've dealt with them.

Broadly, from the top of your list downwards:

Anything that just landed

 A lead that came in a few minutes ago, or a patient who has just replied to you, goes straight to the top. These are the moments when a patient is thinking about the study and most likely to pick up, so they get first claim on your attention. They cool off gradually rather than dropping off a cliff, so a reply from an hour ago still sits high, and one from yesterday sits lower.

Commitments you've already made

Tasks and pre-screening calls climb as their due time approaches, and overdue ones sit near the very top of the list. Anything scheduled well into the future sits low down and comes up on its own as the date gets closer, so you don't need to keep an eye on it.

Patients waiting on a reply from you

When a patient calls, texts, or emails in and nobody has responded or marked it as handled, they stay elevated until someone does. The longer they wait, the higher they climb.

New leads nobody has contacted yet

Fresh leads rank highly and slowly slide as they age, so the newest untouched patients are always near the front. Leads imported from your CTMS sit slightly below leads that came in directly, since those have usually already had some contact from your team.

Ongoing outreach

Everyone you've reached out to before but haven't got hold of yet sits in the middle of the list, ordered around the best time to try again. Delfa aims for roughly a two-day gap between attempts, so patients who were last contacted about two days ago surface ahead of ones you contacted today and ahead of ones that have gone stale. Patients who've already had several attempts sit lower than ones you've only tried once, and patients further along in the process sit lower than ones still early on.

Patients an AI agent is already working

If a cadence is actively running and has its next message or call scheduled, that patient drops down the list. The agent has it covered, and it'll reappear if the patient replies or the cadence finishes without reaching them.

The bottom of the list

Patients with no consent on any channel always sit at the very bottom. They stay visible for reference but never compete for your attention. Patients marked do-not-contact are hidden from the inbox list.

When two patients score the same, the one whose task is due sooner, whose lead is newer, or who is closer to their next outreach time comes first.

Every row tells you why it's there

You never have to reverse-engineer the ordering. Each row shows the next action for that patient, and it's the same reason that put them in that position. The Next action strip above the list uses the short names in brackets:

If a row is high in your list, its label tells you why, and it tells you what to do when you open it.

Work one next action at a time

In Split view, the Next action strip above the list shows how many patients need each action. The strip runs in the order of the table above, so Book comes before Continue.

• Click a group to show only those patients. Click it again to show all.

• Groups that don't fit appear under + with a count.

• The Fresh count at the start of the strip shows fresh leads: patients who applied through a lead source for a study they're in, not a database import. Hover over it to see fresh leads by next action. Fresh lead rows show a flame icon.

Sorting it a different way

Priority is the default and the one to work from day to day, but you can switch the sort at any time from the dropdown above the list:

• Recent Activity — the most recently active conversations first, regardless of urgency. Useful for picking up where you left off.

• Newest First — new leads you haven't contacted yet first, newest first. Everyone else follows by most recent activity.

• Oldest Contact — patients you contacted longest ago first. Patients never contacted come last.

• Unread First — everyone who has written or called in and hasn't been dealt with, grouped at the top.

• Task Due — strictly by deadline, soonest first. Useful for clearing a backlog of commitments.

• Name (A-Z) — alphabetical, for when you're looking for someone specific.

Your choice sticks. It's remembered per queue, so My inbox, Team inbox, and Unassigned inbox can each be sorted differently, and it survives a page reload.

A few things worth knowing

Filters narrow, they don't reorder. Filtering by Study, Site, Source, Study Assignment Status, or Last contacted (contacted or called today, or not) just removes rows. Everything left keeps its priority order, so a filtered list is still a valid worklist to work top-down.

Search keeps your sort. When you search, matching patients stay in the order you selected.

An open patient stays put. The patient whose profile you have open is pinned to the top of the list, so they don't slide away while you're on a call with them or finishing your notes.

Your inbox is scoped to you. My inbox contains the patients assigned to you, Team inbox shows your team's, and Unassigned inbox shows patients nobody has picked up. Priority works the same way in all three. Kanban view uses the same ordering within each column.

The list is recent by design. Patients whose records haven't changed in a couple of months drop out so the queue stays a picture of live work rather than an archive. They're always still reachable from patient search.

It updates as you go. Sending a message, completing a task, marking a reply as read, or booking a visit all change a patient's position immediately. The list you see when you come back from a call is already re-ranked.

7. Unified Inbox quick reference

Answering inbound calls

Who gets rung

• Turn on Receive inbound calls from your profile menu under Inbound Calls. Changes save automatically.

• A call rings recruiters who have it turned on, have been active in Delfa in the last 30 minutes, and have a Delfa tab open in the organization the patient called.

• If any of those recruiters are assigned to the patient's site, only they are rung. If some are also assigned to the patient's study at that site, the call narrows to them.

When no recruiter is available

• Admins choose what happens in the organization settings (organization name → Manage → Inbound Settings): Send to voicemail, Transfer to a number, or Transfer to a number, then voicemail if unanswered. Changes save automatically.

• Transfer options need a Transfer Number in international format.

• Voicemail options can use a custom Voicemail Greeting, played before the beep. Leave it blank to use the default greeting.

The incoming call banner

• The banner shows Incoming call, or Incoming transfer for a handed-over call. The caller shows as Unknown caller until Delfa matches them to a patient.

• Queue: N shows how many other calls are waiting.

• Select Accept to take the call or Decline to leave it for someone else. If another recruiter accepts first, the banner tells you.

During the call

• The call screen has three panels: AI Notes, Study Guide (with a Questionnaire tab when the study has one), and Patient Profile.

• If the patient does not want to be recorded, select Opt out of recording. This permanently deletes the recording for that call, and the transcript is not saved.

• For follow-up after the call, see Communications and Follow-up Tasks.

Common mistakes

• Replying before reading the latest interaction.

• Forgetting to create a task for future follow-up.

• Calling a patient who has revoked call consent.

• Starting a cadence without checking current status and existing workflows.