How to set up custom actions for refill request intake

You need an active Chatref agent that already speaks from your clinic’s own information – hours, services, refill policy, and the medications you dispense. If you haven’t built that agent yet, start with the Veterinary Clinics guide.

Also have ready:

• The email address where requests should land (pharmacy@ or frontdesk@).
• The exact fields your staff need to process a refill (pet name, owner name, medication, strength, quantity, pharmacy, notes).
• A clear process: custom actions collect the request – your vet still reviews and approves.

Finally, open the Chatref app (https://app.chatref.ai) and pick the clinic agent you’ll configure.

1. Open the agent builder
   From your workspace, go to Agents and select the clinic agent. Click Custom Actions in the sidebar.

2. Create a new action
   Click Add action, name it “Refill Request,” and give it a short description like Collect a medication refill request and forward it to the pharmacy.

3. Decide how the action starts
   In the trigger section, add phrases that pet owners actually say: “refill,” “refill my pet’s medication,” “need more insulin,” “order more flea meds.” You can add up to 10. Select “Start automatically when a user matches one of these phrases.”
   For cleaner routing, choose “Ask for confirmation first” – the agent asks “Would you like to submit a refill request?” before collecting details. This avoids firing the form when someone just has a general refill policy question.

4. Add the fields These map to the information your team needs. Make important ones required.

   • Pet name (short text, required)
   • Owner name (short text, required)
   • Medication (dropdown or short text; dropdown gives cleaner data – list the most common medications: Heartgard, Apoquel, insulin, etc.)
   • Dosage / strength (short text)
   • Quantity needed (short text)
   • Pharmacy choice (dropdown: Pickup at clinic, mail-order pharmacy, local pharmacy)
   • Additional notes (paragraph text, optional)

5. Set what happens after submission
   Under Outcome, choose how Chatref delivers the request.

   • Send email – enter the address (e.g., refills@yourclinic.com). The agent will email all answers in one message.
   • Send via webhook – if your practice management or pharmacy software accepts HTTP calls, you can POST the collected data as JSON. Paste the webhook URL and optionally add a secret header.
     Select “Show a thank you message” and enter something like “We got your request. Our team will review it and get back to you within one business day.”

6. Save and activate
   Click Save action, then make sure your agent’s status is Active. The action is live immediately on any channel where this agent appears (website widget, etc.).

Test with real conversations in the Playground (inside the agent builder) or on your live site:

• Open the chat and type “I need a refill for my dog’s heartworm medicine.”
• The agent should recognize the refill intent, confirm if you want to submit a request, then ask for each field one at a time.
• Fill in the details and submit.
• You receive the email at the address you configured (or see the webhook logged in your target system).

If it doesn’t fire, check that the message matches a trigger phrase exactly. You can add a fallback trigger like “refill” without extra words, or switch to a button-based trigger: in the widget customizations, pin a “Request Refill” button that starts the action.

The action doesn’t start when someone asks about a refill
Expand the trigger phrases. Include common misspellings, shorthand (“med refill”, “flea pill refill”). If your knowledge base already answers “How do I get a refill?” with a text explanation, your agent might prioritize that text over the custom action. Move the phrase match logic above the knowledge lookup by keeping the trigger words distinct from general refill policy questions. Adding a confirmation step before collecting data also avoids false starts.

The form collects incomplete information
Review which fields are required. Mark pet name, medication, and pharmacy choice as required. Avoid making every field required – owners sometimes don’t know the exact dosage and can leave notes. Keep at least one optional note field.

Refill requests still come in by phone
That’s expected. Not every client uses chat, but the ones who do will submit complete requests. Promote the widget on your site and in appointment reminders. Over time, the voicemail backlog shrinks.

The email didn’t arrive
Check the “Outcome” settings – confirm the email address, and ask your IT provider to allowlist Chatref’s sending domain (noreply@chatref.ai). If using webhook, test with a request inspector (like webhook.site) first to ensure Chatref can reach the URL and the payload matches what your system expects.

The agent started collecting details when the owner only asked about refill policy
This happens when your policy page uses the word “refill” and the agent treats the question as a request. To fix it, train your knowledge base better: upload a short FAQ that says, “To request a refill, start a refill request in the chat.” Then in the custom action, require confirmation before proceeding. If the user confirms, the action runs; if not, the agent just displays the policy.

What causes refill request intake problems for Veterinary Clinics?

The most common issues are after-hours calls that go to voicemail, incomplete messages missing pet or medication details, and front-desk staff spending time on routine calls instead of in-room patients. Manual intake also creates mis-routes when reception writes down the wrong pharmacy or strength, leading to repeat calls and pharmacy rejections.

How do I improve refill request intake for Veterinary Clinics?

Set up a structured intake flow that works 24/7 on your website. Chatref’s custom actions collect all the necessary fields from pet owners in one go – pet name, medication, pharmacy – and forward the complete request to your pharmacy email or practice software. This reduces phone calls, ensures you have everything you need to process a refill before staff touches it, and lets your team focus on in-person care. Combine it with a knowledge base article clearly stating your refill policy so patients know what to expect.