Help center
Frequently asked questions
Answers to the most common questions about Callara.
General
What is Callara?+
Callara is an AI engagement and revenue platform for independent pharmacies and clinics. It includes two-way SMS messaging, AI-powered patient communication, OTC benefit capture, 340B-aware drug price intelligence, and medication synchronization analysis.
Do patients have to download an app?+
No. Callara works through regular SMS. Patients text your pharmacy number and get a response. No app, no login, no portal.
How long does setup take?+
We handle the technical integration with your pharmacy system. Most pharmacies are processing messages within the first week.
What if we already use another messaging platform?+
Callara can replace your current platform or run alongside it. When you are ready to switch, we handle the cutover. Your staff sees all new messages in Callara and your old platform stays as a read-only archive.
AI assistant
What if the AI says something wrong?+
Callara verifies every patient before sharing clinical information and only surfaces data directly from your pharmacy system. If a question falls outside its scope, it escalates to your staff with the full conversation attached. You can also pause AI on any conversation, per location, or globally.
Can I control what the AI says?+
Yes. You can pause AI on any individual conversation, turn it off per location, or disable it entirely. When AI is off, messages still arrive in the inbox for staff to handle manually.
How does the AI connect to my pharmacy system?+
Callara integrates with your pharmacy management system for real-time prescription data, patient profiles, and medication histories. No manual data entry needed.
What happens when staff are already messaging a patient?+
The AI recognizes when staff are actively handling a conversation and stays out of the way until the patient needs automated help again.
Inbox and messaging
Can patients text in other languages?+
Yes. Callara supports 70 languages with real-time translation. Patients text in their preferred language. Staff can view translations on any message and compose in any language from the inbox.
Can I send messages to a list of patients at once?+
Yes. Create a list, select a message template with merge fields, and send a broadcast. Each broadcast tracks delivery status and response rate.
How do templates work?+
Templates are reusable messages with personalization fields that fill in automatically at send time. You can create, edit, and manage templates from the Templates page.
OTC Benefits
How does OTC enrichment work?+
Upload your patient list as a CSV or Excel file. Callara reads each patient's insurance record, identifies OTC benefits, determines the processing network, and calculates the estimated annual allowance.
What pharmacy systems are supported for OTC uploads?+
Any system that can export a patient list as CSV or Excel. The import handles non-standard column headers automatically.
What is eligibility verification?+
A batch check that confirms which patients are still actively enrolled in their plan, catches recent plan changes, and updates allowance amounts. Thousands of patients can be verified at once.
Drug pricing and clinics
What is Drug Price Intelligence?+
For 340B-covered pharmacies and clinics, Callara finds the best path for any prescription in seconds. It factors in 340B, manufacturer patient assistance programs, formularies, and sliding-scale pricing, then shows the savings for the patient and the margin for you.
Does Callara work for clinics and FQHCs?+
Yes. Clinics use Callara for 340B drug price intelligence, patient engagement over SMS and a website chat widget, and appointment scheduling through athenahealth. OTC benefit capture is specific to retail pharmacies.
Security and compliance
Is Callara HIPAA compliant?+
Yes. We sign a Business Associate Agreement with every pharmacy. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest, and PHI is never exposed in logs or analytics.
Where is data stored?+
All data is stored in HIPAA-eligible cloud infrastructure within the United States, with encryption at rest.
Who has access to patient data?+
Only authenticated staff at your pharmacy can access patient data. Access is scoped by location and managed by your admin team.