# Introducing News Bulletins: Keep Your Practice Connected Publisher: Virtual Consultant Online Author: Ad Bakal Published: 2026-05-01 Updated: 2026-05-01 Canonical URL: https://virtualconsultant.online/blog/introducing-news-bulletins-keep-your-practice-connected Citation metadata: https://virtualconsultant.online/citation.json?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvirtualconsultant.online%2Fblog%2Fintroducing-news-bulletins-keep-your-practice-connected Keeping a practice informed — whether that's your clinical team, your patients, or multiple locations — has never been straightforward. Important updates get buried in email threads, announcements go unseen, and there's no easy way to know whether your message actually landed. News Bulletins changes that. What's new News Bulletins is a new communication tool built directly into Virtual Consultant. Create targeted announcements for staff, patients, or specific roles — with pinning, expiry, read tracking, and multi-practice sharing built in from day one. ## A New Way to Communicate Across Your Practice News Bulletins gives practices a dedicated, structured way to share updates without relying on external tools or hoping people check their inbox. Bulletins appear directly in the Virtual Consultant interface — on the dashboard, in a patient-facing feed, and in the Bulletins Manager for admins — so the right people see the right message at the right time. ## Feature Overview Targeted Audiences Not every message is for everyone. Choose exactly who sees each bulletin. All Staff — reach every team member All Patients — share news directly with patients Everyone — broadcast to all Specific Roles — target only who needs to know Rich Content Editor Format your bulletin with the same tools you'd expect from a modern editor. Headings and bold text Lists and inline links Images and embedded content No plain-text notices Pin, Expire, and Control Keep critical messages visible and remove outdated ones automatically. Pin a bulletin to keep it at the top Set an expiry date to auto-hide outdated messages Draft → Publish workflow for controlled release Prepare ahead, publish when ready Read Tracking Know whether your message actually landed — without guessing. See who has viewed each bulletin Timestamps for each read event Full visibility for admins and bulletin editors No more chasing confirmation Multi-Practice Sharing For organisations running multiple locations. Share with all practices in one action Or selectively target specific locations Global bulletins for company-wide announcements No duplication of effort across locations Dashboard and Patient Feed Bulletins surface where they matter most. Latest bulletins shown on the dashboard on login Patients have a dedicated bulletin feed Pinned bulletins always appear first No separate navigation required ## How to Get Started News Bulletins are available now. Head to Bulletins Manager in your admin menu to create your first bulletin. Step 1 — Open Bulletins Manager from the admin menu Step 2 — Click Create Bulletin and write your message using the rich text editor Step 3 — Select your audience, set a pin or expiry if needed, and choose which practices should see it Step 4 — Save as a draft or publish immediately — your audience will see it straight away Permissions Users with the News Bulletin Editor role can create, edit, publish, and expire bulletins. Contact your system administrator to assign this role to the relevant team members. Ready to keep your practice connected? Log in to Virtual Consultant and head to Bulletins Manager to create your first bulletin. Learn More About The Platform → ## FAQs ### Who can create and manage bulletins? Users with the News Bulletin Editor role can create, edit, publish, and expire bulletins from the Bulletins Manager page. ### Can I share a bulletin across multiple practices? Yes. You can share a bulletin globally with all practices, or selectively choose which practices should see it. ### What happens when a bulletin expires? Expired bulletins are automatically hidden from staff and patient views. They remain in the system for reference but are no longer visible to your audience. ### Can I target specific roles with a bulletin? Yes. When creating a bulletin you can select a specific role as the audience — such as Treatment Coordinators or clinicians — rather than broadcasting to everyone. ### How do I know if my team has read a bulletin? Bulletins include read tracking. From the Bulletins Manager you can see which users have viewed each bulletin and when, giving you full visibility without needing to chase confirmation.