Bradford Health Services

When Bradford Health Services set out to build more consistent, scalable alumni outreach, they chose Encyrcle. By automating routine outreach across more than 25 locations, Bradford has doubled inquiries and admissions, ensuring alumni receive regular, timely support at a critical stage in their recovery.

“Our experience working alongside Encyrcle has been unparalleled. What stands out most is their ability to support our organization’s overarching goals, especially in strengthening alumni support and driving organizational growth. We couldn't be more pleased with the results.”

Chandler Keel, CMO

At Bradford Health Services, care doesn’t stop when patients finish treatment. Maintaining the hard-won progress that alumni have made requires ongoing support and encouragement.

That’s why Bradford is dedicated to supporting alumni throughout their recovery journeys. With more than 25 facilities across America’s Southeast, Bradford provides critical ongoing support, ensuring alumni remain connected as they navigate life after treatment.

To foster a sense of community and ongoing care, Bradford offers regular check-ins, alumni events, and active social media groups.

“We offer a full continuum of care and want to stay connected with our alumni outside of treatment,” explains Jennifer Gibson, National Director of Alumni Services at Bradford Health. “We want our patients to know that once they discharge from here, they’re still a part of our family—and that we’re here to support them as they continue their recovery journey.”

Engaging alumni across multiple programs and locations

As Bradford’s network of treatment centers expanded as they acquired new programs, so did the challenges of managing alumni engagement. With multiple locations and diverse programs, keeping up effective communication with alumni became increasingly complex. Individual coordinators were responsible for keeping up contact, leading to inconsistent outreach and results.

“We were trying our best to stay connected via email or phone calls,” says Jennifer. “But as the business grew, it became clear those approaches weren’t efficient or scalable.”

Bradford also faced difficulties tracking patient outcomes and identifying alumni who needed urgent support.

Chandler Keel, Bradford’s Chief Marketing Officer, highlights the limitation of their approach: “Relying on individual staff members to maintain alumni relationships post-discharge led to variability in the engagement we provided, limiting our ability to scale our outreach.”

Streamlining communications with Encyrcle

To overcome its challenges with alumni engagement, Bradford partnered with Encyrcle, a platform designed to automate and simplify alumni communication.

“Our primary goal was to increase automation in our processes,” says Chandler. “We wanted to ensure that our alumni coordinators could touch as wide a net of individuals as possible post-discharge.”

Using Encyrcle, Bradford created automated workflows for their post-discharge engagement. Pre-scheduled, personalized text messages are sent at key milestones, including sobriety anniversaries, as well as to share periodic check-ins, event reminders, and motivational content. These thoughtful, regular touchpoints help sustain an uninterrupted connection as alumni reintegrate into everyday life.

Jennifer enthuses, “We can automate everything with Encyrcle, helping us be more accessible to our alumni without any extra effort from our team. Messages go out to our alumni seamlessly and they know they can text us back just as easily if they need support.”

Customizing outreach for unique audiences

Encyrcle empowers Bradford to customize messaging workflows for different alumni groups, all with different needs.  

Chandler explains, “Encyrcle works alongside us to help us customize workflows for our niche programs and specialty service lines. They make recommendations on the right messaging cadence and the specific language we should use for different demographics. This level of personalized support is something you don’t always see with other platforms.”

By automating routine alumni communication, Encyrcle gives Bradford’s alumni coordinators more time for higher-impact work. As Chandler explains, “Encyrcle’s automated platform allows our team to shift their focus to areas that truly matter—fostering interpersonal connections, coordinating meaningful events, and providing unwavering support to those who may need to return to us for assistance.”

A user-friendly platform alumni actually want to use

Adopting new technology is usually a headache for large organizations, but Encyrcle breaks the mold. Its text-based platform offers a familiar and effortless way for coordinators and alumni to stay connected. This simplicity drives higher engagement and response rates compared to traditional outreach methods.

“Encyrcle mirrors the consistent, intuitive behaviors of standard text messaging platforms, making it very easy to use and not burdensome on the individuals receiving the messages,” says Chandler.

The platform has had a positive reception from alumni, explains Jennifer: “Introducing new services can sometimes feel very uncomfortable, especially for those in recovery. It can sometimes come across like a marketing gimmick, but Encyrcle hasn’t been that at all. It’s honestly a tool that helps us support people and focus on their recovery. And our alumni appreciate that.”

Tracking patient outcomes and proactively addressing their needs

Bradford maximizes the data-driven capabilities of Encyrcle to track alumni engagement, analyze survey responses, and measure outcomes in real time. The platform simplifies data collection and delivers actionable insights through detailed dashboards, helping Bradford make informed decisions and continually strengthen their aftercare plans.

One feature that has become indispensable is Encyrcle’s automated alerts. These alerts notify the team if a patient’s engagement drops or when a survey response signals a need for extra support.

Jennifer says, “Encyrcle keeps us connected with our alumni, not just through the automated touchpoints, but by providing alerts when someone is potentially at risk. These timely notifications allow our team to step in quickly, offer support, and re-engage alumni in treatment if necessary.”

Standardization across multiple facilities

Bradford has fully harnessed Encyrcle to bring consistency and structure to alumni outreach across its fast-growing network of facilities.

The platform gives Bradford confidence that its alumni program can scale seamlessly alongside the organization, maintaining the same high standards of quality and care.  

“By standardizing, automating, and structuring our alumni program with Encyrcle, we have achieved greater consistency,” says Chandler. “This ensures that the patient experience remains unparalleled and aligned with our high standards as we continue to grow.”  

For Jennifer, who oversees 20+ alumni coordinators across multiple locations, Encyrcle has transformed her ability to lead teams across diverse locations. “With Encyrcle, I can be sure that all our coordinators are reaching out consistently across all facilities with all our alumni. It’s made it possible to ensure no one falls through the cracks.”

Driving impact and ROI

With a mission to support and transform countless lives, Bradford prioritizes tech investments that deliver measurable results. Encyrcle has already proved impactful on that front.

Chandler says, “Encyrcle has given us a clear and consistent way to track the overall ROI of the alumni program we’ve developed.”

The results speak for themselves. Bradford has increased inquiries by 100% year over year, driven by improved and consistent alumni communication. This growth is matched by double the number of admissions in the same period—a clear testament to the team’s proactive, evidence-based outreach that ensures alumni get support before issues escalate.

“These are results we’re really proud of,” says Chandler.

Advancing Bradford's mission

In little over a year, Encyrcle has become integral to Bradford’s mission to change patients’ lives and achieve sustainable business growth.

“Our experience working alongside Encyrcle has been unparalleled," says Chandler. "What stands out most is their ability to support our organization’s overarching goals, especially in strengthening alumni support and driving organizational growth. We couldn't be more pleased with the results.”

Jennifer echoes the sentiment, emphasizing Encyrcle’s positive impact on those navigating life’s toughest challenges. “Encyrcle’s impact has been immeasurable. They are a team of caring, compassionate individuals who truly understand this process and this field. But more than anything, Encyrcle is a tool that will continue to help people for years to come.”

With Encyrcle’s support, Bradford ensures its alumni never have to walk the path of recovery alone. They’re delivering more strength, connection, and hope to their communities.