Booking bot for physiotherapists

What a physiotherapy booking bot does

What the conversation looks like

Sample wording for the flow the description further down asks for, for one physiotherapist. The square brackets are yours to fill in.

What the bot does not do

Plan around these before you publish a bot for patients.

• No clinical advice

  It can't assess pain or an injury, suggest exercises or say whether physiotherapy is right for someone.

• No triage or emergency handling

  It doesn't decide how urgent anything is. It offers an urgent option and your number. A first message such as "my back has got much worse" gets the greeting and menu like any other, which is why the greeting carries your number. If the patient types instead of tapping, an AI model may match their words to one of your options. That isn't triage and it can miss, and once a booking has started the urgent option isn't offered again, so don't rely on it.

• No health details in chat

  Our data processing terms don't allow a bot set up to ask for health details unless we have agreed in writing and you have a lawful basis and safeguards. This flow asks only for the session, the time and contact details, and keeps service names general: Initial assessment says less than a name with a condition in it. A booking at a clinic can still say something about a patient's health, so check that with your adviser. A patient can still type more. Whatever they type stays in the conversation, and a typed message the bot can't use is read by an AI model to work out what they meant. You can turn that reading off per bot.

• No courses of treatment

  It can't book six weekly sessions in one go, and it has no recurring bookings. Each session is a separate booking, made in the chat or added to the calendar by you.

• No follow-up after a session

  It can't check in on a patient, send exercises or chase someone who hasn't booked their next session. Every conversation starts with the patient, and reminders go out only for appointments already booked.

• No referral or insurance checks

  It can't see a referral, an insurer's authorisation or how many sessions a patient has left. Every patient sees the same list of services, so a first-time patient can still pick a follow-up. If that matters, hold each booking for approval and check it yourself.

• No shared rooms

  A booking uses one calendar, either a person or a room. If two physiotherapists share a treatment room, the bot can't stop both being booked into it. Patients pick a named calendar; there is no "anyone available" option.

• No clinic software sync

  Meerlume has its own calendar and doesn't sync with clinic software. Google Calendar sync is planned. If you keep both, someone has to copy bookings across, or a time can be taken twice.

How it fits a physiotherapy clinic

The pieces to set up for a clinic.

Which setup fits your clinic

Three common shapes and what each one needs.

Start from this description

Open in builder starts a draft from this text straight away, and nothing goes live until you publish. Before you do, replace everything in square brackets and read the urgent message again: patients depend on that phone number being right.

I'm a physiotherapist running a clinic called [clinic name] on my own, open Mon-Fri 9am-6pm. Keep anything in square brackets exactly as written; I will replace it. Services: initial assessment (60 min), follow-up (45 min). Leave 10 minutes after each appointment. Start with this message: "Hello, this is the automated booking chat for [clinic name]. We can book appointments here, but we can't give advice on symptoms or injuries. Please don't share health details in this chat. For anything urgent, call [clinic phone number]." Then offer three options: Book a session, Something urgent, Prices and location. Something urgent sends this and ends the chat: "We can't assess symptoms in this chat. Please call us on [clinic phone number]. If we are closed, contact your doctor. In an emergency, call 112 or your local emergency number." Prices and location says our prices are at [price list link] and we are at [address], then goes back to the options. Book a session first asks "Have you been to us before?" with First visit and Returning. First visit says "Welcome. Please choose Initial assessment." Both go on to ask for the service, a date and a time, then the patient's full name, phone number and email address for the reminder, then confirm. Never ask about symptoms, pain, injuries, medical history, medication, referrals or insurance. Never give health advice or exercises.

Physiotherapy booking bot FAQ