Healthcare · Waitlist open
AI receptionist for physical therapy clinics
Short answer
An AI receptionist for physical therapy answers your clinic’s calls while your therapists are on the floor: it moves sessions, books new patient evaluations and takes messages for the care team. It’s 100% AI, opens every call by saying so and never gives exercise or pain advice. It also tries to keep each patient on their schedule, which is where a PT clinic loses the most visits.
This is a phone-answering service for medical offices. It doesn’t give medical advice, and callers with an emergency are told to hang up and call 911.
No payment needed to join the waitlist.
Example call: a patient moving two sessions
Chuckanut Physical Therapy · A patient moving two sessions
- AI
- Chuckanut Physical Therapy, this is AI Receptionist, the clinic’s AI assistant. If this is a medical emergency, please hang up and call 911.
- Caller
- Hi, it’s Nadia Halvorsen. I can’t do my evening sessions next week.
- AI
- No problem, Nadia. Mornings instead?
- Caller
- Before eight, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
- AI
- Tuesday and Thursday at 7:00, same therapist.
- Caller
- Perfect.
- AI
- Done. What’s the best number for you?
- Caller
- 555-0122.
- AI
- Great, you’re set for Tuesday and Thursday at 7:00 a.m.
Summary sent to you
- Patient
- Nadia Halvorsen, 555-0122.
- Moved
- next week’s Tuesday and Thursday sessions from evening to 7:00 a.m., same therapist.
- Freed
- the two evening slots, open to book.
When physical therapy calls come at the wrong time
It’s 6:50 a.m. at a physical therapy clinic in Bellingham. The doors open at seven, and the voicemail already holds four messages: two patients who can’t make their morning sessions, one who wants to move all of next week, and a new patient whose doctor referred her and who wants to start soon. By the time the front desk listens to them, two of the slots have gone unused. Through the day it’s the same story with the gym full and every therapist working with two patients. A missed rescheduling call isn’t just one empty slot: it’s a patient who drifts off their plan of care.
How the call goes
-
Answer as your clinic, with the 911 line
The AI says: “Chuckanut Physical Therapy, this is AI Receptionist, the clinic’s AI assistant. If this is a medical emergency, please hang up and call 911.”
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In treatment, or new
Patients in treatment are found by name and phone. New patients get your initial evaluation slot.
The AI says: “Are you a current patient, or would this be your first visit?”
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For a reschedule, keep the week
It looks for a new time in the same week first, and with the same therapist if there’s an opening, so the patient keeps their rhythm. It confirms the new time only once it’s saved in your calendar.
The AI says: “I can move it to Wednesday at 7:30 with the same therapist. Does that work?”
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For a new patient, the details your clinic asks for
If your clinic asks for a referral or prescription, it asks whether the caller has one and notes the referring doctor. It writes down the insurance plan name for your team to verify.
The AI says: “Do you have a referral from your doctor? If so, who’s it from?”
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Questions for the therapist become a message
Anything about pain, exercises or progress goes to the care team as a message, with the best time to call back. When you’re closed, calls follow our after-hours triage protocol; other scripts are in the call protocol library.
What counts as urgent
The AI doesn’t decide whether a symptom matters. It goes by what the caller asks and by your rules.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| Caller says it’s a medical emergency | Told to hang up and call 911 |
| Patient cancels a session for today | Offered another time this week; the freed slot is in the summary right away |
| Patient wants to move several sessions | Moved within the same weeks, with the same therapist when possible |
| Patient has a question for their therapist | Message for the therapist, with the best time to call back |
| New patient with a doctor’s referral | Initial evaluation booked; referring doctor and plan name noted |
| Questions about visits covered or authorizations | Message for your billing person; no numbers given on the call |
What it never says on these calls
- Which exercises to do, stop or change, or whether pain after a session is normal.
- How many visits the patient needs or how long recovery takes.
- How many visits insurance will cover, or whether an authorization is approved.
- Whether the caller’s state requires a doctor’s referral; that’s your clinic’s call.
- That a session is moved before it’s saved in your calendar.
What you decide
- Your visit types: initial evaluations, follow-up sessions and how long each takes.
- Rescheduling rules: how far a session can move and whether it must stay with the same therapist.
- Referrals: whether your clinic asks for one, and what the AI writes down.
- Cancellations on short notice: what it says about your cancellation policy, in your words.
- Who gets which message: therapists, the front desk or the billing person.
We set it up the way you want and you approve the final version.
Why this works for physical therapy
Our call protocols come from nearly two decades of running phone reception for small businesses. In a PT clinic, two rules make the difference. It asks what matters: current patient or new comes first, because one call is about keeping a plan and the other about starting one. It never promises what you don’t: no exercises, no recovery times, no “insurance covers twelve visits.” The rest is on our method, and how visits are booked on appointment scheduling.
What it costs
A clinic that gets dozens of short rescheduling calls pays per answered call, not per minute and not per seat, with no contract. A two-minute call that saves a week of a plan of care costs the same as any other. We set the clinic rate together when your turn on the waitlist comes; the plans for non-medical businesses are on pricing.
Questions physical therapy owners ask
What does a physical therapy receptionist do on the phone?
Most of it is scheduling: moving sessions, booking evaluations for new patients, checking whether there’s a referral and taking messages for the therapists. A physical therapy answering service, or an AI receptionist for physical therapy, does that part of the job on every call, at the same time on several lines, and leaves your front desk for the patients in the room.
How much does an AI receptionist cost for a PT clinic?
We charge per answered call, not per minute or per seat, and there’s no contract. Your clinic’s rate is agreed with you when PT clinics come off the waitlist, and you see it before anything starts. Our general plans are on pricing.
Will patients be annoyed by an AI?
It says it’s an AI at the start of every call and gets to the point: name, which session, a new time. Nobody waits on hold or plays phone tag with the front desk. If a caller asks for a person, it follows your rules: puts the call through or takes a message.
Can it answer questions about a patient’s exercises?
No. Questions about exercises, pain or progress go to the therapist as a message, with the time the patient prefers for a callback. The AI doesn’t interpret symptoms or change a home program. If the patient says it’s an emergency, it gives the 911 line first.
Does it work for clinics with several therapists and locations?
Yes. It books with the therapist and location the patient already sees, and every summary says which one the call was for, so each team only sees its own calls. A patient who moves between locations is booked where they ask, and the summary says which. Healthcare practices join through the waitlist for now, because a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) isn’t signed yet.
Join the healthcare waitlist
Join with the waitlist form on this page and tell us how many therapists and locations you schedule. When your place opens, we set up your rescheduling rules and visit types with you, and you approve them before the first call; how setup goes, step by step, is on how it works. Other practices are on healthcare, including chiropractic clinics.
Free to join · No commitment