Why it matters
The 9:40pm back-pain question
At 9:40pm someone with a sore back wants to know two things: do they need a referral for physical therapy, and does the clinic take their insurance. The clinic's website has a phone number and a contact form.
The form gets a reply the next afternoon. In the meantime they try their health plan's online directory, the kind a CMS review found had errors for nearly half the locations it checked, and still can't tell whether they need a referral. So they book a primary care visit to get one, and the physical therapy they could have started this week waits for it.
Both answers were already on the clinic's website: the list of accepted plans and the referral policy. Neither needed their name or a word about their back, which is why an assistant that collects nothing can give them at 9:40pm.
- 43%of appointments booked on one large booking platform were made outside office hours (January to September 2025).Zocdoc, What Patients Want, 2025 (vendor data)
- 31 dayswas the average wait for a new patient's appointment across 1,391 physician offices in 15 large metro areas.AMN Healthcare, Survey of Physician Appointment Wait Times, 2025
- 48.74%of provider locations checked in Medicare Advantage plans' online directories had at least one inaccuracy, so patients have good reason to ask the clinic about insurance directly.CMS Online Provider Directory Review, Round 3, 2018 (2017-18 data)
Example conversation
An insurance and referral question at night
- Do you take Blue Cross? My back has been hurting for a week.
A notice under the chat asks patients not to share health details
- I'm an automated assistant, not clinic staff. Our website lists Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO plans as accepted; please confirm your plan with your insurer and the clinic. This chat is for general questions, so please don't share health details here.
Says it's automated; answers insurance only from your published list; doesn't repeat the health detail
- Do I need a referral for physical therapy? Can I get in tomorrow?
- Our website says you can start physical therapy without a referral, though some insurance plans require one. To find a time, use our online booking page or call the front desk at (555) 010-0120.
Answers referral policy only as your site states it; promises no availability
- Can someone just call me back?
- I can't take contact details or pass on messages in this chat. Please call (555) 010-0120, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm, or book online.
Never promises a callback; nobody is sent this conversation
Try a sample
Ask a sample assistant yourself
Sample Family Clinic
SampleA sample medical clinic, made up for this demo. Like every clinic's assistant, it gives general information only and takes no details.
Nothing loads until you tap. No account, and nothing you type is saved.
What customers ask
What patients ask before they call
- Do you take Blue Cross?
- Are you accepting new patients?
- Can I walk in today, and how long is the wait?
- How much is a visit without insurance?
- Do I need a referral for physical therapy?
- Are you open on Sunday?
- What should I bring to my first appointment?
- Do you do sports physicals?
It answers these from your own website, and hands over any it can't.
What it does
What it does for you
Answers insurance questions
From the plans and networks your website lists, with a reminder to confirm coverage with the insurer and the clinic.
Answers new-patient, hours and walk-in questions
Whether you're taking new patients, opening and walk-in hours, and your referral policy, straight from your pages.
Quotes the self-pay prices you publish
Cash prices for visit types exactly as posted, and never an estimate of what a visit will cost.
Points patients to the next step
Your online booking or check-in link, or your front desk number. It doesn't book in the chat or take a message.
Rules it follows
Where a medical office chatbot has to stop
Emergencies go to 911 or 988
Chest pain or pressure, signs of a stroke, severe trouble breathing, severe bleeding, an overdose or a poisoning: it tells them to call 911 now, before anything else. For thoughts of suicide or self-harm it gives 988, by call or text.
Collects no personal or health information
It never asks for a name, phone number, email, date of birth, insurance member number, symptoms or medications. If a patient shares health details anyway, it doesn't repeat them and points them to the clinic. The text of the chat isn't stored, and nobody is sent an alert about it.
Says it's automated
The chat is labeled as an AI assistant, and near the start it tells patients it isn't a doctor, nurse or member of clinic staff.
No medical advice
No likely diagnosis, no view on whether someone needs to be seen, and nothing about medication or dosing.
Insurance, prices and referrals only as published
It never says a plan is covered when it isn't listed, never estimates what a visit will cost, never promises a wait time or a same-day visit, and answers referral questions only as your site states them, since direct-access rules vary by state and insurer.
Honest about HIPAA
We don't sign HIPAA business associate agreements. HHS guidance treats details such as an email address or the reason for a visit, entered on a clinic's scheduling page, as protected health information. That's why this mode collects none of it. Check your own compliance needs, ideally with a healthcare privacy lawyer, before you go live.
What reaches you
What your clinic gets: routine questions answered, no patient data
No patient details are collected, so there's no lead alert and nothing is sent to other tools. Instead, patients get the answer from your own pages and the right next step.
- Books via
- Your online booking or check-in link
- Calls go to
- Your front desk number
- After hours
- The instructions on your website, such as your nurse line
- Emergencies
- Told to call 911, or 988 for thoughts of suicide or self-harm
- Patient details collected
- None
Your tools
Works alongside your EHR and booking tools
- Epic
- eClinicalWorks
- athenahealth
- Oracle Cerner
- NextGen
- ModMed
- Experity
- Solv
- Tebra
- Zocdoc
- Phreesia
- Weave
- Luma Health
Questions
Common questions
Is this chatbot HIPAA compliant?
We don't call it that. We don't sign HIPAA business associate agreements, so the clinic mode is built to stay away from health information: it asks for no personal details, asks patients not to share health details, doesn't store the text of the chat and sends nothing to your team. What a patient types still goes to the AI model that writes the reply, and the security page lists every provider. Check your own compliance needs before you go live.
How do you make a chatbot HIPAA compliant?
A tool that handles protected health information for a clinic generally needs business associate agreements with every vendor that receives it, such as the AI model, text and email services, plus limits on how long data is kept. We don't have that in place, which is why medical clinics get an information-only mode that collects nothing.
What does it cost, and how long does setup take?
The Free plan covers 100 patient questions a month with no card, and paid plans start at $19 a month. Paste your clinic's website and it reads your pages in about a minute; it should pick the medical clinic mode from them, and if it doesn't, you choose it in Settings. Check the insurance list and your booking link, then add one line of code or the WordPress plugin.
Will AI replace a medical receptionist?
Not this one. It answers general questions from your website, such as insurance accepted, hours and walk-ins. It can't book, check eligibility, take a message or handle anything personal, so your front desk still does all of that.
What does a medical answering service do, and is this one?
A medical answering service answers your phone and takes messages, often after hours. This isn't one: it answers questions on your website only, takes no messages and doesn't answer the phone.
Can patients book appointments through the chat?
Not in the chat, because a booking needs contact details. It sends patients to your online booking or check-in link, or to your front desk number.
What happens if a patient describes an emergency?
It tells them to call 911 now, before anything else, for signs such as chest pain, stroke symptoms or severe trouble breathing. For thoughts of suicide or self-harm it gives 988. It doesn't assess symptoms or say whether someone needs to be seen.
Similar businesses
Close to yours
- DentistsAn AI chatbot for dental practice websites: answers new-patient and insurance questions, books visits and emails the front desk. No clinical advice.
- Physical therapy and chiropracticA physical therapy chatbot for your clinic website: answers referral and insurance questions from your pages, books appointments, never asks about symptoms.
- Med spas and aestheticsMed spa chatbot that answers from your own pages, books consultations and emails you each request, without promising results or asking for medical history.
Before you start
More business types
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