Why it matters
The question that isn't really about booking
Someone's back has gone. They find your clinic at eleven at night and start typing, and what they type is a description of their symptoms, because that is what is on their mind.
The wrong response is a chatbot that engages with the symptoms: suggesting a cause, naming a condition, promising the technique that fixes it, or filing all of it into a lead you then hold on a server.
The right response is to notice the one case that needs an emergency department tonight, and otherwise to answer what the clinic's pages say and offer an appointment. That is what this does.
- 51,724physical, occupational and speech therapy practices had paid staff in the US in 2024, employing 491,448 people between them.US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 (NAICS 621340)
- All 50states, plus DC and the US Virgin Islands, provide some form of direct access to physical therapist services, but the provisions and limits differ by jurisdiction and an insurer may still want a referral. So the assistant answers that question from your pages, never from general knowledge.APTA, Direct Access by State
Example conversation
A red flag at eleven at night
- My back went yesterday and since this morning I can't control my bladder and my inner thighs feel numb. Can I book an appointment?
The one presentation that must not be booked
- Please don't wait for an appointment with us. Loss of bladder control with numbness around the inner thighs needs to be seen today: call 911 or go straight to an emergency department.
Emergency care first, and no booking taken
- Okay. Separately, do I need a referral from my doctor to see you, and do you take Cigna?
- Please get seen at the emergency department first. For afterwards: we do take Cigna, and our page says no referral is needed for most plans, though your own insurer may still want one, so the clinic checks that when they confirm your benefits. Would you like me to take your name and number?
Repeats the emergency advice first, then answers from the clinic's own pages
- Yes please. Aisha Bello, 555-0181, and I'd be a new patient. It's sciatica, I had it after a car crash.
- Thanks Aisha, I've got that. Someone from the clinic will call to get you booked.
Doesn't repeat the clinical detail back, and doesn't put it in the lead
- New lead · Aisha Bello · 555-0181 · Appointment
Emailed to you with no clinical detail. Cigna and new patient are on the lead in your dashboard
Try a sample
Ask a sample assistant yourself
Sample Physical Therapy
SampleA sample physical therapy clinic, made up for this demo.
Nothing loads until you tap. No account, and nothing you type is saved.
What customers ask
What patients ask before they book
- Do I need a referral from my doctor?
- Do you take my insurance?
- How much is a session?
- What happens at the first appointment?
- How soon can I get an appointment?
- Are you open in the evenings?
- Who would I be seeing?
- Do you treat sports injuries?
It answers these from your own website, and hands over any it can't.
What it does
What it does for you
Catches the presentations that need an emergency department
Chest pain, breathing difficulty, one-sided weakness or slurred speech, a sudden severe headache, loss of bladder or bowel control, numbness around the groin or inner thighs, a suspected fracture, or a head injury after a fall. It says to call 911 or go to an emergency department, and takes no booking first.
Never asks about symptoms
It asks what they'd like to book and when. Nothing about pain, injuries, conditions, medications or where it hurts, and where a patient volunteers those anyway, it neither repeats them back nor puts them in the lead you receive.
Answers referrals and insurance from your pages
Whether a referral is needed turns on your state's limits and the patient's own insurer, so it answers from what your clinic publishes and hands over where your pages are silent.
Books the appointment
Through the booking page you already use, or, once it has a name and number, four open times from your Google Calendar at the appointment length you set. The inquiry reaches you by email either way.
Rules it follows
Rules a physical therapy chatbot has to follow
Emergencies before anything else
A red-flag presentation gets told to call 911 or go to an emergency department, immediately, with no booking taken and nothing else asked first.
No diagnosis, no cause, no prognosis
It never says what is wrong with someone, names a condition, says what caused it, says whether it is serious, or says whether the clinic can help with it. A diagnosis is made in person.
No cure, no guarantee, no session count
It never says a treatment will cure, fix, heal, correct or prevent anything, never guarantees a result and never says how many sessions someone needs. The FTC's health products guidance requires competent and reliable scientific evidence for a health claim, and states plainly that a “results not typical” disclaimer doesn't cure a deceptive one.
No claims of superiority
It never says the clinic, a clinician or a technique is better than another, the best, or more effective than another kind of care. The New York practice alert tells licensees to avoid claiming professional superiority in any area of practice, and that is the safest standard to apply everywhere.
No testimonials
It never repeats a testimonial, a review or another patient's story, even one on your website, and never confirms whether someone is a patient. The same alert requires written authorization and consent before using a patient's portrayal.
No pressure selling
It never uses urgency or worry to get a booking, never presses someone who has said they're unsure, and never offers a discount, prize or reward for a referral. Scare tactics and referral schemes are both named in that alert.
Referrals are your clinic's answer
Every state allows some direct access to physical therapy, but the limits differ by jurisdiction and an insurer may still require a referral. It answers from your pages and hands over where they're silent.
Benefits are checked, not promised
It never says a plan covers a visit, what it will pay, or what someone will owe. It says the clinic checks benefits before the appointment.
No self-treatment advice
It never advises on exercises, stretches, ice, heat, painkillers, rest or whether to keep working.
What reaches you
What you get for each new patient inquiry
The email alert gives you the name, the number and what they'd like to book. The lead in your dashboard adds their insurer and whether they're new, with the conversation kept alongside. Nothing a patient volunteers about symptoms goes into the lead.
- Name
- Aisha Bello
- Phone
- 555-0181
- New or existing
- New patient
- Insurance
- Cigna
- Wants
- An appointment
Your tools
Works alongside your practice software
- WebPT
- Jane
- ClinicSource
- Cliniko
Questions
Common questions
Is this physical therapy chatbot HIPAA compliant?
We don't call it that, and we don't sign HIPAA business associate agreements. It never asks about symptoms, injuries, conditions or medications, and if a patient volunteers them it doesn't repeat them back or write them into the lead. The lead holds a name, a phone number or email, their insurer, whether they're new, and what they'd like to book and when. The conversation is kept with the lead in your dashboard, and what a patient types goes to the AI model that writes the reply. Read our security page and check your own compliance needs, ideally with a healthcare privacy lawyer, before you go live.
What does it cost, and how long does setup take?
The Free plan covers 100 patient messages 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. Check it has your referral policy and insurance list right, then add one line of code or the WordPress plugin.
Would the medical clinic mode suit us better?
Only if you'd rather collect nothing at all. The medical clinic mode answers questions from your site and sends patients to your booking link or phone, but takes no names or numbers, alerts nobody and keeps no chat text. Physical therapy gets this mode because an appointment request can be taken without asking anything about health. You can switch between them in Settings.
Will it tell patients whether they need a referral?
Only what your pages say. Where they're silent, it hands the question to you, because the answer turns on your state's direct access limits and the patient's own insurer, and a general answer would be wrong for somebody.
Can it say our technique fixes the root cause?
No, even if your website says it. Health claims need real evidence behind them, and a chat has none to offer. It sticks to what you do and offers an assessment, which is where a claim about an individual's outcome can properly be made.
Can it tell patients whether we take their insurance or Medicaid?
It says which plans your pages list, Medicaid included if you list it, and takes the patient's insurer as part of the inquiry. It never says a visit is covered, what a plan will pay or what someone will owe, because that's a benefits check your team does.
Does it work for a chiropractic practice too?
Yes, it's the same set of rules. The advertising ones are drawn from a state chiropractic practice alert: no superiority claims, no scare tactics, no pressing a hesitant patient, no referral rewards and no testimonials without consent.
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