Physiotherapists on WhatsApp: clear the admin, keep clinical questions with clinicians

Why patients message the clinic

Patients message because it is easier than ringing during the working day. Many already have your number from booking a first appointment, and they expect the same quick replies they get from friends.

Most messages are admin. Some are not. "Can I move Thursday?" sits next to "my back has got much worse since the session, is that normal?". The setup below makes sure the agent answers the first kind quickly and never tries to answer the second.

The rule that comes first

The agent never gives clinical advice. It does not suggest exercises, say whether pain is normal, recommend ice or heat, or comment on a diagnosis. When a patient describes a symptom or asks a clinical question, it says a physio will get back to them and hands over. When a message mentions any of the urgent signs your clinical lead lists, it sends the urgent wording first.

What customers ask on WhatsApp

• Can I move my Thursday appointment to next week?
• How much is an initial assessment?
• Do you accept my health insurance?
• Do I need a referral from my GP?
• My knee is more painful since the last session, is that normal?
• Can you send me the exercise sheet again?
• Is there parking near the clinic?

An example conversation

This illustration shows a patient moving an appointment and asking a clinical question along the way. Names and details are examples.

What the agent answers

• Booking, moving and cancelling appointments inside your notice rules.
• Prices for assessments and follow-ups, and which insurers you work with, from your note.
• Whether patients need a referral, and what to bring to a first appointment.
• Resending documents the clinic has already given the patient, such as an exercise sheet, if your process allows it.
• Opening hours, parking, access and directions.
• Appointment reminders in your wording.

What it always hands to you

• Any description of pain, symptoms or a change in a condition.
• Questions about exercises, treatment, diagnoses or whether to keep training or working.
• The urgent signs your clinical lead lists: the agent sends the urgent wording, then hands over at once.
• Photos or videos of an injury, which go to a clinician without comment.
• Insurance authorisation problems, payment disputes and complaints.
• Medico-legal, workplace and solicitor requests.

Let your clinical lead write the urgent wording and the list

Your clinical lead should decide which signs count as urgent and write what the agent says when it sees one, including who to call and when. Put the wording in quotation marks in the notes and tell the agent to send it exactly, then hand over. The agent should never shorten it, soften it or add its own view of what might be wrong.

The WhatsApp limits that matter here

Replies to people who message you are not held back by the warm-up, so customers get answers from the first day.

Set it up in an afternoon

1. Write a clinic note: hours, prices, insurers, booking rules, the urgent wording and the list of signs that trigger it.
2. Ask your clinical lead to approve the urgent wording, the list and the sample replies.
3. Connect the clinic's WhatsApp number in Spaces. You scan a QR code with the phone that has the number, the same way you would link WhatsApp on a computer. The phone keeps working as normal afterwards.
4. Connect an always-on AI agent, such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw or Hermes, using the steps for your client on our agents page, so it can answer messages as they arrive (chat apps such as ChatGPT and Claude act only when you ask them in a chat), and give it the note and your diary if it can reach it.
5. Agree how clinicians are alerted to handed-over chats, and how quickly they reply.
6. Decide when the agent answers. If you want it quiet outside clinic hours, tell it in its notes or pause sending when you close. Reminders and routines can carry working hours of their own.
7. Read every handed-over conversation for the first month and tighten the note wherever the agent hesitated.

A sample clinic note

CLINIC: Riverside Physio, 8 Mill Lane. Free parking behind the building.
OPEN: Mon to Fri 7:30am to 8pm, Sat 8am to 1pm.

PRICES (examples): initial assessment £70, follow-up £55.
INSURERS: list the insurers you work with here.
No GP referral needed for self-paying patients.
NOTICE: 24 hours to move or cancel, or the session is charged.

CLINICAL QUESTIONS: say 'I've passed this to your physio and they
will get back to you today.' Then hand over.

URGENT SIGNS (clinical lead's list goes here).
URGENT WORDING (send exactly this, then hand over at once):
'Please call us now on 01234 567321. If we are closed, call NHS 111,
or 999 if it is an emergency. I have passed this to the clinical team.'

NEVER: suggest exercises, ice or heat, pain relief, or say pain is normal.
Never comment on photos or videos of an injury.

The urgent signs and wording belong to your clinical lead, not to a template. The point of the note is that the agent sends their words, not its own.

Exercise sheets and documents

Patients often lose their exercise sheet. If your clinic is happy for reception to resend documents a physio has already given, the agent can do the same. It should never create a new programme or change one, and it should check it is sending the right document to the right patient. If you are unsure, keep this with the team.

Think about privacy too. WhatsApp is convenient, but patients' health information deserves care. Check your professional body's guidance and your own data protection rules on what you share by message.

Insurance and self-pay questions

Insurance questions are a large share of clinic admin. Give the agent the list of insurers you work with and the general steps, such as "bring your authorisation code to your first appointment". Anything about a specific claim, an authorisation that has not come through or a shortfall goes to the team.

Out of hours

Patients often message in the evening, when their pain is on their mind. Decide in advance what should happen then. If the agent keeps answering out of hours, its note should tell it to send the urgent wording whenever a sign on the list appears, and to say a physio will reply when the clinic opens. If you would rather it only replied during clinic hours, tell it so or pause sending when you close. Put your out-of-hours advice on your website and appointment letters too, so patients never rely on WhatsApp alone.

Common mistakes clinics make

• Letting the agent reassure patients that pain is normal. That is a clinical judgement.
• Writing the urgent wording in a hurry. Let your clinical lead own it.
• Sending reminders to old patient lists. Remind patients who are booked in, and no one else.
• Not reviewing handed-over chats, so the note never gets better.

Who you message

In short

For a physiotherapy clinic, an AI agent on WhatsApp clears the admin: bookings, prices, insurance, parking and reminders. Every clinical question goes to a physio, and urgent signs get wording your clinical lead wrote.

Spaces paces every message and keeps the number inside safe limits, but no tool can promise WhatsApp will never restrict a number, so keep the agent to patients who message you and patients who expect to hear from you.

Pricing

Plans from $19 a month

Is it safe for a physio clinic to use an AI agent?

For admin, yes, as long as every clinical question goes to a clinician. Have your clinical lead approve the urgent wording, and check your professional body's guidance on patient communication.

What if a patient says their pain is worse?

The agent says a physio will get back to them and hands over. If the message mentions any urgent sign on your list, it sends the urgent wording first. It never says whether pain is normal.

Can it send exercise sheets?

It can resend documents a physio has already given the patient, if your clinic allows that. It should never create or change a programme.

Can it handle insurance questions?

It can say which insurers you work with and explain the general steps. Specific claims and authorisation problems go to the team.

Will it send appointment reminders?

Yes, to patients who are booked in, at the time you choose and within Spaces' limits.

Can clinicians still use WhatsApp on the clinic phone?

Yes. The number stays yours and the phone keeps working. When a physio replies in a chat, the agent stays out of it until it is handed back.

What about photos of injuries?

The agent passes them to a clinician without comment. It should never describe what it thinks a photo shows.

Should the agent say it is an AI?

Most clinics should. A line such as "I'm the clinic's AI agent, a physio will answer any questions about your treatment" sets the right expectations.