How to take clinic bookings on WhatsApp

Use one WhatsApp number for the clinic

Use a number that belongs to the clinic, not a staff member's personal phone. Patients keep the same number even when staff change.

• Install the free WhatsApp Business app on a phone that stays at the clinic.
• Add your clinic's name, address, opening hours and a short description.
• List your main services, with a price or a "from" price where you can.
• Put the number on your signboard, your Google listing, your receipts and your social pages.

Reply quickly, even when the front desk is busy

A patient who writes to you is ready to book. If the answer comes hours later, they may already have booked somewhere else.

• Set a greeting for new patients, and an away message for nights and weekends that says when you will reply.
• Save quick replies for the questions you get every day: hours, location, prices, parking and what to bring.
• Check messages at set times through the day, not only when the phone rings.

Offer real times instead of asking "When are you free?"

Two or three real choices are easier to answer than an open question. For example: "We have Tuesday at 10:00 or 14:30, or Wednesday at 9:00. Which suits you?"

Keep one calendar that the whole team uses, so two people never give the same time to two patients.

Confirm every booking in writing

Send one short message that the patient can find again later:

• The day and the time.
• The clinic's name and a map pin.
• The doctor or the service.
• What to bring, such as an ID or an insurance card if you accept insurance.
• How to change or cancel.

If you ask for a deposit, say how to pay it in the same message, and confirm when the money arrives.

Remind patients before the visit

A short reminder the day before, and again a few hours before, helps patients keep their time or tell you early that they can't come.

Make changing easy, for example "Reply 1 to confirm or 2 to change." A patient who can change easily is less likely to simply not turn up, and you can give the time to someone else.

Reply in your patients' language

Many patients write in more than one language, or mix two in one message. Answer in the language they use, in short, plain sentences.

Keep patients' information private

• Never discuss a patient's health in a group chat.
• Only send results or health details if the patient asked for them on WhatsApp and you know the number is theirs.
• Only message patients who gave you their number for the clinic, and stop when anyone asks you to.
• Lock the clinic phone with a PIN, and keep it at the clinic.

When one phone is not enough

As the clinic gets busier, one phone and one person can't answer every message, especially at night and on busy mornings. That is usually when messages start waiting and bookings start slipping.