How a small clinic can answer enquiries and book appointments without a full-time receptionist

A small clinic gets the same few questions all day. What are your timings? Is the skin doctor in on Saturday? How much is a consultation? Is there parking? Most of them arrive while the front desk is with a patient, or after the clinic has closed.

You don't need a full-time receptionist to answer them well. You need the answers written down once, a booking process that doesn't depend on someone picking up, and a clear line for what goes to a person. Here is how to set that up, with or without software.

1. Write down the questions you actually get

For one week, note every question that comes in by phone or message. Most clinics find the same ten or so: timings, doctors and their days, fees, location, parking, what to bring, walk-ins, cancelling and paying.

Put the answers on one page of your website, in plain words. A table works well for doctors: name, speciality, days, hours and fee. Keep it current. An out-of-date timing is worse than no answer.

2. Turn booking into rules, not a conversation

Phone tag happens because every booking is negotiated. Decide the rules once:

• how long each kind of visit takes;
• the days and hours you take bookings;
• a gap after each appointment;
• the least notice you need, such as two hours;
• how far ahead people can book.

With rules like these, an online calendar can offer only the times that suit you, and a patient can pick one without waiting for a call back. If your front desk prefers to confirm every slot, take requests instead: name, phone and preferred time. Either way, say which it is, so nobody mistakes a request for a confirmed booking.

3. Send a reminder before each appointment

A short reminder a few hours before, with the time and the address, helps the patients who forgot. Ask for a phone number or email when you take the booking, and tell them how you will remind them.

4. Decide what goes to a person

This is the most important step. Whoever answers first, a part-time helper or software, should not answer medical questions. Write the hand-over list down:

• symptoms, medicines, test reports and prescriptions;
• anything about a past treatment;
• complaints and refunds;
• emergencies: tell the person to call 112 or go to the nearest hospital now.

Everything on this list goes to the doctor or the front desk, with a note of what was asked.

5. If you try an AI assistant, set its limits

An AI chat assistant on your website can answer the questions from step 1 and book within the rules from step 2. Before patients use one, check that it:

• says it is an AI;
• answers only from your own pages, and hands over when the answer isn't there;
• is told not to give medical advice, and you have tested that with real questions;
• doesn't ask for Aadhaar numbers or medical records;
• shows you every conversation and what it cost.

Read the conversations every week for the first month. When an answer is wrong, fix your page.

6. Work out the cost

Count a month of enquiries and multiply by the replies each one takes, often two to four. Ask any provider for a price per reply or per conversation in rupees, and whether you can see what each one cost.

Where Dhanur AI fits

Dhanur AI is one way to do steps 1 to 5. An agent reads your clinic's website, answers patients on your website chat or a chat link in English, Hindi or Hinglish, books on your Google Calendar in the hours you set, and hands medical questions to your team. A reply costs about ₹2.17 on the Smart level, and new workspaces get ₹25 of free credits, then pay as you go. It doesn't take phone calls, and answering on WhatsApp is a pilot. See an AI receptionist for clinics, with an example clinic.