What should an orthopaedic clinic say to patients on WhatsApp?

Orthopaedic patient enquiries on WhatsApp often arrive with an attachment: an X-ray photo, an MRI report, a discharge summary from another hospital. Close behind come pain messages that are easy to misjudge over text, and family members weighing a surgery quote. This guide starts with the reports, because a casual reply to a scan is the easiest mistake to make, then works through pain, cost and follow-ups without giving medical advice.

How do we handle X-ray and MRI reports sent on WhatsApp?

As sensitive patient information, the same way you would treat anything else in a patient's file, not as a casual attachment to glance at and reply to.

• Confirm receipt, don't comment. "Got your MRI report, Dr [Name] will go through it at your appointment" is enough. Reading out a finding or naming what it shows is not a chat reply's job.
• Keep it inside the enquiry thread. Don't forward a report or image to a personal phone, a family WhatsApp group, or another app.
• Use it only for the visit it was sent for, and don't keep it longer than that unless it becomes part of the patient's actual clinical record.

Two sets of rules point the same way. Under NMC regulation 7.14, what a patient shares with a doctor is confidential, and a scan sent ahead of a consultation falls under that. Under the DPDP Act, a report linked to a named enquiry is personal data, to be used only for the purpose it was sent for, with consent the patient can withdraw. This is a general explainer, not legal advice; ask a lawyer how long your clinic should keep these files and how to delete them.

What else do patients ask an orthopaedic clinic on WhatsApp?

Most messages fall into a handful of patterns. Cost, timings and report questions deserve a direct answer. A pain message gets no assessment on chat, only a route to the doctor, or to 112 if it can't wait.

For the broader question of what makes a clinic easy to reach and book on WhatsApp in the first place, our guide to getting more patients for your clinic in India covers that ground. This post stays to how you answer.

How do we answer a knee or back pain message on chat?

With a plain, non-diagnostic reply and an offer of a consultation. Even a message that sounds routine, "my knee has been paining for a month", gets a reply that never guesses a cause or a treatment.

• Acknowledge, don't diagnose. "Sorry to hear that, let's get you seen" works. "That sounds like a torn ligament" does not belong on chat.
• Don't ask questions to judge urgency. If the patient says it can't wait, the reply is 112 or the nearest emergency department.
• Offer the consultation as the next step, with a slot and a fee.

What if a pain message sounds urgent?

The front desk does not assess symptoms, on chat or on the phone. If a patient says it is urgent or can't wait, the chat reply's only job is to move them to care fast, not to explain anything or sound reassuring.

A message like this needs the same fixed line every time, not a judgement call about how calmly it is worded: call India's 112 emergency number (opens in a new tab), or go to the nearest emergency department. None of this should try to name what the symptom is; that decision is the doctor's, on examination.

How much should we quote for knee or hip replacement surgery?

A range, not one number, and it is worth knowing what the range looks like elsewhere before assuming your own quote is out of line. Published Indian hospital price pages show a wide spread even for the same procedure.

Spreads like these are exactly why a single flat figure on chat rarely holds up. The safer pattern is a range, a plain note on what it depends on (implant type, room category, days of physiotherapy included), and a confirmation that the final number needs the doctor to examine the patient and the X-ray or MRI.

Should we mention Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY) to patients asking about cost?

Yes, as an option to check, and it is worth knowing even if your clinic mostly sees private, paying patients. A patient asking about cost is entitled to hear this, not just your own rate.

Mentioning this costs nothing and reads as straightforward, not as talking a patient out of your services. Many patients still choose a private clinic for a shorter wait, an implant choice, or convenience, once they know both options exist.

How do we handle physiotherapy follow-ups on WhatsApp?

As scheduling and confirmation, not as a place to set or change the treatment plan. The session count and the pace of recovery are the doctor's or physiotherapist's call, made in person.

• Confirm the next booked slot when a patient asks, and help them rebook if they need to move it.
• If the doctor has set a general follow-up pattern for a procedure, staff can repeat that as a general guide, clearly marked as general, not as this patient's guaranteed schedule.
• Never set a new exercise, session count or discharge date over chat without the treating doctor or physiotherapist's sign-off.

Recovery pace varies a lot between patients even after the same procedure, so a chat reply should never promise how many sessions someone will need or when they will be "back to normal". That is exactly the kind of outcome claim the ASCI Code requires to be capable of substantiation before it is made.

What can we say about fees on chat?

The consultation fee, plainly, and a clear note on what a surgery quote does and doesn't include. Declaring your charges publicly is allowed under NMC regulation 6.1; discount language aimed at pulling in enquiries sits closer to soliciting patients, which the same regulation does not allow.

• State the consultation fee directly when asked, with no need to hedge.
• For a surgery quote, say plainly whether the implant, room category and physiotherapy days are included, since hospital price pages often leave this unclear.
• Avoid discount or offer wording on treatment prices; a straightforward answer reads as more trustworthy anyway.

A reply checklist

Run any WhatsApp reply from an orthopaedic clinic past this before it goes out.

Sample replies you can adapt

Two more samples: a report enquiry, and a pain message that can't wait. Replace the words in square brackets with your own clinic's details.

An X-ray report sent before a visit

A message that can't wait

Both samples are marked as samples for a reason: copy the pattern, not the exact words, and check every reply against your own clinic's prices, doctor's instructions and working emergency number before it becomes a standard reply. Eye clinics and skin clinics face their own version of the "photo or report before a diagnosis" problem; our posts on WhatsApp enquiries at an eye clinic and WhatsApp enquiries at a skin clinic cover that ground for those specialities.