Clinic templates, ready to copy

Do

• Carry the clinic name, your timings and the emergency line (112, or go to the nearest hospital) every time.
• Test it by messaging the clinic number from another phone after closing time.
• Keep the phone connected to the internet; WhatsApp only sends an away message while the device is online.

Watch out for

• Never include medical advice, a discount, or words like best or guaranteed in an away message that goes to every patient who writes.
• Don't promise a reply time you cannot keep, such as "we reply in 10 minutes" at 2 am.
• Don't write a fee into it that you might change later; a message set once and forgotten goes stale.

Do

• Set an exact start and end time under Custom schedule, so it only fires on the day it should.
• Switch the schedule back to Outside of business hours once you are open again.

Watch out for

• Don't leave a holiday message running past the holiday; a stale closed message reads as neglect.

Do

• Give a real return date, and update the away message again once the doctor is back.

Watch out for

• Don't guess at when clinical questions can be answered; leave that to the doctor's actual return.

Do

• Give a realistic "usually by" time based on how OPD actually runs, not an optimistic guess.

Watch out for

• Don't leave it running once OPD ends for the day; switch it off or back to the closed-hours message.

Do

• Include timings, address (or a Maps link) and what the chat is for, since this is often a patient's first contact with the clinic.
• Say plainly that the chat is not for medical advice, so expectations are set from the first message.

Watch out for

• Don't turn the greeting into a sales pitch; keep it to the basics a new patient actually needs.

Do

• Be honest about when a real answer is coming, rather than a vague "we'll get back to you".
• Follow up first thing when the desk opens, before the day's new messages bury it.

Watch out for

• Don't guess at a fee or a slot you haven't actually checked, just to sound responsive at night.

Do

• Keep this line identical for every patient, so nobody has to judge how serious a message sounds in the middle of the night.
• Give a number that is actually answered at night, not just the clinic's daytime landline.
• Route any medicine, dose or symptom question the patient adds afterward to the doctor, never answer it in chat.

Watch out for

• Never guess what's wrong, reassure ("it's probably fine", "don't worry"), or attempt anything that reads as a diagnosis in a night-time chat message.

Do

• Name the clinic once at the start, since a patient may not have saved your number or may be messaging more than one clinic.
• Confirm the booking with a clear close, and send anything about pain or symptoms to a phone call rather than managing it in text.

Watch out for

• Don't leave the reply without a name at all; an unnamed reply leaves the patient unsure who just answered.

Do

• Acknowledge the specific thing that went wrong, apologise for that, say what happens next, then stop.
• Pass a complaint about a clinical outcome (not a communication slip) to the doctor, and say plainly you're doing so.

Watch out for

• Don't argue the point in writing, and never bring up another patient's wait or appointment to justify the clinic (NMC reg. 7.14, confidentiality).
• Don't promise a clinical outcome to smooth things over.

Do

• Ask before sending, and get an explicit yes on that same number.
• Tell the parent you'll keep using only that confirmed number for future updates about the child.

Watch out for

• Don't send a minor's health information to a number nobody has confirmed as the parent's or guardian's own.
• Under the DPDP Act, 2023, a child (under 18) needs verifiable parental or guardian consent before their personal data is processed, including a WhatsApp chat about their treatment.

Do

• Send something short immediately rather than leaving the patient to wonder whether the clinic even noticed.
• Come back with the real answer by the time you said you would.

Watch out for

• Don't let a holding reply substitute for the actual answer; follow up before the patient gives up and messages the next clinic.

Do

• Keep the doctor's name, date, time and fee exact; a WhatsApp template's approved wording can't change once it's live.
• Sent as a reply in the same chat right after booking, this needs no pre-approval; sent later or outside that chat, it usually needs a pre-approved WhatsApp template (Meta's customer-service-window rule).

Watch out for

• Don't soften it with a discount or a "slots filling fast" line; keep it factual, which also keeps it in WhatsApp's low-cost Utility template category rather than Marketing.

Do

• Name the consultation or procedure so the patient knows exactly what the slot is for.

Watch out for

• Don't leave the procedure field vague if it's a specific treatment; that ambiguity causes confusion at check-in.

Do

• Offer two real, checked options rather than one, so the patient isn't stuck if the first doesn't work.

Watch out for

• Don't promise a slot you haven't actually confirmed is free.

Do

• Give a specific reason (doctor unavailable) and a specific alternative in the same message, so the patient has an immediate next step.

Watch out for

• Don't add a discount or urgency to soften a clinic-caused reschedule; state it plainly instead.

Do

• Give a specific new estimate rather than a vague "running a bit late".

Watch out for

• Don't apologise with over-explanation of another patient's case; keep the reason generic (NMC reg. 7.14, confidentiality).

Do

• Give a clear cutoff time so the patient can decide whether to hurry or accept a later slot.

Watch out for

• Don't leave it open-ended ("come whenever"); that just pushes the problem onto the next patient's slot.

Do

• Give a landmark and a parking note if relevant; a bare address is often not enough in practice.

Do

• State the fee plainly; NMC reg. 6.1.1 lists a public declaration of charges among the things a doctor may announce, and reg. 3.7.1 already requires the same fee to be on your chamber board.
• Move straight to offering a slot, since a fee question is often really a booking question.

Watch out for

• Don't discount the fee in the reply to close the booking faster; that reads as soliciting patients.

Do

• Be upfront that the procedure fee depends on the check-up, rather than guessing a number over chat.

Watch out for

• Don't quote a firm procedure price sight unseen; an inaccurate quote causes disputes later.

Do

• Name the specific next step and date from that patient's own plan, not a generic announcement.

Watch out for

• Don't mix in a discount or promotional line; that reclassifies the whole template as Marketing under Meta's rules, regardless of the rest of the message.

Do

• Point back to instructions already given in person, and give a phone number for anything that worries the patient.

Watch out for

• Never use this message to answer "is this pain normal?" or to list what medicine to take; that's a clinical question for the dentist, in person or on a call, not a scripted WhatsApp reply.
• Don't turn a pointer into new medical advice typed into chat.

Do

• Send it the same day, once, and answer normally (fee, timing, booking) if they reply.

Watch out for

• Don't send a second follow-up for the same missed call if there's no reply; WhatsApp's policy also limits messaging when a business's message quality is low.

Do

• Lead with concern ("hope everything's okay") before any mention of a fee or policy, and offer the next slot in the same message.
• Save any no-show fee, if your clinic uses one, for a follow-up conversation, not the first same-day message.

Watch out for

• Don't present this as an automated reminder; it's a follow-up a clinic sends after a missed slot, not a Medslots reminder feature.
• Don't lead with the charge or the policy; that reads as a warning rather than a clinic that assumes good faith first.

Do

• Message only patients who agreed to WhatsApp messages, and only because the doctor actually advised a follow-up around now.
• Always end with the opt-out line.

Watch out for

• Never name the condition or treatment; family members often see each other's phones.
• No discount, urgency or outcome promise (NMC reg. 6.1.1 treats soliciting patients as unethical).

Do

• Leave out even the department name (skin, hair) if you can, since that alone can reveal more than intended.

Watch out for

• Don't add a reason for the visit "to be helpful"; the vaguer wording is deliberate here.

Do

• Name the therapist, not just "the clinic", since physiotherapy patients usually have one named therapist.

Watch out for

• Don't describe the exercises or the condition being treated in the message.

Do

• Keep the same pattern as the other specialty recalls: who's writing, that a follow-up was advised, a simple question, opt-out.

Watch out for

• Don't attach a vision-correction offer or discount to this message.

Do

• Use the doctor's own advice, written at the last visit, to decide who is actually due; someone told nothing more at a one-off visit is not due.

Watch out for

• Don't send this to a blanket list of everyone who hasn't visited lately; that's closer to soliciting than recall.

Do

• Send at most this one follow-up, then stop; mark it on your recall list either way.

Watch out for

• Don't send a third message for the same recall; repeated nudging starts to feel like chasing, and WhatsApp can limit a number whose messages are frequently ignored, blocked or reported.

Do

• Name that patient's own last visit and doctor; this specificity is what keeps the template in WhatsApp's lower-cost Utility category rather than Marketing.

Watch out for

• Don't send a generic, batch-style version ("Reminder: scaling done every 6 months!") to a whole list; that reads generic, not specific to one patient's own visit.

Do

• Ask, don't tell: this checks in and offers a next step, it doesn't guess at what's wrong.
• If the patient reports a symptom in reply, move them straight to a real consult: "Thanks for letting us know. Please call the clinic on [Phone] so Dr [Name] can check on it, or come in if that's easier."

Watch out for

• Never write "that's a normal reaction, don't worry" or otherwise diagnose over chat; a chat message can't examine the patient.
• This is the clinic starting a fresh conversation, so it usually needs a pre-approved WhatsApp template, not a message typed fresh each time.

Do

• Note plainly that the plan isn't finished and offer to continue where it left off.

Watch out for

• No pressure and no discount; don't write anything like "your treatment won't work if you don't come back" (an outcome-pressure claim, not a check-in).
• Don't name the condition or treatment itself in the message.

Do

• Thank them and acknowledge the visit in general terms only.

Watch out for

• Don't repeat the treatment the reviewer named; confirming a named person's treatment in a public reply can break the confidentiality rule in NMC reg. 7.14, even when the news is good.

Do

• Thank them warmly without repeating or agreeing with the superlative.

Watch out for

• Don't echo the superlative back ("thank you, we are proud to be the best clinic in the city"); NMC reg. 6.1.1 restricts self-promotion, and a reply that repeats a reviewer's superlative reads as the clinic's own announcement once posted.

Do

• Acknowledge the niggle in general terms, without promising anything about that specific visit.

Watch out for

• Don't get defensive about a small complaint, and don't explain what happened on that visit.

Do

• Invite a private conversation instead of guessing what was missing in public.

Watch out for

• Don't ask what went wrong in the public reply thread; keep any real conversation off the review page.

Do

• Reply in the same language the review was written in, wherever you can manage it.

Watch out for

• The same rules apply in every language: no name, date or treatment, and no agreeing with a superlative.

Do

• Keep the reply neutral about identity; it neither confirms nor denies that the reviewer was your patient.
• Report the review through your Business Profile if it breaks Google's content policy (fake engagement, off-topic, conflict of interest); you can still reply while a report is pending.

Watch out for

• Never write "you were never our patient" or "we found no record of you"; saying someone was your patient and saying they were never your patient both disclose something about a named person (NMC reg. 7.14).
• Never offer a refund, discount or free visit in exchange for a review being changed or removed; Google's policy prohibits this.

Do

• Ask every patient who actually visited, in the same plain words, every time.

Watch out for

• Never offer an incentive ("5-star us and get 10% off"); Google's policy bans incentivising a review, and separately, WhatsApp's Utility template category already excludes any discount or promotional language, so an incentivised review request is filed as the pricier Marketing category either way.
• Don't selectively ask only patients you expect to be happy; Google's policy also bans that.

Do

• Put the same wording in at least four places: the booking confirmation, your website, a printed card at reception, and the new-patient intake form.
• Draw the late-cancellation/no-show line once, write it down, and apply it the same way to every patient.
• State any fee clause at the time of booking, never after a patient has already missed the appointment.

Watch out for

• Keep a no-show fee modest and disclosed upfront. Once you charge one, it's a term in a service contract, and Section 2(46) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 lets a charge that's disproportionate to the loss, or sprung on the patient afterward, be challenged as an unfair contract term.
• This is a sample, not legal advice; have your own advisor review it before you publish or hand it to a patient.

Do

• Show the same number on your board, your website and your Google Business Profile, so a patient (or an AI answer summarising your clinic) never sees three different prices for one service.
• If the Clinical Establishments Rules 2012 apply in your state (check your own state's law first), also show the board in the local language next to English, since rule 9 asks for both.

Watch out for

• A range or 'from' price is fine only if most patients actually land inside it or actually pay that figure; a floor almost nobody qualifies for reads as misleading under the ASCI Code.

Do

• Run through the same fixed order every morning, rather than relying on memory or whoever is on duty that day.

Do

• Collect the fee and issue a receipt at the time of the visit, not later in the day when the amount is harder to remember correctly.
• Watch for part-payments on a high-value package (a hair transplant, an implant course); the ₹2 lakh cash limit counts everything received from one patient in a day or tied to one event, added together.

Watch out for

• This is a general summary of tax rules, not tax advice; confirm how they apply to your clinic with your accountant.

Do

• Keep the appointment register and patient files closed and put away when someone else is at the counter (NMC reg. 7.14, confidentiality).

Do

• Go through this on the same day each week, with the front desk and the doctor together.

Watch out for

• Nothing on this sheet is meant to be sent anywhere; it's an internal working document.

Do

• Say it the way your own staff naturally speak, in English, Hindi or a mix, and fill in your clinic's real fee, hours and doctor's name.
• It's fine to state fees and timings on a call; NMC reg. 6.1.1 lists public declaration of charges among the things a doctor may announce, and reg. 3.7.1 already requires the same fee on your chamber board.

Watch out for

• Don't promise an exact slot before you've actually checked it's free.
• Route any clinical question to the doctor; don't attempt an answer at the front desk.

Do

• Finish your sentence with the first caller or the patient at the counter before answering the second line.
• Write the second caller's number down immediately, not in your head, and call back within a few minutes.

Watch out for

• Don't leave the second caller in silence; one honest sentence is far less likely to send them to another clinic than a busy tone.

Do

• Fill in Reason for call with a word or two (fee, timing, booking, report, directions); over a week this shows what callers actually want to know.
• Leave Follow-up done blank until the follow-up actually happens, so nothing gets marked done by mistake.

Watch out for

• Call back a caller who only rang and hung up rather than messaging them on WhatsApp; a missed call is not the same as opt-in for WhatsApp messages, and it doesn't open WhatsApp's 24-hour reply window either.

Do

• Use text, not a voice note, for anything with a number, date, time or spelling in it; voice notes complicate handover and can be overheard on speaker.

Watch out for

• WhatsApp's own Business Messaging Policy says not to use WhatsApp for telemedicine or to send health information where regulations require a more secure system, a policy reason (not only a good-manners one) to keep diagnoses and prescriptions off the chat.
• Never message patients from a personal number; the chat history and the patient's trust in that number leaves with the staff member, and personal phones back up to personal cloud accounts the clinic can't control.

Do

• Write one line per open chat: what the patient asked, what they were told, and what's still pending, then hand the phone and the notes over together.

Do

• Use the file number, not the patient's name, so the sheet is safe left out on a desk.
• Make sure the advised follow-up gets written down at the visit, so the front desk can find it later.

Watch out for

• Nothing on this sheet is sent anywhere; it's the working list behind the recall messages.

Do

• Update the sheet the same day a reply comes in, so no patient gets messaged twice by two different staff members.

Watch out for

• File number, not the patient's name, keeps the sheet safe on a desk; nothing on it is sent anywhere.