Lunch Break, Sore Back, Thursday On Hana's Column
ABBY PORTAL · CALL SUMMARY
ANSWERED BY ABBY · 12:47 PMBruno Cardoso
(604) 555-0116 · 4 min · New patient
Lower back pain since Sunday; wanted an osteopath this week. Booked Thursday 3:30 PM Initial Consultation with Hana Kimura; patient record created.
Appointment bookedNew patient record
CLINIKO · THURSDAY · APPOINTMENT BOOK
Hana Kimura · Osteo
2:30
Follow-up
30 min
3:30
Bruno Cardoso
Initial Consult
booked by Abby
Tom Reilly · Physio
3:00
Initial
60 min
4:00
Follow-up
Mei Tanaka · Podiatry
3:30
Nail care
30 min
✓ Booked at 12:47 PM while the patient was on the line · reason for visit in the appointment notes.
Bruno Cardoso calls at 12:47 PM on his lunch break. His lower back seized up moving boxes on Sunday and he wants to see an osteopath this week. The AI Receptionist asks the questions you've set for new patients, checks live availability in Cliniko for the osteopaths taking new patients, and offers Thursday at 3:30 PM with Hana Kimura. He takes it. Abby creates Bruno's patient record and books an Initial Consultation on Hana's column, with "lower back, since Sunday, moving boxes" in the appointment notes.
Your appointment book in Cliniko shows the new appointment where your receptionist would have put it: right practitioner, right type, right length. Bruno gets the details confirmed on the call, and your clinic's usual reminders apply. Your practitioners never stopped treating.
Moved, Cancelled, Or Just Confirmed, Without Opening A File
On Wednesday Bruno calls back: work moved a meeting onto Thursday afternoon. Abby finds his appointment by name, offers Hana's real openings for Friday, and moves it. If he'd needed to cancel, Abby would cancel per your cancellation policy and record the reason, and the 3:30 would be offered to the next caller. If he'd only wanted to check the time, Abby would read it back. Every one of those is a booking task, and booking is the boundary: Abby works in your appointment book and patient contact details, never in treatment notes, letters, or files.
Abby's AI Receptionist takes these calls around the clock, in English or Spanish, however many come in at once, and every call leaves a transcript, summary, and recording in your portal. Abby's live, US-based receptionists are on the same plan for the calls you want a person to take (answering, screening, messages, and capturing a patient's request in full for your front desk), while the booking itself inside Cliniko is the AI Receptionist's job.
The Cliniko Rules Abby Books By
✓Only the appointment types you allow. Abby offers times for the appointment types and practitioners you've made bookable in Cliniko, and you can narrow that further for phone calls.
✓Practitioners on their own terms. New patients go only to practitioners taking them; a request for a specific practitioner is honored when their column has room.
✓Live openings, not guesses. Times come from your live Cliniko availability, so an appointment cancelled this morning is offered this afternoon and nothing is double-booked.
✓Your lengths and locations. Each appointment type books at the duration you've set, at the location the patient asks for.
✓Your cancellation policy. Cancellations are recorded in Cliniko with the reason; moves are made only into real openings.
✓Appointments only. The reason for the visit goes into the appointment notes; treatment notes, letters, files, and anything clinical stay closed.
From Reception To Treatment Room
Physio, chiro, and osteo clinicsA caller with a sore back gets an initial consultation booked with a practitioner taking new patients, from real Cliniko openings, before the pain sends them somewhere else.
Podiatry, massage, and psychologyEvery appointment type keeps its own length and practitioner. A 30-minute follow-up and a 60-minute initial book differently, and Abby books each the way you've set it in Cliniko.
Multi-location practicesTwo rooms or six clinics: Abby books at the location the patient asks for, from that location's own practitioners and hours.
The day's changes, absorbedPatients who need to move or cancel are found by name, moved to a real opening or cancelled per your policy, and the freed time is offered to the next caller who wants it.
How It Works
1Onboarding connects Cliniko, and you decide which appointment types, practitioners, and locations Abby may book, plus what to ask new patients.
2Abby's AI Receptionist answers in your clinic's name, offers real openings from your live Cliniko availability, and books, moves, or cancels while the patient is on the phone.
3The appointment appears on the practitioner's column in Cliniko with the caller's notes attached; the full call summary, transcript, and recording wait in your Abby portal.
FAQs
Can Abby's AI receptionist book appointments in Cliniko?
Yes. Abby's AI Receptionist offers real openings from your live Cliniko availability and books the appointment while the patient is on the phone, creating the patient record for new patients and matching existing ones. Only the appointment types and practitioners you allow are offered.
Can Abby reschedule or cancel a Cliniko appointment?
Yes. Abby finds the appointment, moves it to a new time the patient picks from real openings, or cancels it per your cancellation policy with the reason recorded in Cliniko, all during the call.
What if the patient already has an appointment?
Abby finds the existing appointment in Cliniko by the patient's name and confirms the practitioner, date, and time. If they want to change it, that happens on the same call.
Which answering service works with Cliniko?
Abby is a Cliniko answering service with live, US-based receptionists and an AI Receptionist on one plan. The AI Receptionist is the virtual receptionist for Cliniko that books, moves, and cancels from your live availability, day or night; the live receptionists take the calls you route to a person and pass along what the patient needs.
How does Cliniko work with an AI receptionist for allied health clinics?
During onboarding, Abby connects to your Cliniko account and learns your booking rules. From then on the AI receptionist for allied health on Cliniko checks availability, books, moves, and cancels appointments only; it never opens treatment notes, letters, or files.
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