Let patients book on WhatsApp

When you need this

The surgery wants patients to book appointments by sending a WhatsApp message, without phoning reception. The assistant offers your doctors' free times, books the one the patient picks straight into the doctors' calendar, and confirms it in the chat. It never gives medical advice. Anything it can't handle, it passes to your team.

Patients reach your surgery in one of two ways:

• Modial's WhatsApp number, shared by every surgery. Your link opens a chat with Book at and your booking code already typed, so the patient reaches your surgery and no other. If you switch on Patients can find you by name, a patient without your link can type your surgery's name instead.
• Your surgery's own WhatsApp number, once Modial has connected it. Any message to that number reaches the assistant, and no code is needed. Ask Modial support to connect your number.

Only people whose role can manage the booking assistant (the owner and admins) can open this screen.

Steps

1. Open Settings in the menu. Under Printers & connections, click WhatsApp booking.
2. Fill in Surgery name: how the assistant names your surgery to patients, for example Greenside Surgery.
3. On Modial's shared number, choose a Booking code: 3 to 30 letters, numbers or hyphens, for example GREENSIDE. (With your own number this field isn't shown.)
4. Fill in Emergency number: the number a patient is given when their message sounds like an emergency. Left empty, they are told to call an ambulance.
5. Optional: switch on Patients can find you by name. A patient who types your surgery's name on Modial's number is then asked whether they mean your surgery, and can book without the code. The assistant never lists the surgeries that use Modial: it only answers a name the patient typed.
6. Switch on Patients can book on WhatsApp and click Save.
7. Under Your WhatsApp link, click the link to copy it, and click Download QR code. Put the link on your website and Google Maps listing, and print the QR code for reception.

📷 settings-whatsapp-booking (out of date: taken before the Patients can find you by name switch; retake after the release)

What you should see

WhatsApp booking settings saved. Under Your WhatsApp link:

• On Modial's number: your link, ending in Book%20at%20 and your code, and its QR code.
• On your own number: Patients message your surgery's own WhatsApp number, the number, and a link to it.

Before booking, the assistant reads back the doctor, day, time, the patient's name and the service they chose, and waits for the patient to say yes. A patient who books gets the appointment confirmed in the chat, with the service. It appears in the doctors' calendar like any other booking, with the patient's WhatsApp number and the reason they gave in the notes. It is marked Booked on WhatsApp on Appointments › Today, in the calendar, on the appointment and when you check the patient in, so reception knows the details are what the patient typed.

Video consultations. To take video bookings, add a service such as Video consultation that patients can book online. When a patient books it, the assistant tells them your surgery will send the video link or call details before the appointment. The assistant doesn't send a link itself: your team sends it, from your surgery's phone or from WhatsApp messages. The assistant offers every doctor's times for every service, so if only some doctors do video, name them in the service, for example Video consultation (Dr Moyo).

The assistant's first answer in each conversation ends with Powered by Modial Health, a Modial Technologies product. A patient who writes to Modial's number without your code or your name is asked: Hello! I book appointments for clinics that use the Modial Health platform. Which clinic would you like to book with? Type its name, or send its booking code.

With Patients can find you by name on, a patient who types your name (for example Greenside) is asked Is it Greenside Surgery? and books after replying yes. A patient has to type every distinctive word of your name: clinic or part of a word finds nothing.

A patient who wants to start again, or to book at another clinic, sends restart (or start over). The assistant forgets the conversation so far. On your own number it replies OK, let's start again. How can I help? On Modial's number it replies OK, let's start again. Which clinic would you like to book with? Type its name, or send its booking code., or with its usual first question when there was no conversation to end.

If a patient's message sounds like an emergency, the assistant tells them to call your emergency number or go to the nearest emergency department, and books nothing on the strength of that message.

When the assistant passes a patient to your team, or a message sounds like an emergency, your team is emailed and the conversation appears under WhatsApp in the menu, just under Dashboard. See Answer patients on WhatsApp.

If something goes wrong

• The booking code must be 3 to 30 letters, numbers or hyphens, and start and end with a letter or number: change the code, for example GREENSIDE or GREENSIDE-2.
• Another surgery already uses the booking code GREENSIDE (with the code you typed): choose another.
• Set a booking code and the surgery's name before switching the assistant on: fill in both, then save again.
• Set the surgery's name before switching the assistant on: fill in Surgery name, then save again.
• To be found by name, the surgery's name needs a word of its own, not just words like "Clinic" or "Medical Centre": a name like Family Medical Centre can't be found by name. Add the word patients know you by, for example Greenside Family Medical Centre.
• Changing the code stops the old link and QR code from working.: shown while you edit a code you already saved. If you save the new code, share the new link and QR code, and replace any printed ones.
• Save a booking code to get your link.: there is no link until a code is saved.
• Your link will appear here once Modial has connected WhatsApp.: WhatsApp isn't connected yet. Contact Modial support.
• The assistant is switched off, so patients who use the link can't book yet.: switch on Patients can book on WhatsApp and click Save.
• "Couldn't load the WhatsApp booking settings": check your connection and click to try again.