Referrals arrive and nobody calls
A physician’s office faxes a referral. It sits in the tray while the front desk checks people in. By the time someone calls, the patient has booked at the clinic down the road or decided to wait it out.
Physical therapyCRM and follow-up
Referrals scheduled, plans of care finished, re-evals booked.
Faxed referrals, direct-access calls, website forms and authorization requests land on one patient record with the next step. The visit reminder and the drop-off check-in go out from it.
Where it goes wrong today.
Patients drop off mid plan of care
The plan says twice a week for six weeks. After the third week the patient feels better and stops showing up. No one notices until the discharge report is due.
Authorizations and re-evals slip
Visits run past the authorized count, or a re-evaluation is due and no appointment is on the book. The therapist finds out at the visit.
How it works for physical therapy.
One record from referral or inquiry
A referral the front desk enters, a direct-access call, a form from your back pain page or a booking taken by the AI phone agent creates the record. The referring provider, the insurance and the body region are on it.
Stages for scheduling, care and re-eval
Referral received, insurance verified, evaluation scheduled, in care, re-eval due, discharged. The front desk works the front end; the therapist sees who is behind on visits. The authorization coordinator sees whose count is running low.
Reminders and check-ins from the record
The eval reminder with intake forms, the visit reminder, the “we missed you” text after a skipped visit and the re-eval booking text send from the patient record. Read how no-show reminders are sequenced.
Illustrative example
What a day looks like.
- Monday, 8:30 a.m.Friday afternoon’s faxed referrals appear as new records. The desk calls each patient before the first eval of the day.
- Tuesday, 12:45 p.m.A patient in week four has missed two visits. The record sends a text from his therapist asking to pick a day this week.
- Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.Tomorrow’s evaluations get a reminder with the intake and consent forms to complete at home.
- Thursday, 3:30 p.m.The authorization coordinator sees the patients whose approved visits run out next week and starts the requests.
- Friday, 5:00 p.m.Patients discharged this week get a thank-you and a review request. Those due for a re-check next quarter are flagged.
An illustrative example of how the system runs, not a measured result.
More for physical therapy.
Questions physical therapy ask
Does this replace our EMR or billing system?
No. Notes, plans of care and claims stay in your EMR. Ottimo holds the inquiry, the scheduling follow-up and the reminders, and books into the calendar you connect. Tell us your system and we will confirm the handoff.
Can we see which referring physicians send patients?
Yes. The referring provider is a field on the record, so you can see who sends patients and how many of those were scheduled.
Does the automated text answer clinical questions?
No. It handles logistics: times, forms and directions. A question about symptoms or the plan of care is handed to the therapist with a note on the record.