Patients come twice a week, so there is no obvious moment to ask
A dozen visits over six weeks, and the therapist is never sure which one is the right time. Ask on the third visit and it is too early; forget at discharge and it never happens.
Physical therapyReviews
Review requests at discharge, not after every visit.
One text when the plan of care wraps up, nothing about the injury in it, and one inbox where the clinic replies to each review.
Where it goes wrong today.
A request that mentions the shoulder is a HIPAA problem
Thanking a patient for finishing their post-op knee protocol tells anyone who sees the phone what was treated. Clinics skip the ask rather than risk the wording.
Negative reviews about billing and copays go unanswered
The review about a surprise balance after insurance sits with no reply while the clinic argues internally about what is safe to say.
How it works for physical therapy.
Discharge is the trigger
When the therapist marks the plan of care complete in the CRM, the request is scheduled. You can add a second trigger at a milestone such as the re-evaluation, but most clinics use discharge alone. A patient who drops off before discharge gets a rebooking text instead.
The text thanks them for their time, not their progress
The message names your clinic and the treating therapist if you choose, thanks the patient and links to your Google Business Profile. No body part, no diagnosis, no surgery, no progress notes. Every discharged patient with SMS consent gets the same message.
Replies that never confirm the care
Reviews land in the same inbox as reminders and no-show texts. Replies thank the writer, use the therapist’s first name if the patient did, and add nothing about treatment. A negative review gets an invitation to call the clinic director. See how to ask for Google reviews.
Illustrative example
What a day looks like.
- MondayTwo patients are discharged after their final sessions. Each receives a thank-you text that evening with the review link.
- TuesdayA patient midway through a plan of care gets a reminder for Thursday and nothing else.
- WednesdayA review thanks a therapist for being patient during a hard recovery. The front desk replies with thanks and no mention of what was treated.
- ThursdayA review complains about a copay that was higher than quoted. The clinic director replies from the inbox and offers a call to go over the account.
- FridayA patient who stopped coming a few weeks before discharge gets a rebooking text, not a review request.
An illustrative example of how the system runs, not a measured result.
More for physical therapy.
Physical therapyThe whole system for this work: pages, phones, follow-up and reviews.AI phone agentEvaluation calls answered while the desk is checking patients in.WebsitesA page for every condition, every treatment, and the first visit.CRM and follow-upReferrals scheduled, plans of care finished, re-evals booked.
Questions physical therapy ask
Is the request HIPAA-safe?
The message holds no treatment information: no body part, diagnosis, procedure or outcome. Ask us what agreements are in place and how numbers and messages are stored; we answer that in writing before you go live.
Why not ask after every visit?
Because the same patient would get a dozen texts, and the ask works best when the course of care is finished. Discharge is one clear moment per patient.
Can we ask only patients who hit their goals?
No. Every discharged patient gets the same request. Picking who to ask by outcome is gating, and Google’s review policies do not allow it. You can pause an individual request and call instead.
Does Ottimo write the review?
Never. The patient writes it on Google in their own words. Ottimo sends the request and helps you reply.