Allied health and clinics · Cliniko · Rebooking

How do I follow up a physio patient who didn't rebook after their first visit?

By BREME · Updated 20 October 2026

Who this is for: Owners, practitioners and front desk teams at physio and allied health clinics using Cliniko who notice new patients come once and never return.

Start before they walk out the door

The easiest follow-up is the one you never need. In an Australian Physiotherapy Association article from July 2024, Queensland clinic owner Nick Schuster describes a treatment plan as the first step in reducing cancellations: the patient's provisional diagnosis, an approximate healing timeframe, and written take-home information, because patients remember little of what was said in the first appointment.

He recommends booking the next appointment while the patient is still in the room, or walking them to the front desk and explaining the next step. He finds about three appointments ahead works better than booking six, because the plan can change as the patient improves.

So the first fix is a habit, not a message: no new patient leaves without either a next booking or a clear note of why not.

Find the patients who slipped through

Cliniko's help docs describe a report built for this. It lists patients whose last appointment fell in a date range you choose and who have nothing booked.

1. In Cliniko, go to Reports and select Patients without upcoming appointments.
2. Set the date range for the last appointment to the past 7 to 14 days, and filter by practitioner or business if you have more than one.
3. Tick Hide patients with scheduled recalls, so you only see people nobody has planned to contact.
4. Select Create report. Print it or save it as a PDF from the Print button.
5. Cross off anyone who was discharged at that visit, then hand the list to whoever makes the calls.
6. If you want a spreadsheet instead, an Administrator can export Patients from Settings, Data exports. Cliniko notes a blank Next Appointment column means nothing is booked.

Call first, then text

The same APA article recommends following up with any patient who hasn't been discharged, by phone first and then text, noting that email open rates are low. The point it makes is simple: if you don't follow up, patients assume you don't care how they're going.

Who calls matters. A call from the treating practitioner, or a front desk person who mentions them by name, lands as care. A generic 'we noticed you haven't booked' lands as sales.

Open with how they are, not with the diary. Ask how the pain or movement is compared with the first visit, whether the home exercises are manageable, and whether anything got in the way, such as cost, time or transport. Then offer two specific times. If they're feeling better and want to stop, that's a fine answer: note it and offer a check-in later.

Use recalls so it happens every time

Cliniko recalls let you plan a future check-in on a patient's file. Administrators and power receptionists create recall types under Settings, Recall types, with a timeframe that can be set from 1 to 100 days, weeks or months. You add one from the patient's file under Recalls, then Add recall.

Cliniko's help article describes following up recalls by calling or sending a letter, and running the Recalls report under Reports to see who is due. Tick Recalled when you've made contact, and Cliniko records who did it and when. We couldn't confirm in Cliniko's docs that recalls send messages on their own, so treat them as a to-do list for your team.

A simple set-up: a 1 week follow up recall added for every new patient who leaves without a next booking, and a 6 week check in for anyone discharged early.

Hi [first name], it's [your name] from [clinic]. [Practitioner] asked me to check in after your first appointment last [day]. How's [the area you came in for] feeling since then? ... Have the exercises been manageable? ... [Practitioner] suggested a follow-up around now to keep things on track. I've got [day] at [time] or [day] at [time]. Would either of those suit?

Hi [first name], it's [practitioner] at [clinic]. Just checking in after your first visit. How are you going? If you'd like a follow-up, call us on [phone] or book here: [booking link]. No pressure either way.

Hi [first name], [practitioner] from [clinic] here. It's been about six weeks since we last saw you, so I wanted to see how you're travelling. If anything's flared up, give us a call on [phone].