A physiotherapy clinic runs on rebooking. The first appointment is the expensive one to win; the profit is in sessions three, four and five. So the phone call that matters most is not the new enquiry, it is the patient ringing to move Thursday's session, and it comes in while every clinician is hands-on with someone else.
This is the physio-specific guide to what an AI receptionist should handle, with the numbers from the UK Private Practice Barometer 2026 (700-plus UK clinic owners surveyed between August and November 2025) on DNAs and rebooking, and the questions to ask about Cliniko and Nookal before you change anything.
The numbers a physio clinic should know
- DNA rate: roughly 7 to 8 per cent without reminders, 6.3 per cent with them. Clinics that simply switched on reminders in their practice management software saw DNAs fall from around 11 per cent to 6.3 per cent.
- Rebooking: 74 per cent nationally (median 80). Booking the next session three to seven days out gives the best rate, 74.3 per cent; at three weeks or more DNAs triple and cancellations spike to 17.5 per cent.
- Automated reminders lift rebooking too: 74.2 per cent with, 71.6 per cent without.
- Sessions per episode: 5.5 on average; the top quarter of clinics get six or more, the bottom quarter four or fewer.
The lesson in those numbers is not "buy software". It is that the two levers that move a physio clinic's revenue most, reminders and booking the next session before the patient leaves, are exactly the two things a front desk drops when it is busy. An AI receptionist is a way of never dropping them.
What an AI receptionist should do in an MSK clinic
Book, reschedule and cancel on the same call, in your system. Not a generic calendar. If the clinic lives in Cliniko or Nookal, the receptionist has to book into Cliniko or Nookal, with the right practitioner, the right appointment type and the right length, and the diary has to update while the patient is still on the line. Remi does this for Cliniko, Acuity and Google Calendar. Ask any other provider for its list by name; "syncs with your calendar" usually means Google.
Send the reminders that halve DNAs. 48 hours, 24 hours, two hours, over WhatsApp or text, with a one-tap confirm or reschedule. This is the cheapest revenue in the building.
Rebook the next session before the call ends. When a patient rings to change a session, the receptionist should offer the next slot in the three-to-seven-day window and book it. When a patient has not rebooked after session two, it should nudge them.
Answer the questions that eat the front desk. Do you treat X, what does an initial assessment cost, do you take my insurer, is there parking, do I need a referral. From your own facts, consistently, every time.
Text back missed calls. For the new-patient enquiry that came in at 12:40 while all three treatment rooms were busy: an immediate WhatsApp that lets them book.
Take deposits and apply your no-show policy. For initial assessments and long sessions, if your policy asks for one.
Chase what is owed. Insurer shortfalls and self-pay balances, followed up automatically until paid. Remi's PaidUp does this; we have not found a general AI receptionist that publishes it.
What it must not do
No clinical advice. The receptionist recognises the language of an acute injury, a post-operative concern or a red-flag symptom, and follows your written protocol: hand over to a clinician, book the urgent slot, or give the number to ring. It says at the start of the call that it is an AI and that the call is recorded, and it holds only what a receptionist needs (names, numbers, appointment details), not clinical notes. Put that in the data processing agreement.
What it costs
Remi is £149 a month ex VAT with 1,000 talk-minutes included, then 15p a minute, with a one-week free trial, no setup fee and a done-for-you setup; a £89 tier includes 500 minutes if your volume is smaller. Published general-purpose UK alternatives, checked 24 August 2026, run from RingCentral's £32 a month (100 minutes, then 40p a minute, booking "coming soon") through IONOS at £39 to £99 ex VAT per call (booking not on the £39 tier) to Hey Jodie at £49 to £199 (booking from £99; unlimited minutes up to 1,000 calls a month). The full breakdown is in how much an AI receptionist costs in the UK.
The comparison that decides it for most clinic owners is the true cost of a receptionist, roughly £29,200 a year employed, for about 40 hours of cover a week. Keep the person for the waiting room. Take the phone off them.
Questions to ask before you switch
- Do you book into Cliniko or Nookal (or my system) today, with practitioner, appointment type and duration?
- Can the patient reschedule or cancel on the same call?
- Do you send reminders at intervals I choose, and can the patient confirm or move with one tap?
- Can you take a deposit at booking and apply my no-show policy?
- What happens with a clinical question or a red-flag symptom? Show me the protocol.
- How is the AI introduced, and how is recording disclosed?
- Where is the data held, and will you sign a UK GDPR data processing agreement?
- What is included, what is metered, and what is the rate above the bundle?
Where Remi fits
Remi answers every call and WhatsApp, books into Cliniko, Acuity or Google Calendar, sends the reminders, rebooks the next session, texts back missed calls, takes deposits, applies your no-show policy and chases balances. It is honest about being an AI, records with notice, signs a DPA and hands over to a clinician on your protocol.
Where it is not the right fit: a clinic on a practice management system we do not yet integrate with, and cannot run a diary alongside, should ask us before trialling; and a clinic whose patients need a human voice above all else should read AI receptionist vs a human answering service first.