Before the first patient: opening up
The first twenty minutes decide whether the morning is calm. Say a receptionist arrives at 7.45 for an 8.00 start. A good opening routine looks like this:
- Open the Dashboard. It shows today's bookings, who has arrived and what still needs doing. Open tasks and any Important team notice wait there until someone clicks Got it.
- Read the diary. Closed time is shaded and a red dashed line marks now. Amber on a card is a patient alert, such as an allergy, a falls risk or money owing.
- Check the Reminders sent card. It shows what was sent, what failed and what was skipped, with the reason. A patient with no mobile number is skipped, so that is a phone call or an email for the desk to make.
- Read the overnight replies. Nothing is sent between 8 pm and 8 am, but patients reply at all hours. A YES confirms the booking. Anything else lands in the shared inbox under Communication.
Morning: phones, arrivals and the diary
This is the busiest stretch and the one people picture when they think of the job.
Booking. Click an empty slot, pick the service and the length and price come with it. The diary refuses a double booking, a booking in closed time and one that would run over the next patient. Reception cannot override a closed-time booking by default, so a practitioner, owner or manager makes that call.
Arrivals. When a patient comes in, mark them Arrived. The physio moves the visit to In progress and then Completed. Those statuses are how the desk and the treatment room talk without leaving their seats.
Cancellations. Record the reason every time. Then check the waiting list, which shows who fits the exact slot that freed up. Offer it by phone or text and mark it offered so nobody rings the same person twice. More on this in how to reduce no-shows and cancellations.
If the desk is empty because someone is busy with a patient, Clini, the AI receptionist (in early access), can answer the clinic phone. She covers gaps. She does not replace the person at the desk.
Midday: payments, claims and the money cards
Once the first visits are Completed, the money work begins.
- Invoice from the Billing tab. The service and price are already there. Add products, issue the invoice and record the payment by method.
- Watch the Not yet invoiced card. It lists visits that were treated but never billed.
- Open the Claims card. It ranks the work: nothing lodged yet, started but not sent, waiting on a funder (with the age of the oldest) and came back short.
- Send what can be sent. WorkCover insurers and NDIS plan managers get the invoice emailed from Clinidiary. Medicare, DVA and health fund claims are lodged on your terminal and recorded in Clinidiary.
Reception can book, invoice and take payments, but can never open clinical notes. That is by design, so a duty list should not ask the desk to chase or read notes. The Uncompleted notes card shows each physio only their own.
The detail of the claims side is in physiotherapy invoicing and claims.
Afternoon: follow-up that nobody notices until it stops
The quiet hours are where good clinics pull ahead. Give these jobs a time and an owner:
- Clear the inbox. Answer replies, confirm bookings and pass clinical questions to the right physio.
- Work the tasks. Each task has an owner and a due date and stays on the Dashboard until done.
- Look at who has dropped away. The Last attendances report lists patients who have not been back. Recalls can go to them automatically by text or email at the time you set.
- Fill tomorrow. Look at tomorrow's diary for gaps, then check the waiting list for patients who could take them.
Closing: the last half hour
A tidy close makes tomorrow's opening quick.
- Not yet invoiced should read empty.
- Money in today should match the till and the terminal report.
- Every patient who needs another visit has one booked.
- Anything unfinished is a task with a name and a date, or a post in the team feed.
From the day to a duty list and a hire
Now turn the day into a document. Group the duties under Open, Front of house, Money, Follow-up and Close, and put the Clinidiary screen beside each one. That makes the job concrete for a candidate and makes it easy to train them in a week.
When you interview, ask how they would handle two things at once, say a ringing phone and a patient at the desk, and what they do when a funder has not paid. Then decide whether the volume justifies a new hire. When to hire your first receptionist covers that decision, and systems over willpower shows how a written routine keeps the day steady for whoever sits at the desk.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main duties of a physiotherapy receptionist?
Answering calls, booking and changing appointments, greeting and marking arrivals, taking payments and issuing invoices, sending claims and following up unpaid ones, handling the inbox and keeping the diary full. The rest is routine, done at the same time each day.
Can a receptionist see clinical notes?
No. In Clinidiary, reception, accounts and marketing logins can never open clinical notes, and no setting changes that. They can still book, invoice and take payments.
Should a receptionist handle claims?
Often yes. Emailing an invoice to a WorkCover insurer or NDIS plan manager, and recording a Medicare, DVA or health fund claim after it is lodged on the terminal, are desk jobs. The Claims card shows what is waiting.
How do I stop things being forgotten at the desk?
Give each job a time of day and put it on the Dashboard as a task with an owner and a due date. A task stays visible until it is done.