Clinic administration and communication
Keep administrative requests visible and owned
Use these guides to plan referral intake, contact updates, message follow-up and staff handovers. They cover administrative processes, with staff review at the points your practice chooses. They do not provide clinical or legal advice.
Practical administrative guides
Each guide includes a decision to make, specific operating checks and related reading for the next part of your process.
Organise referral intake and staff handover
Define administrative referral checks, missing-information tasks and staff ownership without turning intake automation into clinical triage.
Read the guideControl appointment waitlist offers and confirmations
Plan staff-approved waitlist eligibility, offer expiry and booking confirmation so one opening does not become competing promises.
Read the guideHandle patient contact-detail corrections carefully
Define clinic-approved verification, record matching and notification checks before changing a patient phone number or email address.
Read the guideFollow up failed patient administration messages
Build an owned queue for failed appointment messages, with delivery evidence, approved contact options and clear completion states.
Read the guideManage clinic cancellation requests without false confirmation
Keep cancellation requests distinct from completed appointment changes, with verified lookup, staff ownership and accurate patient updates.
Read the guideHand over unresolved clinic administration tasks between shifts
Keep callback requests, booking queries and failed messages owned across reception shifts with explicit next actions and acceptance.
Read the guideHandle repeated patient intake submissions without losing updates
Define how clinic staff review repeated intake forms, preserve amendments and check uncertain writes without automatically merging patient records.
Read the guideDefine how clinic messages involving family and carers are handled
Plan staff checks, approved contact channels and review queues for administrative messages from family members and carers.
Read the guideProve a clinic administration pilot before wider rollout
Define acceptance evidence for a bounded clinic administration pilot, including exceptions, destination checks and staff handover.
Read the guideHow many reception staff does your clinic need?
Use your phone system's call reports to set reception cover by half hour, find where abandoned calls cluster and choose between hiring and overflow cover.
Read the guideHow to calculate your clinic's no-show rate
A step-by-step method for calculating your clinic's no-show (DNA) rate from practice software reports, with the counting traps that skew the figure.
Read the guideHow should reception answer patient fee questions?
How clinic reception can answer fee, gap and rebate questions with an approved fee script, and when a caller needs a written estimate from the practitioner.
Read the guideIs a website chatbot worth it for a clinic?
What a website chatbot can and cannot do for an Australian clinic, the privacy and advertising rules that apply, and how to judge whether it is worth adding.
Read the guideMissed calls during consultations: options compared
Phone options for clinics that miss calls while staff are with patients: ring groups, queues with callback, call forwarding, answering services and AI overflow.
Read the guideHow to handle interpreter and relay calls at a clinic
How clinic reception should handle calls through TIS National interpreters and the National Relay Service, and how to book interpreters for appointments.
Read the guideHandling repeat prescription requests by phone
An administrative process for script request calls: what reception records, who decides, how lost eScript tokens are handled and what to tell the patient.
Read the guideWhat should a clinic AI scribe policy cover?
The sections an Australian practice's AI scribe policy needs: approved tools, patient consent, note review, data handling, incidents and audit, with sources.
Read the guideHow to run an NDIS mock audit and gap analysis
Prepare for an NDIS verification or certification audit with an internal mock audit: which standards to test, which records to sample and how to log gaps.
Read the guideWhich after-hours services should your message name?
How to choose and word the after-hours options in your clinic's phone message and website: triple zero, nurse helplines, after-hours GP and urgent care clinics.
Read the guideEarlier reading
Healthcare AI guidance: earlier reading
Historical discussion of professional guidance. Check current regulator material and obtain appropriate advice before relying on a regulatory interpretation.
Appointment reminder planning
Earlier reading on reminders and attendance. Use your own practice records to assess results; do not treat example figures as predicted outcomes.
Discuss an administrative process
Describe the task, systems and staff responsibilities without sharing patient records. We can discuss the scope and checks for an administrative workflow. Keep clinical decisions and urgent care requests with your established care channels.