New Patient Intake & ACC Triage

The Real Problem

Melissa runs a two-room physiotherapy clinic in East Auckland. She loves the clinical work: sports injuries, post-surgical rehab, stubborn backs that finally start moving again. That's the part she trained for.

What she didn't train for was explaining the same intake questions twenty times a week.

Does ACC cover this? Do I need a GP referral? Is this an initial assessment or a follow-up? What should I bring? How much is the surcharge? Can I book if the injury happened at work? Can I come after 5pm? Do you treat neck pain from desk work? My husband doesn't speak much English, can he still come?

None of these questions are difficult. That's exactly the problem. They're repetitive, they come in all day, and they always arrive when Melissa is with a patient.

If she stops treatment to answer the phone, the patient in front of her loses attention. If she lets it ring out, the new patient may try the next clinic. If she asks reception to handle it, reception still ends up spending 8-10 minutes figuring out whether this is ACC, private, new injury, old injury, referral-based, or the wrong appointment type entirely.

By the time the booking is made, half the frustration came before anyone set foot in the clinic.

Why Existing Tools Don't Solve This

Cliniko, Nookal, and Gensolve already do the core clinic-management work well. They handle calendars, notes, invoices, reminders, and in many cases ACC-related workflows. That's not the gap.

The gap is what happens before the patient is properly in the system.

Online booking links can show available times, but they usually don't explain the context around the booking. They don't naturally answer:

• whether the injury is likely to start as ACC or private
• whether the patient needs a referral
• which appointment type to choose
• what forms or documents to prepare
• what to expect at the first visit

So the patient still calls, still emails, or still sends a website message. The booking system exists, but the front-desk conversation happens manually.

How AI Solves This

BestAI sets up an intake assistant on the clinic website and messaging channels. It handles the non-clinical, pre-booking layer that currently interrupts the team.

A new patient types:

"I hurt my shoulder lifting something at work yesterday. Do I need to see a GP first or can I book directly?"

The assistant replies with the clinic's own process:

"You can book directly with our clinic for an initial physiotherapy assessment. If this was caused by an accident, we can usually assess whether it should start under ACC. Please bring any referral or claim details you already have, if available."

Then it continues:

• asks whether this is a new injury or an ongoing issue
• asks whether the patient has an ACC claim number already
• identifies whether they need an initial assessment or follow-up
• explains surcharge, session length, and what to bring
• sends the right intake form before the appointment
• hands a clean summary to reception or the practitioner

Another patient asks:

"I've had lower back pain for months. Is this ACC?"

The assistant does not diagnose or promise claim eligibility. Instead it answers safely:

"ACC usually applies to accidental injuries rather than gradual or long-term pain. Our initial assessment can help determine the right next step. If you'd like, I can send you our private appointment options and what to expect at the first visit."

The clinic stops losing time on repetitive explanation, and the patient gets clarity without waiting for someone to answer the phone.

How We Set This Up

None of this works if the AI is just a standalone chatbot with no connection to your actual business. That's why BestAI builds a custom integration program — a piece of software that bridges your AI assistant with the systems you already use.

For this kind of setup, that means:

• Embedding the AI assistant into your website as a live chat widget
• Connecting it to WhatsApp, web forms, or missed-call follow-up workflows
• Linking it to your booking logic so it sends the correct appointment type and intake form
• Passing a structured summary into your existing front-desk workflow

Here's our process:

1. We map your intake flow — We document how new patients currently arrive, what your team asks, and where bookings go wrong.
2. We build the connection layer — Our developers write a custom API connector so the AI can pass the right information to your existing systems without copy-paste.
3. We test real clinic scenarios — ACC enquiry, private pain complaint, referral-based booking, after-hours website message, multilingual enquiry.
4. We maintain it as your workflow changes — If your surcharge, forms, hours, or booking rules change, we update the assistant to match.

You don't need to be technical. We do the implementation — you explain how your clinic works, and we make the software fit around it.

The Result

• Fewer phone interruptions during treatment sessions
• New patients get answers immediately instead of waiting for reception
• Fewer wrong appointment types booked
• Intake forms and expectations are sent earlier, before the patient arrives
• Reception spends less time repeating ACC and first-visit explanations
• The clinic captures more new enquiries that would otherwise drift away

What AI Can't Do Here

The assistant does not diagnose conditions, recommend treatment, decide clinical urgency, or guarantee ACC eligibility. It does not replace practitioner judgement.

It should not write clinical notes into the patient record without an approved workflow. It should not give medical advice, interpret scans, or tell a patient whether they "definitely" qualify for a claim.

For clinical concerns, the assistant directs the patient to book an assessment, call the clinic, or seek urgent care where appropriate. Any handling of personal or health information must comply with the Health Information Privacy Code 2020, and any clinic records still need to follow New Zealand retention and privacy requirements.

Who This Is For

Physiotherapy clinics, osteopaths, chiropractors, and other manual-therapy practices across New Zealand where the team is strong clinically but keeps getting dragged into repetitive front-desk explanations. Especially relevant for solo practitioners and small clinics that already have a PMS but still feel chaotic before the booking is confirmed.