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Physiotherapy Clinic Front Desk Checklist: Opening, Midday and Closing

A front desk that runs on memory drops things on the busiest mornings: the form nobody sent, the visit nobody billed, the reminder nobody tapped. This physiotherapy clinic front desk checklist splits the day into three blocks, opening, midday and closing, and names the Clinidiary screen behind every step. Print it, tape it beside the monitor, and a new receptionist can follow it from the first day.

By the Clinidiary team · Updated · 5 min read

How to use this physiotherapy clinic front desk checklist

  • Print the page, or copy the blocks into your own sheet, and tick each line with a pen.
  • Work through the blocks in order. Every step is one screen, so a block should feel short.
  • Delete steps you do not use. A checklist that is too long gets ignored.
  • Nothing here needs clinical notes. Front desk logins can never open them, whatever the settings.

Block 1: Opening, before the first patient

  • Open the diary on today's day view. Look down each physiotherapist's column. The red dashed line marks the time right now.
  • Read the amber alerts on bookings. Allergy, fall risk and amount owing show in amber. Tell the physiotherapist about the first two before the patient arrives, and plan to raise an amount owing politely at the desk.
  • Check blocked bands and approved leave. Approved leave shows in the diary. If a visit is booked over a band or a day off, phone the patient before they leave home.
  • Read your Important posts. From team messaging, they wait on your dashboard until you press Got it.
  • Look at your tasks. Team messaging lets tasks be given to a person or to reception, so check the ones waiting for you.
  • Send forms to today's new patients. Send each intake form as a link to open on the patient's phone, or print it. Each link opens only that form for that patient, and the answers land on their file.

Block 2: Midday, between the rushes

  • Keep visit states honest. Move visits through Booked, Confirmed, Arrived, In progress and Completed, so the physiotherapist can see who is waiting.
  • Rebook before they leave. Ask every patient finishing a visit whether the next one is booked. For a course, use a repeat booking. The guide on why rebooking matters explains the habit.
  • Open Not yet invoiced on the dashboard. It lists completed visits that were never billed. A bill is made from the completed appointment's Billing tab, so clear the list before lunch.
  • Work the waiting list after any cancellation. Clinidiary shows who fits the free slot. Call or message them and mark the entry offered. It does not send offers by itself.
  • Book walk-ins too. Even if you take them straight in, they need an appointment, because the bill is made from it.
  • Return missed calls. The guide on calls while with a patient has a simple routine for this.

Block 3: Closing, before you lock the door

  • Open Not yet invoiced again. It should now be empty. If a visit is still there, bill it today.
  • Check balances. Part payments are fine, but note any bill with money still owing, because the amount shows in amber on that patient's next booking.
  • Open Money in today. It splits the day into cash, UPI and card. Count the cash drawer against the cash line and check your UPI app against the UPI line. A UPI QR code cannot confirm a payment, so each one is recorded by staff with its UPI reference.
  • Prepare tomorrow's reminders. Under Communication, then WhatsApp, choose tomorrow. Clinidiary writes each reminder in your clinic's wording, and one tap on Open WhatsApp opens the message ready to send. The list counts what is left, done and unsendable, for example where no mobile number is on file. Phone the unsendable ones.
  • Finish or hand over your tasks. Tick what is done. Leave a short message for the morning shift in team messaging.
  • Glance at tomorrow's diary. Look for gaps you could fill from the waiting list, and for new patients who need a form.

For a closer look at the bills and day end, see GST billing for physiotherapy clinics, and for how the reminder list works, WhatsApp appointment reminders.

When the checklist stops fitting

A good checklist changes slowly. Add a step only after the same thing has gone wrong twice. Remove a step the moment nobody can say why it is there. Keep the whole list on one page.

Watch the midday block especially. If it regularly spills into the afternoon, or the closing block is being done by a physiotherapist after the last patient, the work has outgrown the desk. That is the signal described in when to hire your first receptionist. Reception and managers are free in Clinidiary, since only treating physiotherapists are charged, so the software is rarely the reason to wait.

Frequently asked questions

What should a physiotherapy front desk do every morning?

Check the day's diary, read the amber alerts, look for leave or blocked time, clear the Important posts and tasks, and send intake forms to new patients. The opening block above does exactly this.

Who does the closing checks in a solo clinic?

The physiotherapist, using the same list. The two lines that matter most are Not yet invoiced and Money in today, because they show what you earned and what you forgot to bill.

Can the front desk see patients' clinical notes?

No. Front desk, accounts and marketing logins can never open clinical notes, whatever the settings. They see bookings, forms, bills and messages.

How do we stop forgetting to bill visits?

Make Not yet invoiced a fixed step twice a day, once at midday and once at closing. It lists every visit that was never billed.