AI Receptionist for Cliniko — Setup Guide for Allied Health
If you run a physiotherapy practice, chiropractic clinic, osteopathy studio, or any allied health business on Cliniko, you know how much time gets spent on the phone. Patients calling to book, reschedule, ask about availability, or check their appointment details — it adds up fast.
Connecting Cliniko to AnswR puts an AI receptionist on your front desk that can handle all of this. It reads your Cliniko calendar, knows your practitioners' availability, and books appointments in real time — including after hours and during lunch.
Why Allied Health Clinics Need This
Allied health clinics have a unique challenge: your practitioners are the product. When a physio is treating a patient, they can't answer the phone. When the receptionist is helping someone at the front desk, incoming calls go to voicemail.
Research shows that 62% of callers won't leave a voicemail. For a clinic, that means potential new patients simply ring your competitor instead. During peak hours, lunch breaks, and after-hours, you're essentially invisible.
An AI receptionist connected to Cliniko solves this by answering every call with context. It knows which practitioners are available, what appointment types you offer, and whether the caller is an existing patient.
What Syncs Between Cliniko and AnswR
- ✓Practitioner availability — AnswR reads each practitioner's schedule in Cliniko, so it only offers times that are genuinely available.
- ✓Appointment booking — New appointments are created directly in Cliniko with the patient's details, preferred practitioner, and appointment type.
- ✓Patient lookup — Existing patients are identified by phone number, so AnswR can greet them by name and pull up their upcoming appointments.
- ✓Appointment types — AnswR knows the difference between an initial consultation, a follow-up, and a specific treatment type, and books accordingly.
- ✓Cancellations and rescheduling — Patients can call to move or cancel appointments, and AnswR updates Cliniko in real time.
Step-by-Step Setup
Step 1: Create your AnswR account
Sign up for AnswR — the free trial includes full Cliniko integration access.
Step 2: Go to Settings → Integrations
In your AnswR dashboard, navigate to the Integrations page and find the Cliniko card.
Step 3: Generate a Cliniko API key
In Cliniko, go to Settings → Integrations → API Keys. Generate a new API key and copy it. You'll need admin access in Cliniko for this step.
Step 4: Paste the API key in AnswR
Click Connect on the Cliniko card in AnswR, paste your API key, and click Save. AnswR will verify the connection and pull in your practitioner and appointment type data.
Step 5: Configure appointment types
Map your Cliniko appointment types to the services AnswR offers over the phone. For example, "Initial Consultation (60 min)", "Follow-Up (30 min)", "Massage (45 min)".
Step 6: Test with a call
Call your AnswR number and ask to book an appointment with a specific practitioner. Verify the booking appears in Cliniko with the correct details.
The Patient Experience
"Hi, I'd like to book in with Sarah for a physio appointment next week."
Your AI receptionist checks Sarah's Cliniko schedule, finds she has openings on Wednesday at 10am and Thursday at 2pm, offers both options, and books the caller's preferred time. The patient gets a professional, fast experience. Sarah's calendar is updated instantly.
Patients don't know they're speaking to an AI — the conversation is natural, friendly, and efficient. Most importantly, they get what they called for: an appointment, booked on the spot.
Privacy and Compliance
Healthcare data requires careful handling. Here's how AnswR protects patient information:
- No clinical data access — AnswR reads appointment schedules and contact details only. It does not access treatment notes, clinical records, or health information.
- Australian data hosting — All data is stored on Australian servers, compliant with the Australian Privacy Act.
- Encrypted connections — All communication between AnswR and Cliniko uses encrypted HTTPS connections.
- HIPAA-aware — While AnswR doesn't access clinical data, our infrastructure follows HIPAA-aligned security practices.
Tips for Allied Health Clinics
Set up all your practitioners
Make sure each practitioner has their working hours and appointment types configured correctly in Cliniko. AnswR uses this data to match callers with the right person.
Enable after-hours answering
Many patients call during their own work hours — which might be outside yours. AnswR can book appointments at 8pm on a Tuesday, filling your calendar while your clinic is closed.
Use it to reduce no-shows
When patients call to reschedule instead of just not showing up, your fill rate improves. AnswR makes rescheduling so easy that patients are more likely to call than ghost you.
Combine with Google Calendar
If some practitioners track personal commitments in Google Calendar, connect that too. AnswR will check both calendars to avoid double-booking.
Ready to Automate Your Clinic's Front Desk?
Start your free trial and connect Cliniko today. Every missed call is a missed patient — let AnswR make sure that stops happening.
Start Free Trial →