How to take online appointments
for your clinic.

Before you start: what “online appointments” should mean

Many clinics think they take online appointments because patients can send a WhatsApp message and someone replies when they can. That is a message queue, not a booking. A real online appointment has four parts: the patient sees which seats are actually free, picks one, pays for it, and gets a confirmation they can keep — with nobody at the clinic having to do anything. If any of the four is missing, the phone keeps ringing.

The steps below get a clinic from a register and a phone to that, in a day.

Step by step

1. Write down each doctor’s real week

Days, sittings, the number of patients the doctor can see in each sitting, the fee for a new visit and for a follow-up, and how long a free follow-up lasts. Be honest about start times. This is the only step that needs the doctor’s attention.

2. Decide the online and walk-in split

For each sitting, how many seats may be booked online and how many stay with the counter. Keep a share for walk-ins; the patients who cannot book online are often the ones who need you most. Set a same-day cut-off for online bookings so the front desk knows the list is final.

3. Give patients a page to book on

A booking page under your clinic’s own name: your doctors, their timings, a “Book” button that works on any phone browser. Patients should not have to install an app or create a password. Confirming the mobile number with an SMS code is enough.

4. Take the fee at booking

UPI first, then cards and net banking. Use a licensed Indian payment gateway so the money settles to your bank account on its own schedule. Decide whether the clinic absorbs the gateway charge or shows it as a small convenience fee. A prepaid seat is the single biggest reason no-shows fall.

5. Confirm automatically by SMS

Date, sitting, doctor, clinic name — sent the moment payment succeeds. Reschedules, cancellations and holiday changes should go out the same way, without anyone typing them.

6. Open the week at a known time

Patients book calmly when they know when seats appear. Many clinics release the next week on a fixed day and time; patients learn it, and the dawn queue at the clinic becomes a few quiet minutes at home.

7. Run the day from the list

Check in arriving patients, give tokens, book walk-ins into the counter seats, and push the queue when the doctor is late. Count no-shows and follow-ups for two weeks, then adjust the seats and the split.

Doing it on Treatlly

• ✓Sign up with a mobile number and an SMS OTP; your clinic workspace is created on the spot, with a 14-day trial and no credit card.
• ✓Describe each doctor’s week once as a slot rule; Treatlly generates the bookable seats, with separate online and counter quotas and a same-day cut-off.
• ✓Publish your booking website on a treatlly.app address, or your own domain on eligible plans.
• ✓Payments through Razorpay or Cashfree, set up by Treatlly; UPI, card and net banking; 0% Treatlly commission on the fee.
• ✓SMS confirmations, reschedules and cancellations go out automatically; patients can reschedule themselves from the link.
• ✓The staff app for doctors and reception on iOS and Android runs the day: check-in, tokens, walk-ins, the 30-minute push.

Most clinics are taking bookings the same day they sign up. The setup guide walks through it, and we will do it with you on a call if you prefer.

Do my patients need a smartphone app to book?+

No. On Treatlly patients book from any phone browser with a mobile number and an SMS code. A branded patient app for the App Store and Google Play is an optional add-on for clinics that want one.

What if the patient is booking for a parent or a child?+

The booking page asks who the visit is for — the patient themselves or a family member — and keeps each person’s visits in their own record under the same mobile number.

Can patients still walk in?+

Yes. Each sitting keeps counter seats that online bookings cannot take. Reception books walk-ins into them from the same calendar.

How long does it take to go live?+

Signing up takes minutes. Getting each doctor’s sittings, seats and fees right is the part that needs attention, and it is usually done the same day.