One receptionist, three queues
The waiting room, the phone and WhatsApp all need an answer at the same moment, and WhatsApp usually loses.
WhatsApp Automation · Doctors & clinics
WhatsApp Appointment Automation for Doctors, Dentists and Clinics
Patients message your practice to ask “can I see the doctor on Thursday?”, “where do I park?” or “are my results back?”. We build a WhatsApp assistant that handles this administrative side: appointment requests, reminders, opening hours and practical details. Anything medical goes straight to your staff.
For GPs, specialists, dental practices, physiotherapists and private clinics in Mauritius, on the official WhatsApp Business Platform.
From $9 a month plus usage. See pricing →- Appointments with the right practitioner
- Reminders that carry no medical details
- Never gives medical advice
Demo conversation (fictional business and customer)
- Customer: Hello, is there a GP free on Thursday morning? It’s for a routine check-up.
- Clinic appointment assistant: Hello! On Thursday morning Dr Ally can see you at: • 09:15 • 10:30 Which time suits you, and what is the patient’s full name?
- Customer: 10:30 please. Anjali Ramsamy.
- Appointment added to the clinic schedule
- Clinic appointment assistant: Confirmed ✅ Thursday 10:30 with Dr Ally. Please bring your ID card and any current prescriptions. We’ll send you a reminder on Wednesday.
Demo conversation (fictional business and customer)
Test our WhatsApp AI assistant yourself.
Try it on WhatsAppThe problem
Where patient messages pile up
Most of what reaches a practice on WhatsApp is administrative. It still lands on the same reception desk that is checking patients in and answering the phone.
Requests sent after closing
Patients think about booking in the evening. The message waits until morning, and by then they may have called another practice.
Missed appointments
An appointment nobody remembers leaves a gap in the doctor’s list that is hard to fill on the day.
Symptoms typed into a chat
Some patients describe how they feel and wait for a reply. That needs a person, quickly, not a chatbot and not an unread message.
Workflows
Three patient messages, handled the right way
A routine booking, a results notification and an urgent message each follow a different path. The urgent one never stays with the assistant.
Can I book a cleaning with the dentist next week?
- Identifies the appointment type and the practitioners who do it
- Looks up free times in the clinic schedule
- Asks only for what reception needs: name and a contact number
- Books the chosen time and sends what to bring
- Booked, details sent
Staff mark the results as available in the clinic system
- An approved template tells the patient their results are ready
- The message asks them to call or book a visit, with no result content
- The patient can reply to book a review appointment
- Questions about the results themselves go to the doctor
- Patient informed, nothing disclosed
I’ve had chest pain since this morning, can I come today?
- Recognises a possible urgent situation and does not assess it
- Tells the patient to contact emergency services or the clinic directly
- Flags the conversation to staff straight away
- Stops replying so a person takes over
- Handed to staff immediately
Example flows. The topics that trigger a handover, and the wording used, are agreed with your practice before launch.
AI, automation, people
Clear limits on what the assistant does
In a practice, the most important rule is what the assistant must not do. It handles logistics. It never gives medical advice, never suggests a diagnosis and never decides how urgent something is.
AI
Understands administrative requests
Patients write “need to see dr for my back next wk” and expect a sensible reply about times, not about their back.
- Recognises booking, rescheduling and practical questions
- Answers from information your practice approved: hours, address, parking, what to bring
- Replies in English, French or Kreol Morisien
Automation
Runs the schedule work
Bookings and reminders follow fixed rules set by the practice, the same way every time.
- Offers times per practitioner and appointment type
- Sends reminders and follow-up appointment reminders
- Sends “results ready” notices without any result content
Human
Clinical questions stay with your staff
Anything about symptoms, treatment, medication or results is handed to a person. For anything that sounds urgent, the patient is told to contact emergency services or the clinic directly.
- Symptoms, pain or “is this normal?” questions
- Medication and prescription questions
- Questions about test results
- Complaints, and any patient who asks for a person
Patient data
Health data needs extra care
The Mauritius Data Protection Act 2017 treats health data as special category data, which calls for more care than an ordinary customer list. We design clinic workflows so the WhatsApp side needs as little of it as possible.
In practice, the assistant handles the appointment, not the medical file. Template messages say when and where, never why. Your practice decides who on the team can open the conversations.
- Only the data each workflow needs: usually a name, a phone number and the appointment
- No diagnosis, treatment or result content in WhatsApp templates
- Reminders that read the same whatever the appointment is for
- Access to conversations restricted to the staff who need it
- Patients agree to receive messages, consent is recorded and stopping takes one reply
Both sides
The patient’s side and the reception desk
Customer journey
Booking without phoning
- 1.Writes to the practice when it suits them, including evenings
- 2.Picks a practitioner and a free time in a couple of replies
- 3.Receives the address, parking tips and what to bring
- 4.Gets a reminder before the visit and can move it by replying
- 5.Is reminded when a follow-up appointment is due, if the doctor asked for one
Staff workflow
A desk that starts the day organised
- 1.Overnight requests are already booked in the schedule
- 2.Conversations needing a person are flagged at the top of the shared inbox
- 3.Any message that sounds urgent is raised to staff at once
- 4.Cancelled appointments free the slot for another patient
- 5.The front desk can step into any conversation and reply directly
Integrations
Connected to the schedule your practice runs on
If your practice management or booking software offers an API or webhooks, the WhatsApp assistant can read free times and write appointments directly. If appointments live in a paper diary or a spreadsheet, we can set up a simple calendar per practitioner instead.
- Google Calendar, one per practitioner
- Practice or booking software with an API
- Your clinic website’s appointment page
- Google Sheets for simple patient lists
- Shared inbox for reception
- Instagram and Messenger in the same inbox
Setup
How we set it up with your practice
- 01
Map the appointment types
Which practitioner does what, how long each visit takes and which requests reception wants to confirm by hand.
- 02
Agree what the assistant may say
Your team approves the answers it can give and the topics it must always hand over, starting with anything clinical.
- 03
Write the templates
Reminder, follow-up and results-ready messages are drafted without medical details and submitted to Meta for approval.
- 04
Test with your staff
Reception tries real requests, including urgent wording, in English, French and Kreol Morisien before any patient sees it.
- 05
Launch and adjust
We watch the first weeks of conversations with you and tighten the handover rules where needed.
Pricing
Simple pricing: one monthly plan plus a wallet
Connect your WhatsApp number to Artover Chat yourself, in a few minutes. You pay a fixed monthly subscription, and you add credit to a Usage Wallet that pays for AI replies and WhatsApp messages as you use them. Messenger and Instagram can be connected too, at no extra subscription.
Artover Chat
$9/ month
No setup fee, no contract. Cancel any time.
- AI assistant that answers from your own business information
- Your WhatsApp Business number on the official platform
- Facebook Messenger and Instagram messages in the same inbox, included
- Shared inbox: your team takes over any conversation
- Leads, bookings and reminders
- Replies in English, French and Kreol Morisien
- Web app and mobile app
Usage Wallet
Top up from $5 ($10, $25, $50, $100, $200). Each AI reply and each message you send is deducted as it happens, and you see every charge. Set a low-balance alert or automatic top-up so your assistant never stops.
Pay in US dollars with PayPal or a card, or in Mauritian rupees by bank transfer.
Create your account and connect WhatsApp. Try your assistant free with 25 test messages before you subscribe.
Estimate your monthly cost
Move the sliders to match your business.
Customers who message you
Customers who write to you on WhatsApp
Meta doesn’t charge for these messages: you pay only for AI replies
Messages you send first (WhatsApp)
Booking reminders, order and payment updates
Only to customers who agreed to receive them
- Subscription
- $9.00
- WhatsApp usage
- $3.51
- Messenger and Instagram usage
- $0.00
- Estimated total per month
- $12.51
A $10 top-up covers about a month.
Need custom integrations (booking system, WooCommerce, CRM)? Those are quoted separately after a free discovery call. Request a consultation →
WhatsApp for clinics and doctors: FAQ
Will the WhatsApp assistant give medical advice?
No. It handles administrative messages only: appointments, reminders, hours, location and what to bring. It never gives medical advice, never suggests a diagnosis and never judges how urgent a symptom is. Those questions go to your staff.
What happens if a patient describes urgent symptoms?
The assistant does not assess them. It tells the patient to contact emergency services or the clinic directly, flags the conversation to your staff at once and stops replying so a person can take over.
Can patients choose which doctor or practitioner they see?
Yes. Each practitioner has their own availability and appointment types, so the assistant only offers times when the chosen person is actually free. Patients who have no preference are offered the first free slot.
Can WhatsApp tell patients their results are ready?
Yes, as a notice only. The message says the results are available and asks the patient to call or book a visit. It contains no results, and questions about them are passed to the doctor.
Is it safe to handle patient appointments on WhatsApp?
We keep the WhatsApp side to the minimum: usually a name, a number and the appointment. Templates contain no medical details, access to conversations is restricted, and consent is recorded. The Data Protection Act 2017 treats health data as special category data, so we design with that in mind and review the setup with you.
How do appointment reminders work outside the 24-hour window?
Reminders use utility templates approved by Meta, sent only to patients who agreed to receive them. Meta charges per delivered template. If the patient replies, the conversation continues normally.
Can we keep the number patients already use?
Often, yes. If your practice uses the WhatsApp Business app, the number can usually be connected to the WhatsApp Business Platform through coexistence while reception keeps the app. We confirm this for your number before setup.
What does WhatsApp automation cost for a clinic?
Artover Chat works on a monthly plan plus a usage wallet for AI replies and WhatsApp messages. You can see current prices and simulate your volume in the pricing section of this page. Connecting practice management software is quoted separately after a free discovery call.
Give your reception desk some breathing room
Tell us how patients book with you today and which questions take up the most time. We’ll suggest what the assistant can handle and where your staff stay in charge.