Patients calling your chiropractic answering service get the provider’s intake questions from Penny.
A new patient calls between appointments to ask how a first visit works. Penny records the reason for calling, explains your approved exam process, and finds an opening with the right provider. Your desk receives the intake and carrier name for its own checks.
Penny books a new-patient exam in the longer visit block and sends the intake link before the appointment.
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Or call her from your phone: (630) 297-4128
Try new-patient and rescheduling questions in your practice’s account
The live demo uses Summit Heating, a fictional HVAC business. Listen to her intake here; test your own trade’s rules in your Penny account. The industry transcripts are scripted examples.
(630) 297-4128- In your configured practice account, ask what a first visit involves and hear the practice’s exam process and visit length.
- Tell her you need to move an existing visit and hear the patient check before the calendar changes.
- Ask whether the practice accepts your plan and hear what the desk still needs to verify.
- Describe a new concern and hear it follow your clinician-approved contact rules.
The new-patient questions your desk needs answered before the exam
Your desk sets the required new-patient questions, visit lengths, and booking rules. Penny records the answers in the caller’s words. Accident and symptom calls use the extra questions your clinician requires, with any safety concern taking priority over scheduling.
- 1
She asks: Have you been seen here before, or is this your first visit?
Why she asksAn existing patient books on their own provider’s schedule. A new patient needs the longer exam slot and the intake form.
- 2
She asks: What brings you in, in your own words?
Why she asksThe chief complaint goes on the intake ticket the way the patient said it. Penny does not interpret it; the doctor reads it before the exam.
- 3
She asks: Did this come on over time, or is it related to an accident or work injury?
Why she asksAn auto accident is a PIP or MedPay case with a claim number and often an attorney. A work injury needs the employer, the claim number, and adjuster authorization. Each opens a different file at the desk.
- 4
She asks: When did it start, and has anything changed recently?
Why she asksThe doctor receives the timing in the caller’s words. When an accident is reported, Penny records its date and follows the intake and contact window your practice sets.
- 5
She asks: Has another provider seen you for this, and are there records the doctor should request?
Why she asksThe desk knows which office to contact for records the clinician wants before the exam. Penny records the source without interpreting the findings.
- 6
She asks: Is anything numb or tingling, is anything getting weaker, and has your bladder or bowel control changed since this started?
Why she asksThe red-flag screen. Spreading weakness, new bladder or bowel changes, or groin numbness stop booking and trigger the emergency rule your clinician approved. Everything else is noted for the doctor without comment.
- 7
She asks: How will the visit be paid: health insurance, auto insurance, workers’ comp, or self-pay? Which carrier?
Why she asksThe desk verifies benefits before the visit. Penny records the carrier and the case type and never says what a plan pays; Medicare, HMO referrals, and PIP limits are the desk’s conversation.
- 8
She asks: Your full name, the best number to reach you, and which doctor you would like to see, if you have a preference.
Why she asksName and callback are required before she books. Date of birth and the member ID are collected on the intake form she texts, not over the phone.
A first visit arranged with the exam length and intake form explained
A first-time caller asks about an exam while the desk is busy. The visit length, provider, intake form, and benefit-verification step are explained before booking.
- PennyOxbow Spine & Sport Chiropractic, this is Penny. How can I help you?
- Thea (caller)I’d like to arrange a first visit. I’ve had some stiffness after sitting at my desk, and a friend recommended Dr. Lindqvist.
- PennyI can take the new-patient details for the doctor. Did this start with an accident or work injury, or come on over time?
- Thea (caller)Over time. No accident.
- PennyI’ll note that in your words. Are there any new symptoms or recent changes you want the doctor to know about?
- Thea (caller)Nothing new. I mainly want to find out what the first appointment involves.
- PennyA first visit uses a new-patient exam slot. The practice allows about an hour, and the doctor decides what care is appropriate after the exam. I can send the intake form ahead of time. Which carrier should I note for the desk to verify?
A fact from the knowledge pack, used on the call.
- Thea (caller)Blue Cross. My name is Thea Vandermolen, and this cell number is best, 555-0147.
- PennyThank you, Thea. The desk will verify benefits before the visit. Dr. Lindqvist has Tuesday at 1:40 or Thursday at 9:20 for a new-patient exam. Which works?
- Thea (caller)Tuesday at 1:40.
- PennyYou’re booked Tuesday at 1:40 with Dr. Lindqvist. The notes include the stiffness you described, your Blue Cross carrier, and that this is a first visit. I’m sending the confirmation and intake-form link; the form collects your date of birth and member details.
The exam and an existing patient’s visit use different calendar blocks
From the chiropractic knowledge pack
- Visit types and their length on the schedule: new-patient consult and exam, re-exam, adjustment, and the relief, corrective, and wellness phases of a care plan.
- Case types and the file each one opens: commercial insurance, Medicare, auto accident under PIP or MedPay, workers’ comp with adjuster authorization, self-pay and membership plans.
- Medicare’s chiropractic rule: the spinal adjustment is the covered service and the exam, X-rays, and therapies are the patient’s cost, which is why the carrier goes on the ticket and the coverage talk stays at the desk.
- The personal-injury file: date of loss, the police report, the ER visit, the claim number, whether an attorney is involved, and the 72-hour window that moves a new accident to the first exam slot.
- The words callers use and how they land on the intake ticket unchanged: sciatica, pinched nerve, whiplash, my back went out, bulging disc, tension headache, TMJ.
- Techniques and services by name, so a do-you-do-it question gets answered from your site: Diversified, Activator, Gonstead, Thompson drop table, flexion-distraction, spinal decompression, dry needling where licensed, massage, rehab.
- Clinician-approved symptom screens and immediate-contact rules, applied to the caller’s description without naming a diagnosis or deciding that it can wait.
- Benefits verification at the desk: copay against deductible, visit limits, HMO referrals, and why Penny records the carrier and never states what a plan pays.
- Care-plan adherence: standing appointments, rescheduling inside the plan’s window, and the missed-visit rule the practice sets.
The intake form takes the date of birth and the member ID so the phone call never has to
Stored
- The caller’s name and callback number
- The claim number when the caller volunteers it or supplies it for a case message
- The chief complaint in the caller’s words, and the case type: commercial, Medicare, auto, workers’ comp, or self-pay
- The date of the accident or injury, the carrier, and whether an attorney is already involved
- The appointment, the provider, and the transcript, held for the retention window you set
Not stored
- Date of birth, member ID, and Social Security number, which the intake form collects instead of the call
- Card numbers, because Penny takes no payment
- Exam findings, treatment notes, or films; those live in your EHR, which Penny never opens
- Attorney or adjuster correspondence; she takes the message and the claim number, nothing more
On the Business plan, compliance mode keeps the complaint out of the email summary, redacts it from the transcript your team sees, applies the retention window you set, and comes with a BAA on request. The recording notice follows the setting you choose for your state.
A prospective patient can start the intake after your desk closes
- Services
- Hours
- About
- Contact
Estimate the value of new-patient inquiries using the visit-price assumption
Change the three numbers to yours. The default job value comes from a named source, dated.
Default job value $65, from Forbes Health — average cost of a chiropractic adjustment visit (as of 2025-08-15). Change it to yours.
If you miss 6 calls a week and book 50% of them at $65 a job, those jobs would represent about
This is estimated gross revenue, not measured lost revenue or profit. Some missed callers may still book with you. Change the assumptions to match your call records.
The doctor’s calendar receives the exam with the reported case type
- Google Calendar
- Outlook
- HubSpot
- Calendly
- Slack
Connect Zapier or signed webhooks to send the captured details to the tools your office uses.
What chiropractic practices ask about intake and existing patients
Send setup or plan questions to support@pennyassistant.com.
Google Calendar or Outlook with one calendar per provider, so a new-patient exam lands on the right doctor and a massage session lands on the therapist. Calendly if you already book through it. HubSpot if you track personal-injury leads and attorney referrals as a pipeline. Zapier and signed webhooks carry the intake fields into the practice-management system you run. Text confirmations and the intake-form link by text sit on Pro.
Explore referral and appointment intake in therapy and optometry
Penny asks for the referring provider’s name and insurance during the first call so the desk can check the referral before the evaluation.
A contact lens exam gets the fitting-length slot, while a glasses pickup goes to the optical calendar.
Penny confirms the pet’s name, species, and owner details before offering your clinic’s approved wellness openings.
Penny bills a monthly price with minutes included, then the published per-minute rate. The answering service cost guide sets it beside per-minute human services, and the plans are on the pricing page.
Give Penny a call before you forward yours.
Try the HVAC demo, then set up Penny for your business. Your account includes 14 days of Pro; Free keeps your website chat after the trial.
14 days of Pro included. No credit card.