Referral details accompany the evaluation Penny books through your physical therapy answering service.

Google Calendar or Outlook if your therapists’ schedules live there, because Penny writes the evaluation to the right therapist during the call. HubSpot for the referral relationships you track by provider. Zapier and signed webhooks carry the intake fields into your EMR or scheduling system with the referring provider and the carrier in the payload, so your desk starts verification from a record instead of a voicemail. Text confirmations to the patient sit on Pro.

Penny starts at $29 a month on Starter with annual billing. Pro at $99 adds text confirmations and the on-call schedule, and Business at $249 adds compliance mode. Paid plans include monthly minutes; usage above the allowance is billed at the plan’s per-minute rate. The answering service cost guide compares plans, included minutes, and usage charges.

That depends on your state’s direct access rules and on your policy, and Penny follows what you set. Where you allow it, she books the evaluation, notes that no script is on file, and tells the patient in your words that a referral may be needed after the evaluation or after a set number of visits. Where you require a script first, she takes the patient’s information and tells them what to ask their physician for.

She books the evaluation if your policy allows it, records the referring provider’s name and practice, and marks the intake note as script requested so your desk can fax or call that office the same day. Nothing waits on the patient remembering to bring paperwork.

Yes. A new patient, or a returning patient with a new problem or a new referral, gets an evaluation slot, which is longer and sits with a therapist. A patient in an active plan of care gets a follow-up in the series. A re-evaluation at recertification is booked the same way when your desk flags it. She does not put an evaluation into a follow-up slot.

She moves the one visit and leaves the rest of the series where it is, inside your late-cancel window and with the same therapist where the schedule allows. If the patient wants to change the standing days, she takes the new pattern and leaves it for your desk to rebuild the series, since a change in frequency belongs with the therapist and the plan.

Nothing about coverage. She takes the carrier and the plan type, tells the patient your desk verifies benefits before the evaluation, and notes any authorization question on the intake note. She states your self-pay evaluation rate only if you give her one. She does not quote a copay, a visit limit, or what a plan will approve.

Yes. When a caller says the injury is from work or a crash, she asks for the claim number and the adjuster’s name if they have them, and routes the call to whoever handles those cases in your office, with the fields on the message. She books the evaluation for those cases only if you tell her to.

She passes symptom and exercise questions to a therapist under your clinic’s contact rules. A reported emergency warning sign stops booking and uses your approved immediate-care instructions, including 911 or emergency care when required. Penny records the caller’s words and callback number without diagnosing or saying pain is normal. The dedicated Emergency Rules page explains the rules and fallback routes.