> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.routiq.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Patient Follow-Ups

> Post-visit recall sequences. Get patients back for the second, third, and tenth visit — the visits that turn one-off bookings into a recovery plan.

<Info>
  **Why this matters.** Most clinical outcomes depend on the *second*
  visit, not the first. A patient who comes once for low back pain and
  doesn't return won't actually get better. Post-visit follow-ups are
  the difference between a clinic that recovers patients and one that
  just sees them. Patients who get a personalised text within 7 days
  of a first visit are 3× more likely to rebook than those contacted
  at 30+ days.
</Info>

## How it works

Patient finishes an appointment. Robyn waits for your configured offset (e.g. 7 days), then sends the first follow-up message. If the patient doesn't rebook by the next configured offset, she sends a second message — different channel, different angle. Multi-touch, multi-channel, with stop-on-response.

This is *appointment-triggered* recall — different from [lapsed-patient reactivation](/outbound/lapsed-patient-reactivation), which targets patients who haven't visited in a long time.

## How Robyn handles follow-ups

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Triggered per-appointment" icon="bolt">
    Each completed appointment fires its own follow-up sequence. Patient who comes weekly for 6 weeks won't get 6 different sequences — frequency cap dedupes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Filter by arrival status" icon="filter">
    Skip follow-ups for DNAs, cancellations, or patients flagged as "do not contact". Optionally treat completed-but-late patients differently.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Filter by future bookings" icon="calendar">
    If patient already has a future appointment, skip the follow-up — they're already coming back.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Multi-touch, multi-channel" icon="layer-group">
    SMS Day 7 → Call Day 14 → Email Day 21. Stop-on-response: any positive reply or rebook ends the sequence.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What your patient sees

> **Robyn (SMS, 7 days post-visit):**
>
> *Hi Sarah, this is Robyn from Bondi Physio. Just checking in after your appointment with Dr Lin last week — hope your knee's feeling better.*
>
> *If you'd like to lock in the follow-up Dr Lin mentioned, I can find a time that works. Just reply with what suits.*

> **Patient:** Yeah Friday afternoon would be good
>
> **Robyn:** Dr Lin has Friday 16th May at 2pm or 4pm available. Which works?

## Setup

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a follow-up instance">
    **Outbound** → **Create Automatic Instance** → **Patient Follow-ups**.

    Name it (e.g. "Initial-consult 7-day SMS follow-up").
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure the cadence">
    Add one or more "runs":

    * **Run 1:** SMS, Day 7 — friendly check-in
    * **Run 2:** Email, Day 14 — softer, longer-form
    * **Run 3:** Call, Day 21 — final touch via voice (only for high-value patients)

    <Tip>
      Three touches is the upper bound for most allied-health contexts. Beyond that, you're nagging patients who clearly aren't coming back.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Filter by appointment type">
    Different sequences for different visit types:

    * Initial consults → 7-day follow-up to lock in the second visit
    * Treatment plans → cadence-aware (every 4 weeks during plan)
    * One-off appointments → no follow-up (or 3-month "still good?")
  </Step>

  <Step title="Filter by patient">
    Configure which patients get the sequence:

    * **Arrival status** — completed only? Or include cancellations?
    * **Has future appointment** — exclude (default) or include
    * **Custom segment** — see [Patient Segmentation](/features/patient-segmentation)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Customise the message templates">
    Each run has its own template. Use variables: `{first_name}`, `{practitioner}`, `{last_appointment_type}`, `{days_since_visit}`.

    <Tip>
      Mention something specific from the visit ("hope your knee's feeling better") rather than generic ("how was your appointment?"). Specific recall messages convert 2-4× better than generic ones in our reference data.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Activate">
    Toggle to **Active**. Sequences fire for completed appointments going forward (and optionally backfill for the last 30 days).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Recommended starter sequences

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Initial-consult lock-in">
    SMS Day 7 only. One touch, friendly, focused on locking the second appointment Dr mentioned in-clinic.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Mid-plan check-in">
    SMS Day 14 with a question relevant to the protocol — "How's the home exercise going?" Triggers conversation more than direct booking ask.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Plan-completion follow-up">
    Email Day 90 after final visit in a treatment plan, asking if they'd like a maintenance check-up.
  </Card>

  <Card title="High-value patient call-back">
    Voice call Day 14 for patients with lifetime spend > AUD \$1,000. Robyn handles the call; warmer than text.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What's the difference between this and lapsed-patient reactivation?">
    Follow-ups trigger off a *recent* appointment (days post-visit). Reactivation targets *dormant* patients (months/years since last visit). Follow-ups are about completing care plans; reactivation is about recovering lost relationships.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if a patient replies negatively (e.g. 'stop messaging me')?">
    STOP / "stop" / "unsubscribe" → patient marked as opted-out across all outbound. Other negative replies ("not interested right now") → Robyn acknowledges and stops the sequence; patient remains opted-in for future campaigns.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Will follow-ups overlap with reactivation campaigns?">
    Frequency cap (default: max 1 outbound per patient per 7 days) prevents this. Routiq prioritises higher-value campaigns (booking-relevant) over lower-value (general check-in).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I A/B test message wording?">
    Yes — create two instances with different copy, route by alternating patients. Conversion rate per variant shows in [Analytics](/features/analytics).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if my PMS marks the appointment as DNA after Robyn already sent the follow-up?">
    Routiq detects the status change and ends the sequence. Worst-case patient gets one outbound that doesn't apply to them — annoying but not damaging.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Lapsed-patient reactivation" icon="rotate-right" href="/outbound/lapsed-patient-reactivation">
    For patients past the follow-up window — months or years dormant.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Patient segmentation" icon="users" href="/features/patient-segmentation">
    Build the segments that drive smarter follow-up targeting.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>