Answer the Questions Patients Ask Before They Ever Call You

Before someone calls your clinic, they've usually typed a few questions into Google or an AI assistant.

"Do I need a referral to see a physio?" "How much does a psychologist cost?" "What can I use my NDIS funding for?" "What happens at the first appointment?"

These are the kinds of questions people type. Try a few for your own service and suburb, and look at how well local providers answer them. Someone answers those questions. It may as well be you, in your words, with your facts.

Why this matters for a clinic

People want to know three things before they call: can I come, what will it cost, and what happens next. If your website answers those clearly, the person arrives at the phone call already knowing the basics. Your front desk gets fewer repeat questions. And search engines and AI assistants have something clear to read about you.

This isn't about tricks. It's about writing down answers your team already gives every day.

Step 1: Find the questions

You have three good sources, and all of them are free.

• Your front desk. Ask reception to keep a tally for two weeks: every question a caller asks before booking. This is the most useful list you'll get.
• Your inbox and enquiry forms. Search for question marks. Copy the questions word for word.
• Google autocomplete. Type the start of a question ("do I need a referral to see a…", "how much does a… cost") and note what Google suggests.

Write each question the way a patient says it, not the way a clinician would.

Step 2: Pick the right 10

Sort your list into two piles:

• Admin, cost and process questions. Referrals, fees, how to book, what to bring, cancellation policy, wait times, how funding is used at your clinic, what the first appointment looks like.
• Clinical questions. "Is my pain serious?" "Should I stop my medication?"

Only the first pile becomes answer pages. Clinical questions need a practitioner who knows the person. On your page, the honest answer to those is: "Every situation is different. Please book an appointment or check with your practitioner."

Step 3: Write each page the same way

Use one pattern for every page so your team can write them quickly and patients can scan them easily.

1. The question as the heading. Use the patient's words.
2. The answer in the first two lines. Plain and direct. If it depends on something, say what it depends on.
3. The detail. A few short paragraphs or a list. What it means at your clinic.
4. The source. For anything about Medicare, the NDIS or other funding, link to Services Australia or the NDIS directly. Don't restate funding rules from memory. They change, so check them at the source on the day you publish and again when you review the page.
5. How to book or ask. Phone, form, hours.
6. A "check with your practitioner" line wherever the answer depends on someone's health or circumstances.
7. A "last reviewed" date and who reviewed it.

What to avoid on these pages

Health advertising in Australia has rules. Ahpra's advertising guidance applies to regulated health services, so read the current guidance at the source before you publish. As a working habit:

• No testimonials or patient stories.
• No claims like "best physio in the area" or promises of results.
• No clinical advice.

Step 4: Film the same answer

Each answer page can also become a short video.

• One question, one take, about a minute.
• A phone on a stand at the front desk or in a quiet room is enough.
• Say the question, give the two-line answer, then say where to read more or how to book.
• Never film patients or anything that identifies them.

Put the video on the page and on your social channels. Same answer, two places.

Step 5: Let AI draft, then a clinician checks

AI is useful for the first draft, as long as you give it your facts and it doesn't fill gaps with guesses.

You are drafting an answer page for our clinic's website.
Do not give clinical advice. Do not invent facts, fees, rules or
timeframes. If something is missing, write [CHECK] instead of guessing.

Clinic: [name, type of practice, suburb]
Who we see: [e.g. adults and children, NDIS participants, private clients]
The question, in patients' words: [question]

Our facts for this answer (use only these):
- [fact 1, e.g. whether our clinic needs a referral, and when]
- [fact 2, e.g. what to bring]
- [fact 3, e.g. how to book]
Official link to include: [Services Australia / NDIS page you checked today]

Format:
- The question as an H2 heading
- A two-line direct answer first
- Then 3-5 short paragraphs or a list of detail
- A line saying "Everyone's situation is different. Please check with
  your practitioner." where relevant
- How to book: [phone, form link, hours]
- Plain Australian English, short sentences, no superlatives,
  no testimonials, no promises of results

Also write a 60-second video script of the same answer.

Then a clinician reads every page before it goes live. Anything near clinical gets their sign-off or comes out.

Checklist

• Two weeks of front-desk questions collected
• 10 admin, cost or process questions chosen
• Each page follows the same pattern
• Funding answers link to Services Australia or the NDIS, checked on the day
• "Check with your practitioner" included where it applies
• Current Ahpra advertising guidance read at the source
• A clinician has signed off each page
• Review date set (every few months, or when a rule changes)

What a person must still decide

• Which questions are safe to answer in general terms and which need a practitioner.
• Whether each answer is true for your clinic today. AI only knows what you told it.
• Whether a page could mislead. If a worried person could read it the wrong way, rewrite it.
• When to review. Funding rules, fees and processes change. Someone owns the update.

Answer pages are simple. They're also one of the clearest ways to show you know your patients, because you're answering what they actually ask.

If you'd like this set up for you, that's what the free check is for.

General information only — not clinical, legal or financial advice. No client is named and nothing here describes a patient or participant. Written by Aishah Shah, Western Sydney.