Follow-up calls after a clinic visit: what to ask and how to book the next visit
Sado AI team · · 5 min read
In short
A follow-up call is a short call to the patient one to three days after a visit. It covers three things: how the patient feels, whether they have questions for the doctor, and the follow-up visit the doctor asked for. If the patient feels worse, the caller gives no advice: the doctor is told, and in an emergency the patient is told to call 103. Book the next visit in the same call. An AI voice operator can make these calls too, in Uzbek and Russian.
Why call after a visit
Patients often think of questions once they’re home: when to take the medicine, when to come back, when to remove the dressing. If they call the clinic, the line may be busy. When you call them, the patient feels looked after, the question reaches the doctor, and the follow-up visit the doctor asked for isn’t lost. This isn’t a sales call: no offers, no new services.
When to call
It depends on the visit. Agree the exact days with your doctors; this is only an example:
| Visit type | When to call | Main question |
|---|---|---|
| Procedure or minor surgery | The next day | “How are you feeling? Any questions for the doctor?” |
| First visit, treatment prescribed | After 2–3 days | “Is everything the doctor said clear?” |
| Follow-up visit needed | 3–5 days before it | “The doctor asked you to come back. Which day suits you?” |
| Tests taken | When the result is ready | “Your result is ready. When will you go over it with the doctor?” |
What to say
- Greet and check it’s the patient: “Assalomu alaykum, this is Malika from Nur Medical. Is that Bahodir?” If someone else answers, don’t mention the visit.
- Give the reason: “You saw our ENT doctor yesterday, I’m calling to see how you are.”
- Ask one open question: “How are you feeling?” Listen without interrupting.
- If they have a question, don’t answer it yourself: write it down and say when the doctor will call.
- Agree the next step: a follow-up visit, a test, or “all good, call us if anything changes”.
- If you like, ask for one rating: “How would you rate the visit from 1 to 5?” One question at most.
Never advise on medicines, doses or treatment in this call. Only the doctor does that.
When the patient says “I feel worse”
This is the most important part of the call. Write the rule down in advance:
- Have your doctors list the words that mean urgent. If the patient says they feel very bad (for example, they find it hard to breathe), tell them to call 103, the ambulance, at once.
- If it isn’t urgent, transfer the call to the duty doctor or nurse, or agree that the doctor will call back today.
- If the patient is unhappy, apologise, don’t interrupt, and say the person in charge will call back. Don’t argue.
- Log every case: who, what they said, who it was passed to.
Sado: Assalomu alaykum, this is Malika from Nur Medical. Is that Bahodir?
Caller: Yes, speaking.
Sado: You saw our ENT doctor, Aziza Karimovna, yesterday. How are you feeling?
Caller: Fine, thanks. I just forgot how many times a day to use the drops.
Sado: It’s better the doctor tells you that herself. I’ve noted that Aziza Karimovna will call you today. One more thing: she asked you to come back in ten days. Next Tuesday at eleven or at four is free. Which suits you?
Caller: Tuesday at eleven.
Sado: Done, you’re booked for Tuesday at eleven. We’ll remind you the day before. Get well soon!
Handing follow-up calls to an AI operator
Each day you upload yesterday’s visits as an Excel file in the portal’s Auto-calls section, using Sado’s AI outbound calls, or your software sends them by API. You write what the call is about and set the calling hours.
Sado’s operator, Malika or Shohruh, talks with the patient live in Uzbek or Russian, saves the answers in separate fields and books the follow-up visit. It leaves medical questions to the doctor and transfers the call to staff in the cases you set. If it doesn’t know, it says a manager will call back and creates a task.
Each call’s recording, transcript and summary are in the portal. If you use Bitrix24, the call card is in the CRM too: CRM and calls. More: AI phone receptionist for clinics. Try it live or call 78 778 01 23.
Questions
Won’t a follow-up call annoy the patient?
Short, timely and with no selling, it sounds like care. Keep it to a couple of minutes and never call again anyone who asked you not to.
What if the patient doesn’t answer?
Try once more a few hours later. If there’s still no answer, send the follow-up date by text or Telegram. With Sado, unanswered numbers cost nothing.
How much does such a call cost?
Sado charges only for talked minutes: 800 so‘m a minute, no monthly fee. For example, 30 two-minute calls a day: 60 × 800 = 48,000 so‘m.