WhatsApp brings your clinic’s WhatsApp number into Meddesk. Patients can message you, receive appointment messages on WhatsApp, request appointments, and, if you allow it, ask about their own records. Your team answers everything from one shared inbox.
Permissions
Section titled “Permissions”| Permission | Allows | Starts on these roles |
|---|---|---|
| View WhatsApp chats | Open the inbox and read chats. | Receptionist, Manager |
| Reply to WhatsApp chats | Send replies, and pause automatic replies for a chat. | Receptionist, Manager |
| View staff WhatsApp chats | Open chats with numbers that belong to staff members. | Manager |
The inbox
Section titled “The inbox”Open Overview › WhatsApp. The sidebar entry shows how many chats are unread.
- One chat per phone number, newest first, with the full conversation.
- If the number belongs to a patient or a staff member, you see their name instead of the number.
- Search by name or number, or switch to Unread to see only chats that need attention.
- Each message shows who sent it: the contact, a staff member, Auto-reply, AI assistant or Appointment message.
- Each message you send shows its delivery status: Sending, Sent, Delivered, Read or Not sent.
- Phone numbers are only shown to staff with Read patient contact info. Others see a masked number.
New messages pop up as live notifications while Meddesk is open. Several messages from one chat are grouped. Select it to open the chat.
With Reply to WhatsApp chats, type in the chat and select Send.
When someone needs to handle a conversation personally, pause automatic replies for that chat for 30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, 8 hours, or until resumed. Staff can always reply by hand.
Staff chats stay private
Section titled “Staff chats stay private”Chats with a number that belongs to a staff member may contain confidential information. They’re listed, but only staff with View staff WhatsApp chats can open them, see the last message or reply. Everyone else sees Staff conversation with a lock.
Settings
Section titled “Settings”Open Configuration › WhatsApp (needs System administrator). It shows your clinic’s number. Features your platform team hasn’t enabled show Not enabled for your clinic by your platform administrator. The AI features also need AI to be enabled for your clinic.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Appointment messages | Sends appointment confirmations, changes and reminders, and recall reminders, on WhatsApp to patients who agreed to Phone messages on their record. On by default. |
| Auto-reply and Auto-reply message | Answers a new message with your text, at most once a day per chat, so nobody waits without an answer outside working hours. A ready-made message is provided in every language, and you can change it. |
| AI replies to patients | The AI assistant answers questions about your clinic and can send appointment requests for the patient, even if they don’t have a patient-portal account. |
| Share patients’ own records | After confirming their date of birth, patients can ask about their own appointments, requests and released lab results. Remember verification for: Ask every time, 1, 4, 12 or 24 hours. |
| AI assistant for staff | Chosen staff can use the AI assistant by messaging the clinic’s number, with their own permissions. Pick the staff members. They’re recognised by the phone number on their staff profile. |
Select Save. You see WhatsApp settings saved.
Appointment messages and languages
Section titled “Appointment messages and languages”Each message is sent in the patient’s communication language. If that language isn’t ready, Meddesk uses your clinic’s default language, then English. Phone messages is ticked by default for new patients.
What patients experience
Section titled “What patients experience”A patient writes to your clinic’s number like any WhatsApp contact. What happens next depends on your settings:
- Auto-reply (if on) answers a new conversation with your message, at most once a day.
- AI replies to patients (if on) answers questions about the clinic: opening hours, services, how to book. Only text is understood: “Sorry, I can only read text messages.”
- To request an appointment, the assistant collects the date and reason and asks “Send this appointment request?” with Send request and Cancel buttons. Nothing is sent until the patient taps Send request. The request then waits for your team in Appointment requests.
- To ask about their own records (with Share patients’ own records on), the patient first confirms their date of birth. The number must match the phone on a patient record. Several family members can share one number: the date of birth picks the right one. After 3 wrong answers, record questions are locked for that chat for 24 hours. The verification is remembered for the time you chose under Remember verification for.
Staff can step in at any time. Pausing automatic replies stops the auto-reply and the AI for that chat.
Appointment requests from WhatsApp
Section titled “Appointment requests from WhatsApp”Requests made on WhatsApp appear in Appointment requests, marked as coming from WhatsApp. When you approve one for someone who isn’t a patient yet, you can link it to an existing patient or Register a new patient, with their details filled in.