Updated 2026-08-21 · 4 min read
The ten-session pack is, at most physiotherapy clinics, the product that brings in the most and is controlled the worst. It's paid in full in advance, used over weeks or months, and its tracking far too often lives in a spreadsheet, a notebook or —most commonly— in somebody's head.
When that control fails, it always fails in the same place: nobody knows for certain how many sessions are left. And that doubt gets resolved at the front desk, in front of the patient, almost always in the patient's favour.
The three things to put in writing before selling the first one
A pack is a commitment for the future, and commitments for the future get argued over when they aren't written down. These three are enough to avoid almost every argument:
| What | Why it matters | Usual recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| How many sessions, and of what | A pack of «sessions» without saying of what ends up being used for the most expensive one | Tie it to the specific treatment or to a group of treatments |
| When it expires | Without an expiry, the pack is an open-ended debt | Between 6 and 12 months from purchase, stated when it's bought |
| Whether it's personal or shared | An improvised «family» pack throws the accounts and the calendar out | Personal unless it's expressly sold as shared |
Expiry isn't a trick: it's what gets the pack used
Many people avoid it for fear of seeming pushy. In practice the opposite happens: a pack without a date gets put aside, and a pack put aside is a patient who has dropped their treatment and an obligation that stays alive in your accounts.
What is pushy is letting it expire without warning. A notice when few sessions are left and the date is close —asking whether they'd like to use them, not demanding— recovers treatments and avoids the unpleasant conversation at the end.
Deduct the session at the moment, not at the end of the day
That's where the mismatch creeps in. If sessions are deducted «when there's a moment», there are hours —sometimes days— when the balance the team sees isn't the real one. And in that interval someone can book, ask or pay incorrectly.
The right moment is when the session is marked as done. Not when it's booked —because they may not come— and not at the end of the day.
What to do with the sessions left when the patient stops coming
It happens, and it's worth having an answer before it does: someone buys a pack of ten, uses four and decides not to carry on. The policy can be to refund the unused part, keep it available until expiry or refund nothing — all three are defensible if they're stated in advance.
What isn't defensible is deciding it on the spot and differently every time. That's what generates bad reviews.
How ClaudIA handles it
The pack balance lives in the patient's record, not on a separate sheet. When confirming a session, the assistant says how many are left; when only the last one remains, it says that too.
And when a pack is close to expiring with sessions still on it, it gives notice by asking whether they'd like to use them first, with the available slots at hand. Selling or renewing a pack is the clinic's decision: the assistant informs, offers slots and leaves the decision where it belongs.
Questions clinics ask
What expiry is reasonable for a ten-session pack? Between six and twelve months from purchase covers almost any treatment without the pack turning into an open-ended debt. What matters is saying it when you sell it, not afterwards.
Can another family member use a pack? Only if it was sold that way. A personal pack that suddenly gets used by a relative throws out both people's records and session history.
Does ClaudIA sell packs? Not on its own initiative. It gives information on the clinic's packs if asked, and gives notice when one is about to expire with sessions still on it. Pressuring people to renew isn't something it does.
What happens if the patient cancels a session from a pack? The session goes back to the pack: it's deducted when it's marked as done, not when it's booked. Cancelling uses nothing up.