Updated 2026-08-11 · 3 min read
«Do you work with my insurer?» is always among the three most frequent questions at a physiotherapy clinic. And it's a treacherous question: the right answer isn't yes or no, but «with that one yes, for these treatments and under these conditions».
When that answer lives in the head of whoever has been at the clinic longest, each person answers it slightly differently — and some of those versions end in a complaint at the front desk.
Write the answer once, per insurer
You don't need a long document. For each insurer you work with, three lines: what it covers in practice, what the patient needs to bring (a referral, an authorisation, a policy number) and what they pay out of their own pocket if there's a co-payment.
That text is what whoever replies needs to see, whether a person or an assistant. Written once, answered the same way every time.
What it's never worth doing
Improvising cover. Telling someone their insurance «is bound to cover it» without being sure is guaranteeing an argument at the end of the session, and the one who gets angry isn't the insurer: it's the patient who has already been treated.
When you don't know, the honest answer works well: «we don't work with that one, but you can come as a private patient» or «let me check and I'll get back to you». Nobody minds a query; they mind a promise that isn't kept.
The insurer's name is administrative information, and only that
Asking the name of the insurer to know whether the clinic works with it is an administrative question, and there's nothing special about it. What is special is everything else: what's wrong with them, what they've been diagnosed with or what the referral says.
The line is clear and worth keeping: you ask the insurer's name, not the content of the report. The latter is seen at the appointment.
Private patients ask the price too, and it also needs to be written down
Whoever isn't coming through insurance asks how much it costs. Answering «it depends» is true and, at the same time, the quickest way to lose a booking.
What works is giving the price of the first assessment —which is what they're going to book— and saying the treatment's price is confirmed there, when the physiotherapist knows what's needed. It's honest and doesn't close the door.
What ClaudIA does with this
The insurers the clinic works with, and what the clinic has written about each one, live in the dashboard. When someone asks about theirs, the assistant answers with that: it never makes up cover or assumes an insurer applies.
And if the insurer isn't on the list, it says so clearly and offers the alternative as a private patient, with the price of the first assessment if the clinic has published it.
Questions clinics ask
Can the assistant confirm whether an insurer covers a specific treatment? It only says what the clinic has written about that insurer. If it isn't written, it doesn't assume: it leaves it pending confirmation instead of promising cover.
Should the policy number be asked for over WhatsApp? It isn't needed to book and it's better not to. The insurer's name is enough; the rest is checked at the clinic.
What do you say if they ask for a price that depends on the case? The price of the first assessment, which is the appointment they're going to book, making clear that the treatment's price is confirmed there. Giving a fixed price without seeing the person is what leads to complaints.
Can there be different prices for insured and private patients? Yes. What matters is that whoever replies is reading the same price list that's applied at the till.