Reminders, notices and replies on WhatsApp
WhatsApp reminders for clinic patients
Docna sends WhatsApp reminders for clinic patients: a follow-up reminder with Yes, No and Reschedule buttons, a morning reminder on the appointment day, and notices when a visit is confirmed, moved or cancelled. A patient who taps Reschedule picks a new time in the chat, and every reply lands in one inbox for you.
1-month free trial. Plans from ₹4,000 a month.
Docna Care
Hello this is a reminder for your follow up appointment at the clinic on 14 Nov 2026. Have a great day!9:02
Reschedule9:10
Pick a day that works for you at the clinic, then choose a time.9:10
Mon, 16 Nov9:11
Pick a time at the clinic.9:11
11:30 AM9:11
Thank you! Your appointment at the clinic is confirmed for Mon, 16 Nov 2026 at 11:30 AM. See you then.9:11
How it works
How WhatsApp reminders work in Docna
Five steps from the follow-up you set to a confirmed visit. You decide when a reminder goes; Docna handles the buttons, the new time and the confirmation.
- 01
Set the follow-up
Add a follow-up date while you write the prescription in the Rx builder, or schedule one from the dashboard or the patients list. Each one joins the follow-up queue on your dashboard, with Today, Upcoming, Attended and Missed tabs.
- 02
Send the reminder your way
Tick Send WhatsApp reminder now while scheduling, or tap the WhatsApp button on any scheduled row of the queue. A second reminder for the same follow-up waits an hour, so a double tap never sends two. Each reminder costs 1 credit.
- 03
The patient answers with one tap
The reminder names your clinic and the date, with Yes, No and Reschedule buttons underneath. Whatever the patient taps shows on their row in your queue. No marks the follow-up missed, and Reschedule sends back a list of days that have openings.
- 04
A new time, picked in the chat
The patient taps a day, then a time on that day. Only times inside your clinic hours are offered, and times already taken by another visit or a video consult are left out. The follow-up moves to the new slot, the patient gets a written confirmation and you get a notification.
- 05
A same-day reminder each morning
Turn on the appointment-day reminder in Settings, and every morning, shortly after 8 AM IST, each patient with a follow-up that day and a phone number on file gets a short WhatsApp message naming your clinic and, when you set one, the time of the visit.
Capabilities
Everything Docna sends to patients on WhatsApp
Reminders are one part of it. The same sender, Docna Care, carries confirmations, documents and clinic notices, and every message that opens a conversation is a template approved by Meta.
Confirmations, reschedules and cancellations
When the AI receptionist books, moves or cancels an appointment on a call, the patient gets the matching confirmation on WhatsApp. When you cancel a follow-up, the cancellation notice waits out a countdown, 30 seconds unless you change it, so you can still stop it, and it carries a Book an appointment button.
Prescriptions and invoices, after you write them
A prescription you write in the Rx builder can go to the patient as a PDF on WhatsApp, after a delay you choose between 1 minute and an hour. A countdown card follows you to every page until it sends, with a Cancel button. Bills go the same way as a PDF invoice. A prescription you only file, such as an old paper Rx a patient photographed, is saved to the chart and never sent back automatically.
Patient handouts you approve first
After you save a prescription, Docna can draft a health guide that explains the patient's treatment. It waits in your notifications until you review it, and you can switch it to English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu or Gujarati before you press send. A draft left unreviewed for a day expires on its own.
Recall for patients who missed a visit
A follow-up with no outcome a week after its date is marked missed. Patients who missed a visit and have not rebooked, in clinic or online, appear on your dashboard with a re-engagement message ready, and that message carries a button to schedule an appointment. A patient leaves the list once they rebook or have been sent the recall.
Bulk messages to the patients you choose
Pick a template, select up to 500 patients, check the live preview and send. The closed notice tells patients the clinic will provide no services tomorrow, with a closed banner attached. Same-day reminders, wellness check-ins and annual check-up reminders sit on the same list.
Ask for a batch in plain English
Type an instruction such as: send a pre-visit follow-up reminder to all patients booked for tomorrow. The dashboard assistant shows who it will message and what it will send, and nothing goes out until you approve it. When two or more patients booked in the next three days have not been reminded yet, a card offers that batch for you.
Opt-outs and a daily ceiling
When a patient asks not to receive documents on WhatsApp, set prescriptions, invoices and handouts to Never on their record, and automatic sends skip them. A daily cap, 75 unless you change it, limits how many automatic sends go out in one day.
In practice
Where the replies go: one inbox for the clinic
Every reply comes back to the Communications page. WhatsApp chats, AI receptionist calls with their summary, recording and transcript, and the documents you sent are grouped by patient. Unread counts show on each chat and on the menu, ticks show whether a message was sent, delivered or read, and a new reply appears without refreshing the page.
You do not have to answer every message yourself. In Auto mode, an assistant replies on the clinic's behalf: questions about the clinic from the phone number, address, fees and directions you have given it, questions about the patient's own appointment, and general health questions with a note to confirm with the doctor. It writes back in Hindi or Hinglish when the patient does.
Anything about the patient's own symptoms, results or medicines is passed to you instead of answered, and the patient gets a short holding reply so they are not met with silence. Prefer to check every word? Suggest mode drafts each reply for you to approve in one click, and Off switches the assistant off.
WhatsApp lets a clinic write freely for 24 hours after a patient's last message. Inside that window you type a reply in the inbox like any other chat. Once it closes, Continue conversation sends a short approved request for 1 credit, and the patient's reply opens the chat again.
A morning in the OPD then runs like this: open the dashboard, send the batch for patients due in the next three days, consult while the Yes and Reschedule taps arrive on their rows, and mark each patient Attended or Missed as the day goes on.
Who it is for
Who WhatsApp reminders are for
Doctors who book a follow-up at every visit
General physicians, paediatricians and doctors managing long-term conditions, where most patients leave with a date to come back.
Clinics with one front desk
Practices where the person at the desk is also answering the phone, making bills and calling patients to confirm tomorrow's list.
Doctors who message patients from their own phone
Doctors who would rather the reminder, the reply and the record sat beside the patient's chart than in a personal chat list.
Practices that want missed visits followed up
Clinics that want to know who did not come back, and reach them, without keeping a separate register.
Pricing
Simple plans, priced in rupees
WhatsApp messaging is part of both plans. Pro adds 1,500 credits every billing cycle and Enterprise adds 3,500, unused credits roll over, and the 1-month free trial starts with 1,000. A reminder or other utility message costs 1 credit and a marketing message costs 3. Credits are one pool, shared with extra Nova meeting time and recording timestamps, and top-up packs range from 100 to 15,000 credits.
Every account starts with a 1-month free trial. Compare plans
Pro
₹4,000
per month, billed in INR
Enterprise
₹8,999
per month, billed in INR
FAQ
WhatsApp reminders: questions clinics ask
Can Docna send WhatsApp reminders to patients automatically?
Yes. Turn on the appointment-day reminder and every patient with a follow-up that day and a phone number on file gets a WhatsApp message shortly after 8 AM IST. Follow-up reminders with Yes, No and Reschedule buttons go out when you tick the box while scheduling a follow-up, with one tap from the dashboard queue, or as a batch you approve for everyone booked in the next three days.
Which number do the WhatsApp messages come from?
From Docna Care, Docna's WhatsApp Business number, sent through Meta's WhatsApp Cloud API. Every reminder names your clinic, and replies come back to your Docna inbox instead of a personal phone.
What happens when a patient taps Reschedule?
Docna replies with a list of days that have openings, then the times on the day the patient picks, inside your clinic hours and leaving out times already taken. Once they pick a time, the follow-up moves to it, the patient gets a confirmation and you get a notification.
Does Docna send the prescription to the patient on WhatsApp?
Yes, for prescriptions you write in the Rx builder, as a PDF after a delay you choose, with a countdown you can cancel. A prescription you upload or import, such as an old paper Rx, is filed to the chart and never sent back to the patient automatically.
Who answers when a patient replies on WhatsApp?
In Auto mode an assistant answers questions about the clinic and the patient's appointment, and passes anything about the patient's own health to you, with a holding reply to the patient. Suggest mode drafts replies for you to approve, and Off switches it off. Every conversation sits in the Communications inbox either way.
Can I message all my patients when the clinic is closed?
Yes. On the messaging page, select the patients, choose the closed notice and send. It tells them the clinic will provide no services tomorrow, carries a closed banner, and costs 1 credit per patient as a utility message.
What if a patient does not want WhatsApp messages?
Open the patient's record and set prescriptions, invoices and handouts to Never, and automatic sends of those skip that patient. Reminders go only when you send them or switch on the appointment-day reminder, which starts switched off.
How much do WhatsApp reminders cost?
Messaging comes with both plans. Pro is ₹4,000 a month and adds 1,500 credits each billing cycle, Enterprise is ₹8,999 a month and adds 3,500, and a reminder costs 1 credit. Every new account starts with a 1-month free trial and 1,000 credits.
Send the reminder, and see the reply in one place
Start a 1-month free trial with 1,000 credits, schedule your next follow-up and send the WhatsApp reminder in one tap.