Discharge check-in reminders
Messages start from each patient's discharge date and goals, with the clinic's open times shown.
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Customer Retention App for Occupational Therapy Clinics
A hand therapy patient finishes treatment with a strong grip and a clear home program, then goes quiet until a new injury or a stiff joint brings them back. A customer retention app can keep former patients in touch through discharge check-ins, goal-based activities and a simple way to ask for another visit.
01
Where occupational therapy work loses touch with patients
Occupational therapy often ends with a discharge that makes sense clinically but leaves no next step. A pediatric family finishes a block of sessions and moves on to school-based services, while an adult with a hand injury completes the plan, signs a discharge form and returns to work. Nobody schedules the check-in that might have caught a problem early.
The handoff from clinic to home is where the program fades. Patients practice for a while, then drop the exercises once the swelling is gone. Families of children are often left with a long activity list and no way to ask which items still matter now that the goals have changed.
For this project, the retention app should keep the conversation going at those moments, using the patient's own goals and program rather than generic content.
- Discharge forms signed without a scheduled check-in
- Home programs that never get updated after goals change
- Parents left with a long activity list and no priorities
- Former patients with no easy way to ask a question
02
How former patients decide to come back
Patients who had good results usually return to the same therapist when something changes, provided they can reach that therapist easily. A returning patient is often choosing between calling the clinic, waiting for a referral from a doctor or pushing through the discomfort. The easiest path tends to win.
Families weigh trust more than convenience. They want to know that the therapist remembers their child's goals and that a question will be answered by someone who knows the history. A message that names the child's current goal tends to get a better response than a general reminder.
So the app should make asking easy, and it should link every message to the history the clinic already holds.
03
What the marketing manager needs the app to prove
The marketing manager's sign-off rests on three checks: messages reach the right former patients at the right time, reminder timing follows discharge and goal dates rather than one shared calendar, and the wording matches what therapists approved.
They will also check that the program can be measured. Rebooking rate, the share of questions that become visits and the number of families who open the home program after discharge should all come from clinic records. If a figure relies on open rates alone, the app should say so.
Scoping sets these checks, and a small test group runs them before the full list receives any message.
What you get
Key features
Goal-based education
Home activity sheets and short articles matched to the goal the patient is working on, each reviewed by a therapist.
One-tap question to the therapist
A question carries the patient's goal and history, and clinical questions reach a therapist rather than a template.
Rebooking for new concerns
Former patients describe a new problem, such as a stiff joint or a change at school, and the request arrives with its history.
04
A step-by-step walk through one realistic journey
Picture a parent whose child completed a series of fine motor sessions over the school year. Two months after discharge, the family receives a text that names the child's handwriting goal and offers a summer activity list. The journey follows these steps:
- Open the text and see the goal the therapist set last spring
- Choose the summer activity list or ask a question in one tap
- Pick a check-in time from the therapist's open slots
- Receive a reminder the day before with a note on what to bring
05
Fitting in with the software and tools occupational therapy clinics run
Many occupational therapy clinics run WebPT or SimplePractice for records and scheduling, and both hold the discharge dates and visit history the retention app needs. The app should read those dates from the record rather than rebuild a list by hand each month.
Home programs often live in a platform such as Medbridge or in printed handouts. Where a clinic uses a digital library, the app links to the patient's program so the exercises stay in one place. Scanned handouts can be attached to a record, but they will not update themselves.
Messaging runs through a texting provider or the clinic's phone system, and reviews are handled in Google Business Profile. The app can ask for a review, but it must not write one or reward a rating, a rule the marketing team should keep in view.
06
The information, content and access the clinic must provide
The clinic provides the discharge criteria for each program type, the reminder schedule the therapists agree to and the wording they already use with families. Pediatric and hand therapy programs move at different speeds, so each needs its own sequence.
Education content must come from the therapists, carry a review date and name an owner. Photos of the clinic and the sensory room help us design the pages, but no child or patient image goes into the design files without a signed authorization. Promotional texts also need their own consent record under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
On access, the clinic needs an administrator login, a sender name for texts and email and read access to the scheduling and discharge fields confirmed in scoping. The clinic keeps ownership of its contact lists and can revoke any connection itself.
How soon after discharge should the first message go out?+
That depends on the program. The therapists set the first check-in point for each discharge type, and the app uses that date rather than a fixed gap. We agree the sequence with the clinical team during scoping.
Will parents feel we are pushing extra sessions?+
Not if the messages stay tied to the child's goals and offer useful activities. A check-in that answers a question is welcome, while a sales offer right after discharge can feel wrong. The sequence puts clinical reminders first.
Can former patients ask questions without booking?+
Yes. The question button sends a message to the therapist's queue with the patient's goal attached, and the clinic decides whether a visit is needed. Urgent safety concerns should still call the clinic, and the app says so on the screen.
Does this replace our existing email tool?+
Not necessarily. Many clinics keep their email platform for newsletters and let the retention app handle clinical reminders and check-ins. We confirm the split during scoping so patients do not receive duplicates.
What does a retention app cost?+
Mobile apps start at $4,500. The final figure depends on the record connection, the number of program types and the size of the education library. Pricing is written down after scoping, and only then does work start.
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Let's make it happen
Help former patients keep their gains after discharge
Start with a free scoping call, and we will sort out your discharge types and check-in points before any quote.