New Patient Lead Follow-Up Calls & SMS
Lola helps your front office respond to new patient inquiries by call and SMS, collect the next step the person wants, and route requests to your team. Your practice owns the response policy and any appointment or service commitments.
Where this fits your practice
For practice managers whose team splits its attention between incoming inquiries, phones and patients at the desk. Start with one inquiry source and one service so you can distinguish a new lead from an existing patient, a duplicate submission or a support request.
Plan the workflow and handoffs
1. Define eligible inquiries
Agree which form or lead source can trigger outreach, how contact permission is recorded, and when a repeat submission should be suppressed. A submitted email address alone is not a phone number or a request for an automated call.
2. Respond with an approved conversation
Use practice-approved service information and call or SMS timing. Keep questions focused on the requested next step. Do not ask a prospect to disclose medical history in a marketing demonstration.
3. Make the handoff explicit
Separate a request for an appointment from a confirmed booking. Assign staff ownership for unanswered questions, failed contacts and appointments that require manual confirmation.
Measure outcomes, not just activity
Track inquiry received → first response attempted → connected or replied → next step requested → appointment confirmed. Report elapsed time to first attempt separately from connection time; a queued message is not a successful conversation.
Questions to answer before launch
Can Lola call or text people who submit a new patient inquiry?
Yes, calls and SMS can support new lead follow-up when the source, contact permission, timing and script are configured for the practice. Agree which inquiries qualify before enabling the workflow. A form submission should not silently turn into permission for every outreach channel, and staff need a fallback when the number is missing or contact fails.
Will every inquiry receive an immediate call?
Do not promise an immediate connected call. Response timing depends on the approved contact window, valid contact details, delivery availability and whether the person answers. Set an operational target for the first attempt and a fallback for failures. Keep attempted, connected and completed conversations separate when measuring how reliably the workflow responds.
Can a lead be marked booked as soon as they request a time?
No. A preferred time or positive reply is an appointment request until the scheduling system or authorized staff confirms it. Evaluate how availability is checked, who handles exceptions, and where confirmation is recorded. Reporting should distinguish interest, scheduling requests and confirmed appointments so staff do not overlook a patient who is still waiting.
Does Lola replace our front desk team?
No. Lola supports repeatable calls and SMS; your staff still own exceptions, complex questions and the patient relationship. Compare the work your team does today with what remains after automation. A pilot should measure review and follow-up effort as well as successful conversations, rather than assume every automated interaction saves a fixed amount of staff time.
What should we confirm about integrations before starting?
Confirm where contact and appointment data originate, how changes reach the outreach workflow, and which results can be written back. Do not assume a named EHR or calendar integration is included. Ask for a demonstration using synthetic records, including changed appointments, duplicate records and failed updates, and agree which system and staff member own the final outcome.
How should we evaluate a pilot?
Start with one task and an agreed population, message and human handoff. Record the current baseline, then compare contact success, completed next steps, staff follow-up time, opt-outs and errors using the same definitions. Review failures as well as successes. Expand only when practice operations owners agree that the process and exception workload are supportable.
Related Front Office tasks
Supporting ongoing care too? Explore Care Management for RPM, CCM and post-discharge follow-up, or review the implementation guide.
Published by Positive Check. Workflow content updated October 9, 2026.