AI Receptionist for Psychology Practices

This is our highest-priority design feature for psychology practices. The AI is configured to recognise signs of acute distress — vocal indicators, explicit statements of self-harm or suicidal ideation, and crisis language. When detected, the AI follows your practice's crisis protocol immediately: it can provide Lifeline (13 11 14), beyondblue (1300 22 4636), and 000 contact details, transfer the call to your on-call psychologist, or send an urgent alert to your crisis response team. The AI never attempts to provide therapy or counselling — it acknowledges the caller's distress with empathy, provides immediate safety resources, and escalates to a human clinician. This protocol is tested and refined during setup with your clinical team.

Yes. The AI understands the Medicare Better Access to Mental Health Care initiative and can manage appointment bookings under a Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP). It asks whether the caller has a current referral from their GP, notes the referral date and number of approved sessions remaining, and books the appointment with the appropriate psychologist. It explains the Medicare rebate process in general terms and captures the caller's Medicare number and referral details so your practice has everything ready for the session. It does not provide specific rebate amounts, as these can change, instead directing callers to Medicare or your practice for current figures.

The AI is configured to handle NDIS-funded psychology appointments. It captures the participant's NDIS number, plan manager or self-managed status, approved funding categories (typically Capacity Building - Improved Daily Living), and support coordinator details if applicable. It books appointments at the correct NDIS rate and duration, and can explain your practice's NDIS cancellation policy (which often differs from private or Medicare policies due to NDIS pricing guidelines). For plan-managed participants, it notes the plan manager's details for invoicing.

Absolutely. The AI is configured with strict privacy protocols aligned with the Australian Privacy Principles and the Psychology Board of Australia's guidelines. It does not store call recordings beyond your configured retention period, does not share caller information between different callers (even family members), and does not confirm or deny whether someone is a client of the practice. If someone calls asking about another person's appointments, the AI politely declines and suggests the person contact the practice directly. All data handling meets the requirements of the Privacy Act 1988.

Yes. Psychology practices often have clinicians with different specialisations — anxiety and depression, trauma and PTSD, child and adolescent psychology, couples therapy, neuropsychological assessment, and more. The AI asks the caller about the general nature of their concern (without requiring clinical detail), their age group or relationship to the intended patient, and any preferences such as gender of psychologist or specific therapeutic approach. It then matches these to the appropriate clinician from your team and offers their available appointment times.

Making the first call to a psychologist is often the hardest step for someone seeking help. The AI is configured with a warm, non-judgmental, and unhurried communication style. It does not ask intrusive questions about the caller's condition — instead, it uses gentle, open-ended prompts like "Can you tell me a little about what you're looking for help with, so I can match you with the right person?" It validates the caller's decision to reach out, provides reassurance about confidentiality, and makes the booking process as frictionless as possible. The goal is to convert that difficult first call into a booked appointment, not let the caller hang up and never call back.

Yes. Many psychology practices have strict cancellation policies — often requiring 24 or 48 hours notice, with a cancellation fee for late changes. The AI enforces your cancellation policy consistently, explaining the terms clearly when a caller requests a change. If the cancellation is within the policy window, it processes the change and sends a confirmation. If it falls within the late cancellation period, it explains the fee and offers to reschedule instead. For callers in financial hardship, it can flag the cancellation for your practice manager to review, rather than applying the fee automatically.

Yes. Many psychology practices include a mix of clinical psychologists, general psychologists, provisional psychologists (registrars), and sometimes counsellors or social workers — each with different fee structures, Medicare item numbers, and supervision requirements. The AI manages this complexity by maintaining individual profiles for each clinician, including their specialisations, availability, fee structure, and whether they are currently accepting new clients. For registrars, it can note that sessions are conducted under supervision and explain any fee differences compared to fully registered psychologists.