--- title: "Phone Service for Physiotherapy: Answering Calls" description: "How webRichtung phone relieves your therapy practice during call intake and captures organizational requests – with § 203 StGB and Art. 9 GDPR in mind." type: "wissen" product: "phone" slug: "ai-phone-service-physiotherapy" language: "en" source_id: "wissen/ki-telefonservice-physiotherapie" published: "2026-06-14" status: "publish" faq_json: - q: "May a physiotherapy practice use an external AI phone service even though it is bound by confidentiality?" a: "Physiotherapists fall within the scope of professions covered by § 203 StGB. External parties acting on your behalf may be involved insofar as access is required for their work and confidentiality is safeguarded; data protection requirements apply as well. Have the contract, legal basis, and configuration reviewed by a specialist in your specific case." - q: "Why is the telephone a particular challenge in physiotherapy?" a: "While treating a patient directly, answering the phone means taking your hands off the patient. Many practices have no dedicated reception coverage, and call volumes coincide with a packed treatment schedule." - q: "Can the practice capture appointment requests and offer booking?" a: "webRichtung phone can capture organizational requests and caller information. For a public booking interface, webRichtung calendar is the dedicated door; we do not promise direct appointment assignment through phone here." - q: "Does the AI phone assistant provide medical advice?" a: "No. Statements about findings, pain, diagnosis, or treatment progress remain with the practice team. The assistant captures the request in a structured way and passes it on – that is how it is configured. Medical consultation is neither the task nor the function of the system." - q: "Is it worthwhile for a small practice without its own reception?" a: "Especially without dedicated reception staff, a clearly limited intake scope can relieve the therapists. The account is free and has no base fee; self-registration includes 7.5 Credits of test budget." --- Half past nine, the treatment schedule is packed: manual therapy in room 2, lymphatic drainage in room 3, and in between the phone rings for the fourth time. Whoever answers takes their hands off the patient. Whoever doesn't answer misses a cancellation that could have filled another gap – or loses a new patient with a fresh prescription who simply calls the next practice. It is precisely in this competition between treatment and the telephone that daily stress at the reception arises. ## What Really Gets Lost at the Practice Phone The damage lies mainly in the burden on the team and in unnoticed gaps in the schedule. Many calls come in at exactly the moment when someone is waiting in the treatment room. When someone has to hold treatment, phone calls, and calendar entries all in mind at once, coordination pressure increases. There is also a timing problem that is especially noticeable in physiotherapy: if someone cancels in the morning, a gap can only be filled in the afternoon if it becomes visible in time. If the cancellation is discovered late, the slot may remain unused. ## What the Phone Agent Takes Over in Your Practice - Answer or make calls - Manage caller data in the designated workspace - Configure the Phone Agent via the wizard from the business context - Capture organizational requests within this clear mandate - Review statistics to understand how your phone reception is being used This boundary matters: phone is not presented as complete practice management. The module handles the telephone work for which you configure it from the business context. Caller management holds the intake together; statistics give you a basis to refine your mandate and performance. Clinical decisions, treatment planning, and responsibility for practice operations remain outside this scope. Not: provide medical advice, interpret findings, or comment on treatment progress. The assistant captures these questions and passes them to the team. That is how it is configured. ## The 28-Day Deadline Is a Scheduling Problem A therapeutic prescription must begin treatment no later than 28 calendar days after the date of issue – if urgent care is marked, it is 14 days. For the new patient on the phone, this means: they are under time pressure and need a reliable booking path. A public [online appointment booking](/en/knowledge/online-appointment-booking.html) can be offered via webRichtung calendar as a separate, clearly regulated option. phone and calendar remain separate doors in the shared operating system; direct booking through phone is not promised here. ## Health Data: The Legal Framework When you capture requests, prescriptions, and complaints over the phone, you are processing health data – these are special categories of personal data under Art. 9 GDPR with heightened requirements. Physiotherapists fall under the professions subject to medical confidentiality under § 203 StGB; this also applies to assisting professional colleagues working in the practice. An external service may still participate: § 203 para. 3 StGB allows external parties acting on your behalf insofar as this is necessary for their work. In practice, this means: data processing under Art. 28 GDPR, an appropriate confidentiality obligation, and consistent data minimization – capture only what is necessary for the defined mandate over the phone. This is not a blanket guarantee. You should have the specific contract, legal basis, and configuration reviewed by a specialist in your individual case; this is not legal advice. A data processing agreement alone does not establish a legal basis for health data. Your practice must clarify the basis on which it processes the specific information, what instructions apply to the service, and who has access. Equally important is technical configuration: the narrower the organizational mandate, the clearer you can limit what information phone should even capture. Confidentiality and data protection responsibility are not delegated to the module. ## Acute Complaints Remain the Team's Responsibility If someone calls with severe acute pain or signs of serious deterioration, that is not an organizational matter. For such requests, the Phone Agent needs a clear behavioral boundary: no independent medical advice, but rather structured capture of the request according to your established practice process. Clinical assessment and the decision on next steps remain with the therapists. ## How to Test It in Your Practice Start with a clearly limited intake mandate. Write down which organizational requests are included, what caller information is needed, and which topics expressly remain with the practice team. Configure this mandate and the practice context in the wizard. Then test with internal example scenarios to verify that behavior and boundaries are clear, and monitor via statistics what types of calls actually reach your workspace. After the initial review, do not change everything at once. Refine one rule at a time and expand the mandate only when the current boundary works reliably. This way phone becomes a controllable door into your shared operating system, without silently assuming clinical responsibility or sensitive decisions. [webRichtung phone](/en/modules/phone/) is your entry point: configure the Phone Agent from your practice context, clearly limit the intake scope, and refine it based on statistics. The account is free and has no base fee; self-registration includes 7.5 Credits of test budget. For a public booking interface, add [calendar](/en/modules/calendar/) as a separate door. You can read more under [What a Missed Call Costs](/en/knowledge/anrufe-verpassen-kosten.html), [Automatic Call Answering](/de/wissen/automatische-anrufannahme.html), and [AI Call Answering](/en/knowledge/ai-call-answering.html). To clarify setup questions for your practice, reach out via [Contact](/en/contact/).