How to book, change or cancel a doctor’s appointment on WhatsApp

Before you start

You need three things:

• WhatsApp on your phone. Book from the phone you’ll use later to check, change or cancel, because appointments show only on the number that booked them.
• The clinic’s WhatsApp number, from the clinic itself: a sign at reception, the clinic’s card or its website. Don’t rely on a number from a forwarded message.
• The patient’s full name. It’s the only thing you type.

You don’t pay anything in the chat, and there’s no account or password to create.

Book an appointment

1. Send Hi to the clinic’s number. Hello, Namaste or नमस्ते work too. The reply starts “Namaste! Welcome to” and the clinic’s name, with three buttons.
2. Tap Book appointment.
3. The chat asks “Who is this appointment for?” Tap Myself or Family member.
4. Type the patient’s full name and send it.
5. Tap Select a day and pick a day. Days look like “Today (Wed, 21 Oct)” or “Thursday, 22 Oct”, with how many seats are open.
6. Tap Select a time and pick a time, such as “6:00 PM - 6:30 PM”.
7. Check the summary of patient, date, time and clinic, then tap Confirm booking. To pick a different time on the same day, tap Change time instead.

The questions are in simple English with Hindi in Roman script, such as “Aap kis din aana chahte hain? / Which day would you like to come?” The buttons are in English.

Only open days and times are listed, at most 10 at a time: the next 10 open days, and the earliest 10 open times on the day you pick. If the time you want isn’t listed, contact the clinic. To switch to another day after picking one, send Hi and start again.

You don’t choose a doctor. The clinic’s WhatsApp number books you with the clinic’s doctor.

If you see “Sorry, this time was just booked by another patient. Please choose another time.”, someone took that time a moment before you. Nothing was booked for you, so pick another time from the new list.

Your confirmation, token number and booking ID

As soon as you tap Confirm booking, the chat replies with your confirmation:

Token number. Each appointment gets the next token for its day, in the order bookings are made: the first booking for a day gets 1, the next gets 2, and so on. It isn’t a live queue and doesn’t follow appointment times, so token 9 can have an earlier time than token 4. Ask at the desk how your clinic calls patients, or read what a token number means next to an appointment time.

Booking ID. It looks like APT-7K2M9Q: “APT-” and 6 letters and digits, never I, L or O, which are easy to misread. Clinic staff can find your appointment with it.

Keep the message and show it at the clinic. If you change the time later, show the newest one.

Booking for your child, parent or spouse

Tap Book appointment, choose Family member, and type their full name when the chat asks “Mareez ka poora naam likhein. / Please type the full name.” Everything else is the same as booking for yourself.

Each person gets their own booking, token number and booking ID, and one phone can hold upcoming bookings for several people. Book each person separately.

The same name can’t be booked twice into the same time from your phone. If you try, the chat says “Aapke paas pehle se hi appointment hai.” and shows the booking you already have; nothing new is booked. Capital letters and extra spaces don’t matter, but “Riya” and “Riya Sharma” count as different names, so type each name the same way every time.

Check your appointments

Send Hi and tap My appointment. You see every upcoming appointment booked from your number, each with the patient’s name, date, time and token. Tap one to open it. If you have just one, it opens straight away.

An open appointment shows the patient, date, time, token and booking ID, with two buttons: Change time and Cancel appointment. If nothing is booked, you’ll see “You don’t have any upcoming appointments.”

Change the time

1. Send Hi, tap My appointment and pick the appointment.
2. Tap Change time.
3. Choose a new day, then a new time.
4. Compare the current and new times, then tap Confirm change. To leave it as it is, tap Keep current time.

You’ll get “✅ Appointment changed” with your token and booking ID. The booking ID stays the same. A new time on the same day keeps your token; a move to another day gets that day’s next token. If someone books the new time just before you confirm, your appointment stays where it was and you can choose another time.

Cancel an appointment

1. Send Hi, tap My appointment and pick the appointment.
2. Tap Cancel appointment.
3. Check the details and tap Yes, cancel. To keep it, tap Keep appointment.

You’ll get “✅ Appointment cancelled” with the booking ID, date and time, ending “The time slot is now available again.”

If you can’t come, please cancel, even on the day, so another patient can take the time. You can change or cancel until the appointment’s time has passed.

If something doesn’t work

• “Sorry, that option is no longer active.” You tapped an older button further up the chat, and nothing was changed. Send Hi to start again.
• You typed a question, or sent a voice note or photo, and got the menu. The chat understands taps on its buttons and lists, and the name you type when booking. It can’t read anything else.
• Talk to clinic shows the menu again. It doesn’t connect you to staff, so call or visit the clinic for anything else.
• An appointment is missing. Appointments show only on the WhatsApp number that booked them. Use that phone, or contact the clinic.
• “Sorry, the clinic is not accepting appointments right now. Please contact the clinic.” The clinic isn’t taking WhatsApp bookings at the moment, so contact it directly.
• “Sorry, there are no appointment slots open at the moment. Please try again later.” Try again later, or contact the clinic.

Not for emergencies

This chat only books appointments. It can’t answer questions or give medical advice.

In a medical emergency, do not use WhatsApp. Contact emergency services or go to the nearest hospital.

Please don’t send symptoms, reports or photos in the chat; it never asks for medical information and doesn’t need any. See the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service for how your information is handled.

WhatsApp se doctor appointment kaise book karein

Buttons English mein hi aate hain, isliye neeche unke naam English mein likhe hain.

1. Clinic ka WhatsApp number clinic se hi lein (board, card ya website se), aur us number par “Hi” bhejein.
2. Book appointment tap karein, phir Myself ya Family member chunein.
3. Mareez ka poora naam likhein. Sirf naam hi type karna hai.
4. Din chunein, phir samay. Sirf khaali din aur samay hi dikhte hain.
5. Details dekhkar Confirm booking tap karein. Token number aur booking ID wala message clinic par dikhayein.
6. Samay badalna ho ya appointment cancel karni ho, to “Hi” bhejkar My appointment tap karein. Emergency mein WhatsApp ka istemaal na karein: emergency services se sampark karein ya sabse nazdeeki hospital jaayein.

Questions patients ask

For clinic owners

Want your patients to book like this on your clinic’s own WhatsApp number? Read how WhatsApp appointment booking works for clinics, then get in touch or write to hello@turndesk.in.

Get started