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Scheduling & Intake
The front desk checklist: what Intuo can take off your desk, job by job
A checklist for office managers. For each piece of desk work: who does it now, what Intuo does instead, who signs off, and whether it runs today or we switch it on with you at setup.
Ask an office manager what fills the day and you won't hear "patient care". You'll hear the phones, the voicemails, chasing deposits, and retyping things into the EHR. None of it is hard, and all of it is constant.
This checklist is for that person. It covers the manual work we see at almost every medspa, dermatology, hormone and weight-loss clinic. For each piece, it says plainly what Intuo does and who on your team still signs off.
How to read the status column:
- Live: running for real patients today.
- On at setup: we switch it on with you when you start.
One booking, start to finish
Before the tables, here's what the work looks like when nobody on your team has to touch it.
- 7:52 PMA new patient calls after close. Gigi, Intuo's AI receptionist, answers and asks what she's looking for.
- 7:54 PMGigi checks the chart, offers real openings from your EHR, and books her in.
- 7:55 PMOne text carries the confirmation, the deposit link and her intake forms.
- 8:03 PMThe deposit is paid and lands in your POS, matched to the visit.
- 8:17 PMHer intake is signed on her phone and filed to the chart.
- Day beforeA reminder goes out, and she can confirm or ask for a change. Nobody on your team touched it. You signed off once, at setup, on which services book directly and what the deposit is.
Calls and requests
| The work | Who does it today | What Intuo does | Who signs off | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calls the desk can't get to (busy, lunch, after hours) | Voicemail | Gigi answers, recognizes returning patients by number, and answers the questions you've approved | Your team, for anything clinical; anyone who asks for a person is put through during open hours | Live |
| Booking a visit by phone | The desk | Gigi offers real open times from your EHR, books, and texts the confirmation and deposit link | You, once: which services book directly | Live |
| "When is my appointment?" | The desk looks it up | Gigi reads it from the patient's record during the call | Nobody needs to | Live |
| Voicemail and callbacks | The desk plays back and calls back | Each request becomes an email to the desk within seconds: who, what, how to reach them | Your desk, for the callback | Live |
| Callers who left a message | Nobody tells them anything | One text after the call saying the message went to the team | Nobody needs to | Live |
| Texts and calls from the same patient | Scattered across phones | One thread per person in your dashboard Inbox | Your desk, for replies | Live |
The chart and the schedule
| The work | Who does it today | What Intuo does | Who signs off | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entering bookings into the EHR | The desk retypes | Bookings Gigi takes are written straight into your chart; changes your desk makes are read back through the working day | You, once: matching visit types and providers at setup | Live on athenahealth; other EHRs connected at setup |
| Cancel and reschedule requests | The desk, by phone | Into your chart, or to your desk in writing: your choice | Your desk, if you choose writing | Desk path live; chart path on at setup |
| Follow-ups that need a chart review | The desk takes a message | Sent to the desk in writing instead of booked | Your provider | Live |
| Refill requests | A message, then the nurse follows up | Checked against your medication list during the call, then routed to your team or the patient's own pharmacy | Your provider approves every refill | Live |
| Problems after a treatment | Whoever picks up | An urgent alert to your team, with 911 wording for severe signs, and an honest reply once the alert is out | Your nurse team, for every clinical decision | Live |
Deposits, intake and show-up
| The work | Who does it today | What Intuo does | Who signs off | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collecting deposits | The desk calls for a card | A deposit link in the booking confirmation; the money lands in your POS, matched to the visit, or runs through Intuo billing if you have no POS | You, once: the deposit for each service | Live |
| Paper intake | A clipboard in the lobby | Your own forms, rebuilt as an editable mobile flow with legally binding signatures, filed to the chart | You, once: the forms | On at setup |
| Confirmations | The desk | Sent the moment a visit books | Nobody needs to | Live |
| Reminders | The desk calls the day before | A text the day before; patients confirm or ask for a change | Nobody needs to | On at setup |
| Filling a cancelled slot | The desk calls down a list | The slot offered by text to your waitlist and due patients; the first deposit gets it | You, once: who's offered first | On at setup |
| No-shows | The desk, when there's time | A text offering two new times; the patient picks one | Your desk, for any fee | On at setup |
Insurance
| The work | Who does it today | What Intuo does | Who signs off | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage checks | The desk, on payer portals | Every insured visit checked two business days ahead; only problems reach the desk | Your desk, for every conversation about coverage | On at setup |
| Prior authorizations | Staff on portals, fax and phone | The packet prepared from the chart, the payer's form filled, status checked daily | Your provider for the clinical case; your coordinator for every submission | On at setup, depends on your chart |
Bringing patients back
| The work | Who does it today | What Intuo does | Who signs off | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lapsed patients | A list nobody has time for | Patients past their own usual rhythm, with every message previewed before it sends | You approve each batch | On at setup |
| "Which ads brought patients?" | Nobody knows | Ad spend matched to bookings in your EHR and payments in your POS | You decide where the next dollar goes | On at setup |
What stays with your team
- Clinical judgment of any kind: symptoms, doses, results, prescriptions.
- Approvals: refills, follow-ups that need a chart review, anything sent to a payer, refunds and fees.
- Anything your rules don't cover. When Intuo isn't sure, the request goes to a person in writing.
- The rules themselves. You decide what's allowed, once, as yes-or-no answers.
Is a piece of work ready for Intuo?
Ask three questions:
- Does the request usually arrive the same way: a call, a text, a booking?
- Could you write the right outcome down as a rule you'd hand a new hire?
- Can the result be checked somewhere real, such as the EHR, the register or a delivered email?
Three yeses make it a good fit. A refill request passes all three: it comes in by phone, your medication list is the rule, and the desk email is the proof. "Should this patient try a different dose?" fails the second question, so it stays with your provider.
If the judgment is the work itself, it stays with a person.
Where to start
- Calls the desk can't get to, plus written desk requests. This is the biggest leak (about one call in five at our first clinic), and nothing changes for the calls your team still answers.
- Booking into your EHR, with the confirmation, deposit and intake. Once calls are answered, let Intuo finish the job instead of taking a message.
- Refills, change requests and urgent messages, routed by your rules. This is where your yes-or-no table matters most.
- Confirmations and reminders. Show-up work, once bookings are flowing.
- Cancellation fill and no-show rebooking. They keep the schedule full without a call list.
- Recall, last. These texts go to people who didn't contact you, so they wait until everything above runs smoothly and you've previewed exactly who would get a message.
Start where requests already arrive and go unanswered. Reach out to patients only once the inbound side is clean. Most clinics begin with Gigi plus one job, free for 48 hours: Book my free 48 hours.
Intuo is HIPAA compliant. We sign a BAA with every clinic. To hear Gigi take a call, try her at our demo line.
How we counted: "about one call in five" comes from the clinic's own phone exports, August 2026, counting only days visible from start to finish.