Why classes are worth running
- Patients stay with you after discharge, in a class that keeps them well.
- More income per physio hour. Eight people in a class versus one in a session.
- Community. Patients in a knee OA group motivate each other.
- A path from treatment to fitness, which is how many clinics grow.
Set up your classes
Under Manage → Items → Classes, create each class you run: its name, its length, how many places it has, its price and colour, whether it keeps a waiting list, and whether patients can book it online. For example, "Clinical Pilates, 60 minutes, 8 places" or "Knee OA group, 45 minutes, 10 places". You can start from a ready-made example and change what you need.
A timetable that repeats
Schedule a class once, or as a whole batch. Choose the start and end time, the physio and the branch, then the weekdays it runs on: every week, or every two, three or four weeks, for a number of classes or until a date. A Monday, Wednesday and Friday batch for eight weeks is one step.
Before anything is made, every date is listed with anything in its way: the physio already busy, a public holiday, or the same class already on that day. Untick any date you want to leave out, then make the rest. Festivals that move with the moon, like Diwali and Holi, are not in the holiday list, so untick those yourself.
Changing a class, or the rest of the batch
Change one class, or this class and every one after it: the time, the length, the physio, the branch, the number of places or the note.
Book people in
Each class is shown in the diary alongside one-to-one appointments. Open it to add people. A class can never take more people than it has places, even when two people book at the same moment.
The whole batch in one step
Book someone into this class, the rest of the batch, or just the dates they choose, all at once. You see what happened on each date: booked, put on the waiting list, or already in. Keep adding people without searching again.
A price for this person
Give someone their own price, for a senior citizen concession or a family discount, or a free trial class. You can also book a place on the patient's case, so it counts with the rest of their treatment.
When a class is full
A full class keeps a waiting list. When someone drops out, the next person on the list gets the place, and the roll shows who it was.
The class roll
Open a class to see its roll: everyone booked, and whether they have confirmed, arrived and paid. Move to the previous or next class of the batch without closing it.
- Attended, did not come, cancelled late or cancelled, marked for each person, or mark the rest attended and bill them in one press.
- Payment at a glance: to pay, paid with the bill number, paid from a class pass, or a free class.
- Take payment at the desk by cash, UPI or card, use the patient's class pass, or sell one there and then.
- Email the whole class, or just the people you tick.
- Print the roll for the studio.
Packages for classes
Classes are often sold as a batch: eight Pilates classes, or a month of back care. Set up a package that covers your class types, and each attendance is drawn from it. See treatment packages and prepaid sessions.
Billing a class
A class is billed when attendance is marked, or at the desk beforehand: from the patient's package (a class pass) first, and as a bill otherwise, at that person's own price. Read GST billing for physiotherapy clinics. Check with your CA whether a fitness-type class is treated differently from treatment for GST.
Booked online, reminded on WhatsApp
Classes can be offered on your online booking page, with their coming dates and how many places are left, so patients pick their own batch. When a class is full, a patient can join its waiting list. If your page takes existing patients only, a new person's request goes to the front desk instead.
With WhatsApp reminders on, each place is on the day’s WhatsApp reminder list beside the appointments, written in your reminder wording and ready to send from the clinic’s own WhatsApp in one tap, and marked once it has gone. If you send reminders by email, each place gets one on your usual settings, once.
On the patient's file
Every class a patient is booked into, waiting for, or has been to is on their file, with how each one stands and whether it is paid. You can see at a glance who has not been coming for a while.
Knowing which classes work
Clinic reports show revenue and visits, so you can see which classes fill and which ones should move to a better time. For pricing and filling classes, read making group classes pay.
Frequently asked questions
Can physiotherapy software manage group classes?
Yes. Clinidiary has class types, a timetable that repeats, a limit on places with a waiting list, a roll that shows who has paid, and online booking.
Can I book a patient into a whole batch at once?
Yes. Book them into the rest of the batch, or only the dates they choose, in one step.
Can a package cover classes?
Yes. A package can cover one or more class types, and each attendance is drawn from it.
Can I limit the number of people in a class?
Yes. Each class has a number of places, a class cannot take more people than that, and a full class can keep a waiting list.
Can a patient be in a class and have one-to-one sessions too?
Yes. Classes and appointments are in the same diary and on the same patient file.