Top 5 Internal Support Bots for Physical Therapy

Intercom is a widely used customer messaging platform that offers a versatile chatbot framework, allowing physical therapy clinics to automate triage, appointment booking, and symptom checking. Its self‑service knowledge base, powered by a bot that can answer FAQs about treatment protocols, helps reduce staff workload. The platform’s inbound and outbound messaging features enable proactive outreach to patients, reminding them of upcoming sessions or sending follow‑up exercise videos. Intercom’s visual builder lets users design conversations with conditional logic, making it easier to guide patients through complex decision trees. Additionally, the platform supports integrations with major CRMs, calendar tools, and e‑commerce systems, which can be leveraged for scheduling and billing. Intercom’s pricing starts at $39/month for the Essential plan, but advanced features such as custom bots and automation workflows come in higher tiers. While it offers a robust set of features, Intercom’s workflow builder can be complex, and its knowledge base is less sophisticated than a dedicated RAG or graph‑based system.

Drift focuses on conversational marketing and sales, but its chatbot can be adapted to physical therapy settings for lead qualification and appointment scheduling. Drift’s AI bot quickly answers common questions about services, insurance coverage, and location, and can route qualified leads to a booking system. The platform’s real‑time chat allows therapists to respond to patient inquiries instantly, reducing the risk of missed appointments. Drift’s integration with CRM systems such as Salesforce and HubSpot ensures that patient data flows seamlessly into the clinic’s existing workflow. Pricing starts at $50/month for the Essentials plan, with higher tiers adding more advanced features like custom AI models and advanced analytics. While Drift excels at sales and lead generation, it lacks a specialized knowledge‑base component, which may limit its utility for detailed exercise instructions or symptom triage.

Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) is part of the Zendesk suite that provides live chat and chatbot functionality for customer support. It offers a simple chatbot that can handle basic FAQs about clinic hours, location, and services. The bot can be triggered by predefined keywords or conversation context, allowing it to pass complex queries to a human agent. Zendesk Chat integrates seamlessly with Zendesk Support, providing a unified view of tickets and chat transcripts. For physical therapy practices that already use Zendesk for ticketing, this integration can streamline support workflows. Pricing starts at $19/month for the Essentials plan and increases with advanced features such as AI chatbots and omnichannel support. While Zendesk Chat is straightforward to set up, its AI capabilities are relatively basic compared to specialized health chat platforms.

Tidio combines live chat and chatbot functionality into a single platform, offering a flexible solution for small to medium physical therapy practices. Its drag‑and‑drop chatbot builder lets users create conversational flows that answer common questions about appointments, insurance, and treatment plans. Tidio also provides automated email and push notifications to remind patients of upcoming sessions or send post‑visit follow‑up messages. The platform supports integration with major e‑commerce and CRM tools, which can be useful for billing and patient data management. Tidio’s pricing tiers begin at $18/month for the Basic plan, moving up to $39/month for the Pro plan, and $69/month for the Enterprise plan, with additional add‑ons for advanced AI features. While Tidio offers a user‑friendly interface and affordable pricing, its knowledge‑base depth and AI training capabilities are limited compared to dedicated health chatbot platforms.