Practice management tips

Here at Cliniko, we know a lot about websites, software, running businesses, and digital marketing. This is where we share all our practical tips to level-up your practice management skills, and help you run your healthcare business more efficiently.

An illustration of robots trying to get through a keyhole

A data security checklist for the age of AI

Online scams and malicious attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Are your online security practices up to date enough to protect you against a data breach?

A data security checklist for the age of AI
Online scams and malicious attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Are your online security practices up to date enough to protect you against a data breach?
A security checklist for onboarding new hires
Are you setting up your new team members in a way that ensures the privacy and security of your practice?
What we’ve learned about good customer service
Honest, authentic, and timely customer support never goes out of style! Here are some of our tips for making a good first impression and conveying to patients that you genuinely care about them.
Five reasons why telehealth is worthwhile
With heightened accessibility and convenience for your patients, plus more growth opportunities for you, telehealth can be a valuable addition to your practice!
Is free software really free?
It’s always nice to get something for nothing. But when it comes to software, what does “free” really mean? These are some of the hidden costs and potential dangers that you should know about.
Why an online booking system beats phone bookings
Do your patients call you to make their appointments or book themselves in online? We think there are some major benefits to implementing an online booking system! This post takes you through exactly what those are.
Don’t put patient information into ChatGPT—here’s why
ChatGPT (and AI in general) is pretty awesome. But there’s one thing that, as a healthcare professional, you shouldn’t do: use it with sensitive information, like patient data.
Tips for good writing in your allied health practice
Words, words, words! How do you find the right words to connect with your patients when you’re writing for them? Give this article a read for some tips to make the writing process easier.
Advice from business coaches on your top 5 practice challenges
Last year’s Cliniko survey asked allied health practitioners about the challenges you’re facing. This post takes you through the top five struggles you shared with us, and gives some tips from top industry business coaches on some steps you can take to make life easier.
Can business coaching help your allied health practice?
What does an allied health business coach do? Twelve industry coaches recently chatted to Cliniko about what makes business coaching successful, the most common misconceptions people have, and the nitty gritty of what you need to know if you’re thinking of working with a coach.
What do the changes to the TGA Code of Advertising mean for allied health practitioners?
In this post, Dr Jessica Stokes-Parish PhD takes you through how the TGA Code of advertising applies to Australian allied health professionals. As a nurse, educator, and science communicator, Jessica expertly breaks down the key points to keep in mind to avoid accidentally breaching the Code.
Vicarious trauma for helping professionals – tips for organisations
In the second part of this series on the Cliniko blog, Dr. Don Russell discusses how healthcare organisations are also impacted by vicarious trauma and what can be done to protect staff from its effects.
Diversity in private practice: Why Performance Medicine is loud and proud for the LGBTQIA+ community
Cliniko believes it’s essential to support the LGBTIQA+ community all year round. In this article, Andy Haycroft shares exactly why it's so important to make your healthcare practice a safe space for everyone who visits – patients and staff included.
Rethinking traditional physiotherapy: Tim Barsellotti's online practice
Tim Barsellotti set up an entirely online physiotherapy practice and hasn't looked back. He shared his story with Cliniko.
Vicarious trauma for helping professionals
As a clinician, you may be vulnerable to taking on the trauma of your patients or experiencing what's known as vicarious traumatisation. Learn some of the warning signs and ways to avoid it in this guest post from Dr. Donald Russell.
Marketing smarter not harder: 6 marketing areas that’ll give you the most bang for buck
Between treating your patients and doing admin, life gets extremely busy – not many allied health practitioners have the time to be spending endless hours on marketing. Alan Zaia shows you six areas to focus on to make sure your marketing is both efficient and targeted .
Going Solo: Nicole Craddock’s start-up story and tips for opening your own practice
Opening your own allied health practice is a big step! Nicole Craddock recently chatted to Cliniko about opening Nicole Craddock Physiotherapy in Cape Town, South Africa.
The benefits of mentoring allied health students in your clinic
Clinical placement, we’ve all been there. Sweating through our first five-day work week, overwhelmed, unsure, and tired. Winnie Lu, physiotherapist and practice owner, shares her advice for how to make hosting students in your practice a satisfying experience for you and them.
How much does it cost your clinic when a practitioner leaves?
A practitioner’s decision to walk is likely to cost a clinic a lot. But how much? We’ve developed a tool to help you work that out, leading to happier staff and a healthier bottomline.
When coming out of lockdown, forget about marketing for a minute
Sometimes going back to basics can work wonders. In this article, one of Cliniko's growth marketers explains how you can effectively hit the restart button on your marketing efforts, without needing special skills or big budgets.
A small practice guide to healthcare marketing agencies
Learning the ins and outs of digital marketing can take time that practice owners, particularly small ones, don’t have. Marketing Director Louis Meletiou takes you through what healthcare marketing agencies typically do for a practice, and how to find one that fits your business.
Make your own mark: The Hills Massage startup story
Michelle Rimmer has run a successful massage therapy clinic for almost twenty years. Michelle, who is a former nurse, sat down with Cliniko to share how two big and unexpected setbacks changed the course of her career, leading her to look inward at who she was and what she wanted—and go for it.
More than one way to run a practice: 4 clinic models to get you thinking
Thinking of starting your own healthcare business? Already have your own and want an idea of how to do things a bit differently? Practice owner and physiotherapist, Michael Dermansky, has some advice on different practice models to help you make an informed decision.
5 mistakes to avoid when starting your own practice
When Dave James opened his podiatry practice, he learned a lot of lessons the hard way. In this article, we share some of his experiences and advice on what NOT to do when going into private practice.
Is your practice succeeding? 3 must-have reports for tracking your practice’s performance
The Hive's UK Director and a healthcare business coach, Blake Sergeant, covers the key numbers and the three financial reports you need to review each month, so you’ll always know how well your practice is doing.
What is your utilisation rate, and how can it help your practice?
The utilisation rate can be one of the most valuable metrics to help prepare your practice for unexpected challenges. Troy Parsons, Managing Director at Optimise Health, explains how to determine utilisation rates for your team and why he thinks it can be such a helpful tool.
What is a Patient Visit Average (PVA)?
A Patient Visit Average is the average number of appointments a patient has with your clinic over a given period of time. Physiotherapist, clinic owner, and business coach, Andrew Zacharia, explains why tracking this number will improve your patient care.
Going paperless in your clinic could reduce your clinic's costs
By cutting back on your clinic’s paper usage, you could help the environment and maybe even your budget.
The power of a brand: 6 things you should do to build your healthcare brand
Could focusing on your practice's brand help you grow your business? Our new guest blog by Helena Leslie of Handsome Ground Studio explains all the basics of brand identity.
6 things you need to know about telehealth and the law in Australia
Wondering about the legal implications of telehealth for your healthcare practice? In this guest post, Founder and Principal of You Legal Sarah Bartholomeusz provides an overview of what you need to know about telehealth and Australian law.
UK privacy laws and Brexit: what to expect in 2021
For UK practitioners, the start of 2021 could bring changes to how you comply with patient privacy laws. This article will give you an overview of what to expect and suggestions for finding more info.
What is two-factor authentication (2FA), and why do you need it?
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is one of the best tools you have to prevent unauthorised access to your online accounts. Learn how 2FA works and why you should be using it to protect your patients' privacy.
When is the best time to send appointment reminders to reduce no-shows?
Timing can make a big difference on the effectiveness of your appointment reminders. Learn what the research says about which day and what time you should be sending out your messages.
Understanding privacy laws: How to protect your patients’ personal information
Learn how Cliniko meets or exceeds many of the world's privacy laws, how we help you comply with them as well, and where you can get more information on the requirements for your practice.
How One Central Health used Cliniko to expand to 5 clinics
In 5 years, One Central Health has grown into a team of more than 40 multi-disciplinary staff based across Western Australia—all using Cliniko to work harmoniously so clients can receive the highest standards of care. Read their growth story to learn more about how they did it.
5 ways to improve the accessibility of your website
Maintaining an accessible website for your healthcare business is an important way to show your patients you care. We invited web expert Taeke Reijenga to share his view on what accessibility is, and five simple ways you can make your site easier for everyone to use.
Going digital: Allied healthcare edition
There's more to digitising your clinic than meets the eye. In this guest blog, digitisation expert Diana Xhumari explains the ways 'going paperless' can transform your clinic for the better.
PPE protocol at The Village Osteopaths in Cheshire, UK
Collette and Sean from The Village Osteopaths in Cheshire, UK share how they have adapted their clinic post-lockdown with a PPE protocol based on the latest scientific research into COVID-19.
The path to 5-star success: how one Canadian chiropractor grew his practice with good communication
We caught up with Dr Ben Tucker to learn how his communication techniques have helped him earn so many happy clients who love to spread the word about his clinic.
A practitioner and a marketer
Paul Smith is an allied health practitioner and an experienced digital marketer. He knows what it takes to promote a clinic online, and we've got his top tips on how beginners can start marketing their practice today—no experience required!
Moving to 100% online therapy at The Grove
Sarah Sacks is a director of The Grove Counselling & Therapy, and she’s here to share the story of how she moved her clinic to 100% telehealth appointments while maintaining an excellent service for her clients.
Zoom is not suitable for telehealth
You may have seen Zoom in the news recently for a myriad of security issues. Bill from the Cliniko operations team explains why you shouldn't use Zoom for telehealth, and how you can best protect your patients and business.
Before you rule out telehealth...
Osteopath and Cliniko founder Liora Dafner-Beach explains how manual therapists can treat and support their patients using telehealth.
Fighting COVID-19 fears in the allied health community
Podiatrist and clinic owner Catherine Fletcher-Liddell MChS BSc (Hons) explains how she is using her practice's social media presence to connect with and reassure clients in the wake of COVID-19.
Meet Hazel Potter: Travelling physiotherapist for horses and their riders
For as long as she can remember, Hazel Potter always wanted to work with animals, but she was allergic to anything with fur. So she tried dentistry. But as she learned, fate is not so easily cast aside.
Build your own blueprint: How David Birley started an Osteo clinic (twice)
Osteopath David Birley knows how tough it is to run a clinic. Twice, he grew his business from nothing, and we’ve got his story here for you. Check out our conversation with David and learn all you can from his powerful tale.
The 4 considerations for going into business with a friend
There is a large debate in the business world about whether or not you should go into business with someone you’re currently friends with. Clinic Mastery's Peter Flynn outlines the things you should consider before choosing a friend as a business partner.
Best practice for securing health data
Presenting to Victoria University's (AU) fourth year Osteopathy students, Cliniko founder Joel Friedlaender details how all health professionals can keep their patient health data safe.
Major changes to Medicare benefits for psychologists and dieticians
With approximately one million Australians currently battling eating disorders (ED), the Australian Government has committed to helping more people access and afford the help they need with a dedicated Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) item number.
Spinefit Chiro & Physio: When starting a clinic with a friend works
Ever wanted to go into business with a friend—be it opening that bar, or getting the band back together? Cliniko customers Keith Tan and Aaron Lau of Spinefit Chiropractic & Physiotherapy in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) share their story of starting a clinic with a friend.
Karen Finnin - From physiotherapist to telehealth pioneer
Karen Finnin is a self-proclaimed accidental entrepreneur, but also a pioneer of the online healthcare movement. We talked to Karen to find out how she went from rural physiotherapist to telehealth pioneer.
NAPA Centre: How Lynette LaScala turned her son’s near death into a two country, three centre pioneer of intensive therapy
Cliniko customer, NAPA (Neurological and Physical Abilitation) Centres share how their founder, Lynnette LaScala, turned her son's near-death into a two country, four practice pioneer of children's intensive therapy with a two-year waiting list.
Why you should implement good systems in your private practice
If you’ve ever been frustrated that no one ever does the tasks around the clinic as good as you, so you tend to ‘just do it yourself’, then it’s time to let go of your ego, because you’ll never create the business you truly want.
What Cliniko has learned about building a team and how it may work for your practice
Cliniko founder Joel Friedlaender has learned a lot about building a team in the 10 years since he started the company. Here he shares what has worked for his business.
4 essential resource tips for starting your own practice
What are the essential items you need when you're starting up your own therapy practice? UK-based speech therapist, Rhiannon Walton, gives us her tips.
It’s never too late to write your business plan
It may be well into the new year, but the truth is that any time is a good time to get started on your business plan.
How to (and why you should) turn off Autofill
Protect your patients data by disabling browser autofill. Learn what autofill does in Cliniko and why you should disable it.
Cliniko Patient Forms with Finger-Ink iPad App
Finger-Ink for Cliniko (iPad App) Looking to speed up your form process within Cliniko⏱? While you can scan 👩‍💻, take a photo 📸, or upload your completed forms 📄, you can also use Finger-Ink’s iPad app 🙌!
How to Enable Double Opt-in in MailChimp
Our MailChimp Integration just got better (if that’s even possible) 🙌!!
Tips for wishing your patients and clients a happy festive season
It’s that time of year again and many of you will be looking forward to a well earned break. And by you, I mean all of you sitting there trying to gather a list of naughty and nice patients to send Christmas wishes to this year. Well, fear not!
Cliniko, KRACK and WPA2
A serious weaknesses in WPA2 (a protocol that secures all modern protected Wi-Fi networks) has been discovered. An attacker within range of a victim can exploit this using key reinstallation attacks (KRACKs).
Behind The Scenes: Public API
Cliniko is ever-growing and in this Behind The Scenes feature we explore our Public API and how it lets you use other applications that work seamlessly with Cliniko! Drop the jargon!
The easiest thing you can do to secure your patient information
This is part of an ongoing blog series that focuses on some of the fantastic features of Cliniko. Today we’re going to look at 2 Factor Authentication. What is 2 Factor Authentication (2FA)?
What is MailChimp?
MailChimp is one of the best email marketing programs out there, trusted with sending more than 600 million emails every single day. It’s a cloud-based software program (like Cliniko!
Security vulnerability in Internet Explorer
There’s been a security vulnerability found in Internet Explorer versions 6 through to 11 (basically all of them). Internet explorer is a web browser, the default one installed on Windows computers.
How to make Cliniko run faster on your computer
Let's compare the speed and performance of Cliniko in different browsers. Learn which browsers gives you the best Cliniko experience.
Speed up your treatment notes with text expander shortcuts
Wouldn’t it be great if you could type faster? Or if your computer knew what you were thinking and just put those words to the screen? Well, we’re not living in a Star Trek world yet, but there are some tools out there to get close.
Why cloud-based practice management software is more secure than computer based software
We get a lot of questions about the security of Cliniko , our practice management software system. I am pretty sure we get asked this question commonly because we are completely cloud-based.
10 hidden costs of clinic software
It seems easy to compare the pricing of clinic software. Here are 10 hidden costs outside of your subscription cost that you might not have considered yet but should.
Tips for improving the website for your practice (Part 2)
More basic tips to help you out with setting up your own website. Learn what kind of content to include on your site.
How to get more clients with Google places (it’s free)
Help potential clients find your business using Google places. It doesn't take long and is easier than you think.
Tips for improving the website for your practice (Part 1)
Let's go over a few basic tips to help you out with setting up a website. Get your domain name, develop your site and host it.
Why you want your Practice Management Software in the cloud
A practice managers guide to understanding the difference between web-based, hosted and cloud computing software?