# Podiatry AI Receptionist & Answering Service Source: https://insertchat.com/industries/podiatry > Book foot and ankle visits, answer referral and insurance questions, and flag wounds and infections fast. An AI receptionist for podiatry practices answers patient calls and texts while your doctors are seeing patients, using your services, the insurance you accept, and your referral rules. InsertChat’s assistant books visits for heel pain, ingrown toenails, and routine diabetic foot care, collects referral details, and sends foot wounds, infection signs, and injuries to your clinical team. ## Turn a weekend heel pain call into a Monday appointment Example workflow: Phone call. Illustrative scenario. Answers depend on your sources; actions depend on your connected tools and permissions. This is not a customer testimonial or measured result. A runner calls on Saturday morning, when your office is closed. > My heel has been killing me every morning for three weeks, and I’m training for a half marathon. Can someone see me early next week? ## Collect the basics Ask how long the pain has lasted, whether there was an injury, and which insurance the caller has, then check it against your list. ## Book the first opening Offer Monday and Tuesday new-patient times from your calendar and book the one the runner picks. ## Tell them what to bring Share your new-patient checklist, such as the shoes they run in and their insurance card, and leave the summary for your front desk. ## Your team sets the boundaries Open wounds, a foot that is red, hot, or swollen, and injuries that make walking impossible are flagged for your podiatrists at once, and callers with a medical emergency hear your instruction to call 911. ## What it handles for podiatry practices Handled by your assistant: - New-patient visits for heel pain, bunions, ingrown toenails, and warts - Routine diabetic foot care and nail care visits - Insurance you accept and when a referral is required - Custom orthotics questions, pickup times, and the prices you share - Moving or canceling visits the assistant booked Sent straight to your team: - Open sores or wounds, especially for patients with diabetes - Redness, heat, swelling, or drainage that could mean infection - Injuries where the patient can’t put weight on the foot - Concerns after foot or ankle surgery - Questions about medication, a diagnosis, or test results ## What it asks and what it needs to know Details it collects: - Patient name and mobile number - Where it hurts and how long it has bothered them - Whether it started with an injury - Whether the patient has diabetes, for foot care and wound calls - Referring doctor, if their plan needs one - Insurance carrier and plan, or self-pay - Preferred office and appointment times What to add to its knowledge: - Conditions you treat and procedures you perform - Insurance you accept and referral requirements by plan - How diabetic foot care visits work and what to bring - Custom orthotics process, timing, and prices you share - Post-op instructions you give surgical patients - Office locations, hours, and your urgent and 911 instructions ## What happens when a patient with diabetes calls about a foot wound? Your clinical team hears about it right away. The assistant asks where the wound is, how long it has been there, and whether there is redness, swelling, or drainage, then marks the conversation urgent and emails the teammates you chose. It doesn’t tell the patient how to treat the wound. Your staff decide how soon to see the patient and call them back. ## Can it handle referral and insurance questions for podiatry? Yes, from the rules you write. Add the plans you accept and the ones that need a referral from a primary care doctor, and the assistant asks for the plan and referring doctor before booking. When a referral is missing, it still records the request and tells the patient what your office needs. Benefit checks stay with your front desk. ## Is a BAA available for podiatry practices? Yes, on Enterprise. Foot conditions, wound details, diabetes status, and insurance details can be protected health information, so choose Enterprise and sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) before the assistant collects them. On other plans, keep protected health information out of the assistant and the calendar it books into. ## How much does an AI receptionist for podiatry practices cost? Podiatry practices that handle protected health information with the assistant need Enterprise, from $998 a month, which can sign a BAA and supports up to 100 AI assistants for multi-office groups. On other plans, from $98 a month, keep protected health information out of the assistant. Calls use monthly credits rounded up to whole minutes with a one-minute minimum, and each extra office line is $10 a month. ## Can it cover the phones on surgery days? Yes. Let your front desk phone ring for 5 to 60 seconds before the assistant answers, so calls during a busy surgery morning still get picked up. You can also have the assistant answer every call, or only after hours. In the US and Canada, forward the number your patients already have. ## Can patients text about orthotics pickup? Yes. Patients can text your InsertChat number to ask whether their orthotics are ready, and the assistant logs the question for your staff, since it can’t see your lab orders. It also answers hours and directions and moves visits it booked. Picture messages, like a photo of a toe, go to a person on your team. ## Can it talk with Spanish-speaking patients? Yes. The assistant replies in the language the patient uses, so someone who calls or texts in Spanish can ask about heel pain visits and book one in Spanish. Your team reads the transcript and summary in the shared inbox, attached to the patient’s contact. ## Related features - [AI receptionist](https://insertchat.com/product/phone) - [Scheduling](https://insertchat.com/product/scheduling) - [After-hours answering](https://insertchat.com/product/after-hours) ## Broader industry - [Healthcare](https://insertchat.com/industries/healthcare): Answer the phone while your team is with patients.