Heron doesn’t clock out when your front desk does. After hours, it continues to answer every call — making sure patients know where to turn for urgent needs and how to contact your clinic during normal hours.
📞 What Happens After Hours
Routine requests → Heron handles them as usual (bookings, FAQs, cancellations).
Urgent matters → Heron detects trigger phrases and responds with your configured urgent care instructions.
⚙️ How to Set Up Urgent Care Instructions
Go to Heron Dashboard → Settings → Custom FAQs.
Click Add Another to create a new entry.
In Full question patients might ask, enter urgent after-hours phrases, such as:
“I need urgent care”
“It’s after hours, what should I do?”
“Is there a doctor available now?”
In The response Heron should give, write your urgent care instructions. Example:
“Our clinic is currently closed. If you require urgent medical attention, please go to the nearest urgent care center or dial 111 immediately. Otherwise, please call back during business hours.”
Save your changes.
Repeat for as many variations as needed to cover different patient wording.
✅ Best Practices
Always include your country’s emergency number in urgent responses.
Keep wording simple and clear, especially for older patients.
Review urgent FAQs quarterly or whenever your after-hours process changes.
Train staff to double-check flagged after-hours inquiries when the clinic reopens.
👉 With after-hours urgent care handling in place, your patients always know what to do — and your clinic stays safe, compliant, and reassuring even when the doors are closed.