They didn't say anything was wrong. They just stopped booking.
Between 40% and 70% of physiotherapy patients drop out before finishing their treatment plan. Most leave without a word. Spokk gives them a frictionless, anonymous channel to tell you what's actually going on after each session — so you can catch the at-risk patient before they're gone, not after they've left a public review.
No credit card required · Per-therapist analytics · Service recovery included
of physiotherapy patients drop out before completing their plan — most without saying why
sourceof dissatisfied patients never complain to the business — they simply leave and, sometimes, tell others
sourceof patients report adhering to their prescribed exercise program — meaning the majority are at partial or full non-adherence
sourceThe physiotherapy silent dropout. And why it's your biggest retention problem.
A patient starts a 10-session treatment plan. Sessions 1 and 2 go well. By session 3, they're feeling better — maybe 60% improvement. The exercises feel a bit tedious. They didn't quite understand the new ones the therapist explained. They feel a bit awkward raising it. They say nothing.
They miss session 4. Then session 5. A month passes and they never book again. You don't know they were slightly dissatisfied. You don't know the home exercises felt confusing after session 3. You just notice a gap in the schedule.
The only way to catch this is a feedback channel that's anonymous enough for patients to be honest, low-friction enough that they actually use it, and timely enough that you can act before they're gone. That's exactly what Spokk's post-session SMS feedback provides.
Patient feels mildly dissatisfied — exercises unclear, not seeing progress, or felt slightly rushed. Says nothing in the room. Misses the next session. Never books again.
Feedback SMS after session 3 shows 3 stars with the comment "exercises felt a bit unclear." Physio adjusts the explanation at session 4. Patient completes the plan.
Patient improves 70%, thinks they're fine, stops coming. Re-injures 4 months later. Goes to a different clinic because they feel awkward about the gap.
Re-engagement message at 14 days checks in warmly. Patient books a maintenance session. Relationship maintained and injury risk discussed.
Patient felt their concern wasn't fully listened to. Said nothing, gave 5 stars at checkout out of politeness. Left a 2-star Google review a month later.
Post-session feedback captures the real 2-star signal privately. Practice follows up before the next session. Issue resolved. No public review.
Patient completes treatment, gets a great result, but never leaves a review. Three months later, the positive experience is too vague to write about.
AI-drafted review request goes out 3 days after the final session, when satisfaction is at its peak and the memory is specific. Review posted.
Two form types, one patient link
Different patient populations respond differently. Spokk gives you two feedback form types so you can match the format to your patients and your practice style.
Classic Form
A structured survey format with star rating at the top, followed by optional custom questions and a free-text comment field. Familiar, quick, and works for every age group.
Chat Form
More responsesA conversational interface that feels like a text exchange rather than a survey. Questions are presented one at a time in a chat bubble format. Tends to generate longer, more detailed responses because patients feel less like they're filling in a form.
Both form types deliver the same data to your dashboard — star ratings, per-therapist attribution, custom question responses, and written comments. The choice is entirely about what format gets you the most honest responses from your specific patient base. You can change it anytime.
What Spokk captures after each physiotherapy session
Out of the box, your feedback form captures the essentials. You extend it with custom questions that match the specific clinical questions your practice wants to track.
Standard and custom feedback attributes
1–5 star rating. The minimum signal that tells you immediately if something went wrong at any individual session.
Optional but clinically high-value. Patients who write something are usually flagging an issue they won't raise out loud. Even a short comment often reveals the real driver.
Each session's feedback is attributed to the treating physio. Per-therapist data builds up over time into a performance picture that is genuinely useful for coaching.
"Did today's exercises make sense?" — one of the most predictive questions for dropout in physiotherapy. Patients who consistently say no are at high dropout risk. Add as yes/no or a 1–5 scale.
"Did you notice improvement from your last session?" — tracks whether the patient feels the treatment is working, independent of clinical measures. Declining perceived progress is an early dropout flag.
"Did you feel your concerns were fully listened to today?" — a simple question that predicts both satisfaction and complaint escalation. Patients who don't feel heard leave, or they post publicly.
Add anything specific to your practice: wait time, parking, intake process, cleanliness, or clinical-specific follow-up questions. Up to 5 custom questions per form.
What physiotherapy practices actually discover
When you put a real feedback channel in place — one that's anonymous, easy, and delivered by SMS — you start hearing things that never surface in the room. Here are the kinds of findings that come back, and what they lead to.
Exercise explanation is the #1 driver of session satisfaction
Across physiotherapy practices using Spokk, the most common theme in written comments relates to home exercise clarity. Patients who fully understood their exercises rate sessions higher and return at a significantly higher rate. Practices that track this with a custom question almost always discover at least one therapist whose explanation scores lag behind the team average — often without that therapist being aware of it.
Coaching conversation with the therapist. Adjusted explanation approach. Measurable improvement in that therapist's satisfaction scores over the following 8 weeks.
Satisfaction reliably dips around session 3–4
Many physiotherapy practices notice the same pattern: average session ratings are highest in sessions 1 and 2 (when the patient feels initial progress), dip at sessions 3–5 (when improvement plateaus and exercises feel repetitive), then recover if the patient reaches sessions 7–10. Knowing this lets you build a specific check-in or re-engagement message at the session 3–4 mark.
A targeted automation step at session 3 that acknowledges the plateau and reframes progress expectations. Measurable improvement in completion rates.
One therapist has significantly lower satisfaction scores than the rest of the team
This is uncomfortable to discover, but it's important. Without per-therapist feedback data, this pattern is invisible. The patients are giving lower ratings, but no one is connecting the dots. When the data shows clearly that one therapist's average satisfaction score is consistently 3.6 while the team average is 4.5, a targeted conversation becomes possible.
Structured coaching conversations with specific, data-backed observations. Most therapists respond well to feedback when it's specific and private.
Several patients feel their concerns aren't being fully heard
The "felt heard" custom question often surfaces a pattern that's separate from clinical outcomes. Patients can be improving physically but still feeling dismissed or rushed. This is particularly common during busy periods or when a therapist is running behind schedule. It's also one of the most reliable predictors of a future public complaint.
Practice-wide communication workshop. Specific time allocation adjustments for initial assessments. Reduction in low-rating feedback within 4 weeks.
Your best therapist is generating disproportionate referrals
When feedback data is connected to referral data, patterns emerge. The therapists with the highest satisfaction scores are often the same ones whose patients refer most frequently. This isn't surprising — but seeing it in numbers is motivating for the high performer and clarifying for the team about what good looks like.
Recognition for the high performer. Clear, evidence-based examples used in onboarding new therapists.
What happens when feedback is negative
The whole point of collecting feedback privately is to give you a chance to act before the patient either disappears or takes their frustration somewhere public. Here's how the service recovery flow works.
Patient submits a low-rating response
The patient taps their Spokk feedback link and gives a 1, 2, or 3-star rating. They may or may not leave a written comment. The rating threshold that triggers the service recovery flow is configurable — some practices set it at 3 stars or below, others at 2 stars or below.
Patient is thanked privately — no public review prompt
The patient sees a thank-you screen that acknowledges their feedback and lets them know the practice takes it seriously. There is no prompt to leave a Google review. The patient feels heard, not redirected.
You receive a real-time alert in your dashboard
The low-rating feedback appears immediately in your Spokk dashboard with the rating, the written comment (if any), the patient name, the treating therapist, and the session date. You have everything you need to follow up with context.
You follow up before the next session
You have a window of opportunity before the patient's next appointment. A brief, personal message — "Hi [name], I saw your feedback and wanted to check in directly. Would you like to talk through your session?" — can change the outcome completely. Practices that respond to low-rating feedback within 24 hours retain those patients at a significantly higher rate than those who don't.
Why this matters for physiotherapy specifically: A patient who is dissatisfied with a single session but stays in the practice is still recoverable. A patient who drops out without saying anything is almost never recoverable — and occasionally posts publicly weeks or months later about an experience you didn't know was a problem. The service recovery window exists only if you capture the signal.
Feedback doesn't sit in a dashboard. It drives everything else.
Patient feedback is the input that shapes the rest of the Spokk automation sequence. What a patient says after a session determines what they receive next — and what you see in your practice data.
Patients who leave high ratings are sent an AI-drafted Google review request. The draft is generated from their feedback comment so it feels personal, not templated. Patients are more likely to post a review that has already been written for them and sounds like something they would actually say.
Low-rating patients are thanked privately and receive no public review prompt. You receive a real-time dashboard alert with the rating, comment, therapist, and session details so you can follow up before the next session.
Every feedback submission is attributed to the treating therapist. Over time, you build a per-therapist satisfaction profile — average rating, trend line, volume of written comments, most common themes. This data is used in the staff performance module.
Patients who complete a treatment plan and leave high satisfaction scores are the strongest candidates for a referral request. Spokk can be configured to send the referral SMS only to patients above a satisfaction threshold — ensuring your referral program only activates your genuinely happy patients.
Patients who rate their overall experience highly and leave a detailed written comment are ideal testimonial candidates. Spokk can route a video or text testimonial request to these patients automatically, turning a positive feedback moment into a piece of permanent marketing content.
Frequently asked questions
How does Spokk collect patient feedback for physiotherapy clinics?+
What makes physiotherapy feedback different from other healthcare feedback?+
What form types does Spokk offer for physiotherapy feedback?+
Can I add custom questions to the physiotherapy feedback form?+
Can feedback be tracked per physiotherapist?+
What happens when a patient gives a low rating?+
How does feedback connect to Google review requests?+
Will patients be asked for feedback after every single session?+
Can I track feedback trends over time for my clinic?+
How does feedback connect to the dropout problem in physiotherapy?+
Does Spokk feedback integrate with the SMS automation sequence?+
Can feedback data be used for staff training or recognition?+
More for physiotherapy practices
Spokk for Physiotherapy Clinics
The full platform overview.
Google Reviews
AI-generated review drafts from patient feedback.
SMS Automation
The full post-session sequence — feedback, review, referral.
Loyalty Program
Reward patients for completing treatment and returning.
Therapist Performance
Per-physio satisfaction and review data.
Patient Testimonials
Video and text testimonials via SMS.
Starter
For solo operators & small teams
Billed $588/year
250 customers / month
Unlimited SMS included
- 250 customers / month
- 1 manager + 1 staff member
- Unlimited locations
- Dedicated toll-free SMS number (US & Canada)
- Full automation sequence
- AI review response drafts
- Loyalty & referral programs
- Feedback forms & QR codes
- HubSpot integration & API access
- Buy additional customer top-ups
Growth
For growing businesses & teams
Billed $984/year
500 customers / month
Unlimited SMS included
- 500 customers / month
- 2 managers + 2 staff members
- Unlimited locations
- Dedicated toll-free SMS number (US & Canada)
- Full automation sequence
- AI review response drafts
- Loyalty & referral programs
- Feedback forms & QR codes
- HubSpot integration & API access
- Buy additional customer top-ups
Pro
For high-volume businesses
Billed $1992/year
1,500 customers / month
Unlimited SMS included
- 1,500 customers / month
- 3 managers + 5 staff members
- Unlimited locations
- Dedicated toll-free SMS number (US & Canada)
- Full automation sequence
- AI review response drafts
- Loyalty & referral programs
- Feedback forms & QR codes
- HubSpot integration & API access
- Buy additional customer top-ups
All plans include a 14-day free trial. No charge until your trial ends. Questions?