# Answer every new patient inquiry the same day, whatever the channel > Inquiries from every channel land in one list with one owner, a same-day reply and a real outcome before they close. Markdown view of https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks/new-patient-inquiry-routing — the HTML page is canonical. [](https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks) 1. [Playbooks](https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks) 2. [Messages & Calls](https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks#messages-and-calls) Inquiries from every channel land in one list with one owner, a same-day reply and a real outcome before they close. - Spruce - Weave - Hint Core - Saves about 5 min per inquiry (est.) Last checked Oct 27, 2026 against Tabflows v3.10.63 ## The situation A new patient inquiry is the easiest lead you will get: someone already interested, already asking. It is also easy to lose, because inquiries arrive by phone, website form, Spruce or a portal, walk-ins and referrals, and each channel is checked by a different person on a different schedule. Nobody has one view of who reached out this week and who got a reply. An inquiry does not need to be ignored to go cold. It only has to land in a channel nobody checked that day, and a reply three or four days later often reaches someone who already booked somewhere else. Reply within the same business day, ideally within a few hours: most people asking about a new provider are asking elsewhere too, and an inquiry that sits two or three days usually goes to whichever practice answers first. ## Steps 1. **Put every inquiry in one list** Whoever sees an inquiry, from voicemail, the website form, Spruce or the front counter, makes it a Task with a clinic Tag such as Intake. Save that tag as a filter so one view shows every inquiry, whichever channel it came through. 2. **Give first response one owner** In Assigned to, choose the one teammate who owns first response for every inquiry, usually front desk or office admin. They do not answer every clinical question themselves; they make sure every inquiry is touched the same day. 3. **Reply the same day, even briefly** Set Due on to today. A short note that says thanks and what happens next beats a perfect answer three days later, and for a Spruce message you can insert the Draft Assist reply marked AI DRAFT, then edit it and send it yourself. 4. **Flag the clinically complex ones** When an inquiry asks whether the practice can manage a specific condition or involves a complex history, @ mention the provider or nurse in Comments. They see it and can answer while first response stays with its owner. 5. **Close it on a real outcome** One reply followed by silence is not resolved. Set the status to Waiting while you wait to hear back, record booked, declined or not a fit in a comment, and only then set the Task to Done. ## The outcome Every inquiry, from any channel, sits in one list with one owner and a same-day response, and nothing counts as handled until it is booked, declined or found not to be a fit. Most clinics do not lose new patients because the practice is a poor fit. They lose them because nobody got back in time to find out. ## Ask Sidekick Sidekick is the AI assistant inside Tabflows. Hey Tabflows, create a task for this new patient inquiry with the person's name, how they reached us and what they asked, assigned to whoever handles enrollment and due today. ## In the Product Library - [Organize Tasks with clinic tags](https://www.tabflows.com/university/library/tasks/organize-tasks-with-clinic-tags) - [How do I save and reuse a task filter](https://www.tabflows.com/university/library/tasks/how-do-i-save-and-reuse-a-task-filter) - [Collaborate on tasks with comments and mentions](https://www.tabflows.com/university/library/tasks/collaborate-on-tasks-with-comments-and-mentions) - [How to update, complete, reopen, or delete tasks](https://www.tabflows.com/university/library/tasks/how-to-update-complete-reopen-or-delete-tasks) - [Using Spruce with Tabflows](https://www.tabflows.com/university/library/integrations/using-spruce-with-tabflows) - [Using Weave with Tabflows](https://www.tabflows.com/university/library/integrations/using-weave-with-tabflows) - [Using Hint Core with Tabflows](https://www.tabflows.com/university/library/integrations/using-hint-core-with-tabflows) [Read the full guide](https://www.tabflows.com/blog/new-patient-inquiry-routing-workflow) [Open it in the Automation catalog](https://www.tabflows.com/university/automations?automation=new-patient-inquiry-routing) ## Related markdown Section index: [Playbooks](https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks.md) Alongside this page: - [Advance directive tracking](https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks/advance-directive-tracking.md) - [After hours answering service](https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks/after-hours-answering-service.md) - [After hours message triage](https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks/after-hours-message-triage.md) - [Billing decline follow up](https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks/billing-decline-follow-up.md) - [Call follow up loop](https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks/call-follow-up-loop.md) - [Chronic care check ins](https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks/chronic-care-check-ins.md) - [Clia and compliance renewals](https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks/clia-and-compliance-renewals.md) - [Dea and license renewals](https://www.tabflows.com/university/playbooks/dea-and-license-renewals.md) Start here: - [Tabflows](https://www.tabflows.com/index.md) - [Tabflows pricing](https://www.tabflows.com/pricing.md) - [Tabflows FAQ](https://www.tabflows.com/faqs.md) - [About Tabflows](https://www.tabflows.com/about.md) - [Contact Tabflows](https://www.tabflows.com/contact.md) - [DPC workflow software](https://www.tabflows.com/dpc-workflow-software.md) - [Directory](https://www.tabflows.com/directory.md) - [Workflows](https://www.tabflows.com/workflows.md) - [DPC finder](https://www.tabflows.com/dpc-finder.md) Every page listed in sitemap.xml has a markdown twin at the same URL with `.md` appended, or by sending `Accept: text/markdown` to the canonical URL. Wider index: [llms.txt](https://www.tabflows.com/llms.txt), [llms-full.txt](https://www.tabflows.com/llms-full.txt), [sitemap.md](https://www.tabflows.com/sitemap.md), [sitemap.xml](https://www.tabflows.com/sitemap.xml). Support documentation: https://www.tabflows.com/university/library — append `.md` to any article URL for its raw markdown.