LINE OA for a clinic: appointments, reminders and what not to collect
Updated
Use LINE for booking, reminders and general questions. Keep diagnoses, test results and other medical details out of chat. Reminders you start count as messages, so a clinic with a few hundred appointments a month will likely need the Basic plan.
Written for: You manage a clinic in Thailand, patients already message you on LINE, and you want fewer no-shows without turning chat into a place where health records leak.
What LINE can do for a clinic
| Tool | Good use | Keep out |
|---|---|---|
| Rich menu | Book, location, opening hours, prices for common services | Anything about a condition |
| Keyword reply | Hours, parking, how to prepare for a visit | Answers about symptoms or results |
| Reminder message | Time, place, how to change | The reason for the visit |
| Chat tag | Appointment confirmed, new patient | Diagnoses or treatments |
| Verified badge | Shows the account is real. Health is a listed category and a clinic licence is one example document | Nothing sensitive goes on the profile |
A no medical details rule for staff
Chat is for logistics
Time, place, price, how to change an appointment, how to prepare.
Medical questions move to a call or a visit
Staff reply with a fixed line: "We will answer this by phone or at your visit. When suits you?"
Never ask patients to send results or photos in LINE
If they send one anyway, staff do not forward it and a manager decides what to do.
Write reminders without the reason
"Reminder: tomorrow 10:00 at [clinic]. Reply 1 to confirm or 2 to change." Nothing about the treatment.
Keep admin access small
Only people who need the chat have a login. Remove leavers on their last day.
Worked example: what reminders cost
15 appointments a day, 6 days a week, one reminder each
- Reminders in a month: 15 x 26 working days = 390 messages.
- Free includes 300 and allows no extras, so Free is out. Basic is 1,280 baht before VAT, 1,369.60 baht with 7% VAT.
- Cost per appointment: 1,280 / 390 = about 3.28 baht before VAT.
- Assumption for the arithmetic, not a LINE figure: if a missed slot costs the clinic 800 baht and reminders prevent 2 missed slots a month, that is 1,600 baht, more than the 1,369.60 baht plan.
- Replies when a patient answers your reminder are not counted, so "1 to confirm" costs nothing extra.
Do not rely on the AI chatbot
LINE's help page says accounts in the medical field may not be able to use AI Chatbot (Beta), even with a Chat Pro subscription. Keyword replies and rich menus are not affected on that page. For a clinic, stay with fixed keyword replies for logistics.
Before you write the consent line
LINE's privacy policy says business customers are the data controllers for the personal data they handle through LINE and that LINE acts as processor. That means the choices about what you collect are yours. Our PDPA checklist walks through a data list and a sample consent line. Have your lawyer approve any wording that touches health data.
Do this before you turn chat on
- Write the staff rule on one page and pin it where the chat phone is kept.
- Draft the reminder text without any reason for the visit, and have the clinic manager approve it.
- List who has a login and remove anyone who does not need it.
- Book a short call with a Thai lawyer about consent and health data. Bring our PDPA checklist and your data list.
Questions people ask
Can a clinic get the verified badge?
Health is a listed category on LINE's page, and a clinic licence is one of its example documents. The page names no extra health rules.
Can patients send test results over LINE?
We advise against asking for them. Health data is sensitive. Ask a Thai lawyer what the law requires for your case.
Can we use the AI chatbot?
LINE says medical accounts may not be able to use AI Chatbot (Beta). Use keyword replies.
Do reminders count against my quota?
Yes, a reminder you start counts per recipient. A patient's answer to it, and your reply, do not.
What to do next
Keep reading
- PDPA for your LINE followers: a one page checklist
A practical checklist for handling customer data you collect on LINE OA, with a sample consent line and what LINE says about who is responsible.
- The LINE verified badge: blue shield, green shield, cost and rules
What the LINE OA blue shield costs, who can get it, how long it takes, what it unlocks and how it differs from the green shield.
- LINE auto reply without AI: keywords, business hours and the double reply trap
Set up LINE OA auto replies with keywords and business hours, learn how they rank against the AI chatbot, and avoid replying twice.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Prices are before 7% VAT unless we say otherwise. LINE can change fees and screens at any time.