WhatsApp connection

What the connection is used for

• Receive patient messages into the clinic communication workflow.
• Create a lead and conversation when a new person writes for the first time.
• Recognize an existing patient and continue or reuse the relevant conversation context.
• Automatically reply to new incoming messages when clinic autonomy and channel rules allow it — including new messages in an older conversation.
• Use clinic and patient context instead of treating every message as a new anonymous chat.
• Support scheduling and routine administrative questions from the conversation.
• Import previous WhatsApp history as context without treating the import itself as a reason to send new messages.

Choose who Menaela is allowed to answer

WhatsApp connection and WhatsApp autonomy are separate decisions. Connecting an account does not mean Menaela has to answer every person who writes to it.

The WhatsApp automation modes are mutually exclusive: off, all inbound, or known patients only.

Before connecting a live number

• Providers and services are configured correctly.
• The clinic timezone and default language are correct.
• Patient Chat Test has been used for normal and awkward booking conversations.
• The clinic knows which medical, payer and referral questions should escalate.
• Message style instructions are set if the clinic has specific wording requirements.

Patient identity and context

A phone number is useful context, but identity should still be resolved according to the workflow before sensitive patient data is exposed or an existing appointment is changed.

The goal is continuity without treating every incoming number as unquestionable proof of identity.

Keep messaging channel-appropriate

WhatsApp replies should be concise and readable on a phone. Avoid desktop-style formatting or unnecessarily long explanations. Clinic instructions can tune the voice, but safety and configured clinic facts still take priority.