How does a WhatsApp chatbot work for clinics in Recife?
In Recife, patients write to clinics on WhatsApp, often after 6 pm. A chatbot on the clinic's own number answers when nobody on the team can: after hours and, during them, when nobody answers within 4 minutes. It answers from information the clinic approved (prices only those the clinic gave in writing), offers two times and sends reception a note, and reception confirms. It never diagnoses or gives health advice: that stays with the team, and in an emergency it tells the patient to call 192.
The number, the Meta account and the conversations stay the clinic's. Reception keeps answering as it does today; the assistant covers what arrives after hours and the questions that repeat all day.
The clinic keeps its practice software, and reception confirms the time in it. An existing patient writing after hours only gets a note that the message went to reception. Betterlane sets it up and keeps it running: checking how it answers, fixing what breaks and updating the answers when the clinic's information changes.
How it works here
Collect the clinic's answers
Hours, address, specialties, private consultation prices, accepted insurance plans and booking rules. The assistant only answers from that list.
Connect the clinic's WhatsApp
Through Meta's official Cloud API, on the clinic's number and the clinic's business account. Nothing sits in the builder's account.
Ask for a time
The assistant offers two times within each professional's hours and sends reception a note; reception confirms with the patient. Booking straight into the clinic's software depends on the software and is looked at case by case.
Hand over to reception
Pain, symptoms, test results, complaints or anything outside the list goes to reception with a one-line summary, and the patient gets a polite holding reply.
Check with the team
Before going live, the team tests it with real questions from the clinic. Afterwards any answer can be changed without touching the rest.
What we measured here
Our own test in Recife, Thursday 24 September 2026, 5 to 6 pm: one patient question over WhatsApp to eight clinics (four dental, four aesthetic). A small sample; no clinic is named.
- Four of eight answered, each in about five minutes
- At closing time, the clinics that used WhatsApp answered fast. That was before closing; after reception leaves, who answers?
- Four Google Maps numbers were not on WhatsApp
- Half of the numbers published on Google could not receive a WhatsApp message. A patient who tries there gets nowhere; the right number has to be on the website and the Google profile.
What it costs to run here
Meta charges per delivered message, and since July 2026 businesses in Brazil can be billed in reais. Messages patients send are free. The model that writes the replies is billed separately by its provider.
| Item | List price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Reply inside the 24-hour window (service message), patient in Brazil | US$0.0068 per delivered message from 1 Oct 2026, after the first 1,000 a month on each WhatsApp number, which are free | Meta for Developers, WhatsApp rate card in USD effective 1 Oct 2026 (Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform)Read on Oct 1, 2026 |
| Appointment reminder (utility message), patient in Brazil | US$0.0068 per delivered message | Meta for Developers, WhatsApp rate card in USD effective 1 Oct 2026 (Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform)Read on Oct 1, 2026 |
| Marketing message, patient in Brazil | US$0.0625 per delivered message | Meta for Developers, WhatsApp rate card in USD effective 1 Oct 2026 (Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform)Read on Oct 1, 2026 |
| Messages within 72 hours of a click-to-WhatsApp ad | Free (the free entry point window) | Meta for Developers, Upcoming pricing updates for Meta Business Agent, service and utility messagesRead on Sep 28, 2026 |
Third-party list prices, read on the date shown. They are not Betterlane prices.
When it is not worth it
- If reception already answers everything within minutes, including nights and weekends, the gain is small.
- If prices, insurance plans and booking rules change every week and nobody updates them, the assistant will repeat old information. Put the list in order first.
Questions
Does the assistant give health advice?
No. Any question about symptoms, pain, tests or treatment goes to the team with a summary. It answers only administrative questions the clinic approved.
What about Brazil's data protection law (LGPD)?
The LGPD treats health data as sensitive personal data. So the assistant does not ask for health information, and conversations stay in the clinic's own account.
Can it use the number the clinic already publishes?
In most cases yes, through Meta's Cloud API. We first check that the number can move without interrupting today's service.
What if our software or WhatsApp already answers patients?
We tell you on the first call. Some practice software and WhatsApp's own assistant already answer patients; where one of them is the better deal for the clinic, we set that up instead.
How long until it works?
Up to a week after we receive the WhatsApp access and the clinic's hours. The first version is free: if it does not do what was agreed in writing, the clinic pays nothing. The price to continue is given on the 20-minute call.
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Want to see how it would work on your Recife clinic's WhatsApp?
Try the fictional demoSee the service: WhatsApp assistantsLet’s talk