Introduction
Cliniko practice owners usually start with SMS for one reason: appointment reminders. But the DataFlows-Cliniko integration does a lot more than send a text before a booking. Once connected, it can confirm bookings, notify patients of cancellations and reschedules, fill last-minute gaps from a waitlist, chase overdue recalls, collect satisfaction scores, and even text a payment link for an unpaid invoice.
This guide walks through every feature of the integration in groups, so you can see the full picture before deciding what to turn on first. One thing worth stressing up front: this is a native integration. DataFlows connects directly to Cliniko's API using an API key. Cliniko does not have a Zapier app and does not support outbound webhooks, so there is no third-party automation tool sitting in the middle. DataFlows polls Cliniko directly for appointment, patient and invoice data.
What Is the DataFlows-Cliniko SMS Integration
The DataFlows-Cliniko SMS integration is a native connection between the DataFlows SMS platform and a Cliniko practice management account, set up with a Cliniko API key rather than Zapier or a webhook (Cliniko does not support either). DataFlows uses the key to poll Cliniko's appointment calendar, patient records, recall list and invoices, and turns that data into two-way SMS: reminders, booking confirmations, cancellation and reschedule notices, waitlist offers, follow-ups, recall messages, satisfaction surveys and invoice texts. Every message type can be switched on or off independently, every template is editable with merge tags such as {patient_name}, {date}, {time}, {practitioner} and {business}, and settings can be configured per business location for clinics with more than one site. Patient replies to reminders are read using keyword matching plus AI-assisted classification, so a clear "confirm" or "cancel" is handled automatically in Cliniko, while anything ambiguous is escalated to staff. The integration reads and respects each patient's Cliniko-recorded consent setting before it sends anything.
Why It Matters for Australian Businesses
Australian clinics run on tight appointment books, and a single no-show can mean an empty slot that never gets filled. Email reminders are easy to miss; SMS gets read within minutes on almost every phone in the country, which is why reminder and confirmation texts are now close to standard practice for allied health, dental, physiotherapy and medical clinics.
Because the integration talks to Cliniko's API directly, there is no dependency on a third-party automation platform being available, no webhook configuration to maintain, and no risk of a middle step failing silently. For a practice manager, that means the reminders, cancellations and recalls keep running in the background without anyone having to babysit an automation tool.
Compliance also matters. DataFlows is an ACMA-registered Originating Telco and is listed on the ACMA SMS Sender ID Register, and messaging is built around the Spam Act 2003. Marketing-style messages, such as recall reminders, include the required opt-out notice, and STOP/UNSUBSCRIBE replies are handled automatically platform-wide so an opted-out number is blocked from future sends.
Key Benefits
- Fewer no-shows: a
- No third-party middleman: t
- Two-way, not just outbound: p
- Built for multi-location practices: e
- Consent handled correctly: s
- Revenue features included: i
The Full Feature Set, Grouped
Reminders and instant appointment notices
Smart reminders pull straight from Cliniko's appointment calendar, and each clinic chooses how timing works: rolling (a fixed number of hours before each individual appointment, recalculated per booking) or fixed (sent once a day at a set clock time, such as 9am, covering everything due the next day, and self-healing if a run is ever missed). Clinics are not limited to one reminder — a second slot can be added, and more after that, each with its own timing and wording, such as a 48-hour reminder followed by a same-day one. Message wording can be overridden per appointment type (a Telehealth reminder can read differently to an in-person one), reminders can be filtered to specific appointment types only, and built-in duplicate-timing detection stops two reminders firing on top of each other.
Alongside the scheduled reminder, three instant notices cover the moments in between: a booking confirmation SMS the moment a new appointment is created in Cliniko, a cancellation notice sent immediately if an appointment is cancelled (useful since many clinics have not configured Cliniko's own native notification), and a reschedule notice with the new time as soon as Cliniko's reschedule tool is used — separate from, and faster than, waiting for the next scheduled reminder.
AI-assisted two-way replies
When a patient replies to a reminder, DataFlows reads the intent using fast keyword matching plus AI classification for free-text answers like "can't make it Tuesday." A clean confirm is written back to Cliniko automatically with no staff involvement. Anything that needs a human — a cancellation, a reschedule request, a low-confidence read, or a genuine question — is escalated to staff by email and/or SMS, with the patient's name included in the alert. Edge cases are handled sensibly: a reply to a booking-confirmation text gets a "we'll text you closer to the date" response instead of triggering a false staff alert, and a duplicate reply to something already resolved gets an acknowledgement rather than a second escalation. Every reply is logged with its detected intent, confidence score and the action taken. This is intent classification, not a chatbot — it does not draft or send free-text AI replies.
Waitlist, recall, follow-up and surveys
The waitlist feature lets staff add patients by appointment type, with an optional practitioner preference, cutoff date and notes. When a cancellation is detected, a capped batch of matching patients (three by default, configurable) is texted, longest-waiting first. The first patient to reply CLAIM gets the slot — the system is race-safe even if two people reply within the same second — and everyone else is told the slot has been taken. Staff still get an alert to finalise the booking manually in Cliniko, since the integration deliberately does not create the appointment on its own. Unclaimed offers expire on a configurable window, and staff are notified if that happens.
Recall automation polls Cliniko's own recall records — patients flagged as due for something like a six-month checkup — and sends a reminder a configurable number of days ahead, with the required opt-out notice since recall messages are treated as marketing under the Spam Act. Post-appointment follow-up SMS goes out a configurable delay after the appointment ends (a simple "how did your visit go?" style message), with an option to exclude patients who did not attend. A satisfaction survey (NPS) can follow automatically after an appointment, with a dashboard tracking responses over time, an optional prompt for high scorers to leave a public review, and the option to log survey activity back into Cliniko as a note.
Invoice SMS, campaigns and the patient inbox
When a new unpaid invoice is created in Cliniko, an invoice SMS can go out automatically, including a live payment link if the clinic's Cliniko plan supports online payments. For bulk messaging, the campaign builder filters Cliniko appointment data by date range and outcome — attended, no-shows, or everyone — with a fast preview and background sending so large lists don't hang the page. Recurring campaign schedules can generate a draft campaign automatically (daily or weekly, with a lead time in days — for example, every Monday for patients with appointments in the next 14 days), but every draft waits in a review queue for a human to approve. Nothing recurring ever sends unsupervised.
The patient inbox brings every SMS thread onto one screen, with the patient's name resolved automatically and a reply box so staff can jump into a conversation alongside the automation.
Patient data, consent and audit trail
Staff can search Cliniko's patient list live from inside DataFlows, or run a bulk import of every consented patient as a background job — built to handle clinics with 10,000 or more patient records — straight into a DataFlows contact group or a campaign. Every send respects the patient's Cliniko-recorded reminder/follow-up SMS consent setting (a separate field from the general marketing opt-in), with the option to log confirmations and consent back onto the Cliniko appointment as a timestamped note. A full two-sided audit trail — sent and replied — can be exported as a CSV for compliance records.
Multi-location and sender number setup
One DataFlows account connects to one Cliniko account covering multiple business locations, each with its own settings, sender number, reminder timing and message templates, so a rollout can happen branch by branch rather than all at once. Each clinic sends from either a registered alphanumeric Sender ID, which shows the clinic's name to patients but only works one-way, or a dedicated virtual number, which supports two-way messaging and is required for anything that needs a patient reply — reminder confirm/cancel, waitlist claims, and inbox conversations. Clinics that want click tracking on links inside reminders, such as a Telehealth video-call link, can switch on link shortening and click tracking per clinic without changing the account-wide default.
How DataFlows Helps
Setting up the integration starts with a Cliniko API key, generated from My Info > Manage API keys inside Cliniko. DataFlows reads the correct Cliniko region straight from that key, so there is no separate region setting to get wrong. From there, each feature group above — reminders, two-way replies, waitlist, recall, invoice SMS, campaigns — can be turned on independently and tuned to how the practice actually runs, rather than switching everything on at once.
Because the connection is native, there is nothing else to maintain: no Zapier scenario, no webhook endpoint, no separate automation subscription. DataFlows is pay-as-you-go, so clinics buy SMS credits and top up as needed rather than committing to a monthly or annual plan.
Best Practices
- Start with reminders and confirmations: g
- Use a dedicated virtual number: a
- Set per-appointment-type overrides: a
- Review recurring campaign drafts: s
- Keep consent data current in Cliniko: t
- Export the audit trail periodically: a
Conclusion
The DataFlows-Cliniko integration covers far more ground than a simple reminder text: booking confirmations, cancellation and reschedule notices, a race-safe waitlist, recall automation, follow-ups, satisfaction surveys, invoice SMS, and a full campaign builder, all reading from Cliniko natively without a third-party automation tool in the middle.
Sign up at dataflows.com.au to connect your Cliniko account and start with appointment reminders, or explore the deeper features — waitlist, recall, invoicing and campaigns — as your practice is ready for them.