An HR email, a phone call and a line manager's question
A local manufacturer pays your clinic to see its staff quickly when they have muscle or joint problems, hoping to reduce time off. HR emails a name and a phone number. Sometimes the employee rings you directly and says their company is paying. A line manager rings a week later to ask how the employee is doing and when they will be back on full duties.
Reception are not sure which employees are covered, how many sessions the contract includes, or what they are allowed to tell the line manager. Invoices at month end are built from the diary, and the employer queries names they do not recognise.
Why employer schemes get messy
Three parties are involved: the employer who pays, the employee who is the patient, and the clinic. Each has different information needs. The employer wants to know about attendance and work capability. The employee may want their treatment kept private. The clinic needs consent to share anything.
Employers also change their minds about what they want. At the start of a contract, HR may be happy with a monthly invoice. Six months in, the finance director asks for figures on how many staff used the service and whether it reduced absence. If nothing was recorded in a structured way, those figures have to be pieced together from the diary, and the clinic ends up defending the contract with anecdotes.
Contracts vary. One employer pays per session, another has a block of sessions per employee, a third covers only work-related injuries. These rules live in a contract document, not in the booking process, so reception apply them from memory.
What an informal scheme costs
| Gap | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Eligibility unclear | Sessions given to people not covered |
| Consent not recorded | Updates held back or shared without a clear basis |
| Contract rules unmanaged | Sessions beyond the agreement, unpaid |
| Updates ad hoc | Employers unhappy, contract at risk at renewal |
| Invoices from the diary | Queries and delays in payment |
How we organise an employer scheme
- Each employer gets a referral form for HR or managers, and a self-referral link for employees, both confirming eligibility against the staff list or a company code.
- The employee completes a consent form stating what the employer may be told, such as attendance and a general fitness-for-work statement, in wording your physios approve.
- Sessions are counted against the contract terms for that employer, with alerts before a limit.
- Updates to the employer are generated from a template limited to what the employee consented to, reviewed and sent by the physio.
- Monthly invoices are drafted in Xero or QuickBooks per employer, listing only the details you agree with them.
- Each employer can see a summary of referrals and attendance, with no clinical detail, if the contract includes it.
What is shared and what the physio says about work capability are professional judgements made with the employee's agreement. The system makes sure only consented information leaves the clinic.
What changes for everyone
HR refer through one route and get a confirmation. Employees know what their employer will and will not hear. Physios write updates quickly from a template, knowing the consent is in place. Invoices match the contract, so they are paid without queries. And at renewal, you have clear figures on usage to discuss.
Line managers get a clear route too. Instead of ringing reception and putting staff in an awkward position, they know updates come through HR in an agreed format. Reception can answer calls with a simple, consistent line about how updates work, and nobody has to decide on the spot what can be said.
Adding a new employer becomes routine: a contract record, a referral link and a consent template, set up once and reused.
Is your employer work like this?
- Employer referrals arrive by email or phone
- Reception are unsure which employees are covered
- Line managers ask for updates and nobody knows what can be said
- Contract session limits are not tracked
- Employer invoices are queried