70% of physio patients never finish their treatment plan.
We analysed patient databases across APAC physiotherapy practices. The pattern is universal: the vast majority of patients lapse before completing care, and almost none are being followed up. Here's the opportunity.
routiq.ai
Physiotherapy is one of the largest allied health professions in APAC.
Sources: AHPRA, IBISWorld, AIHW - routiq.ai/statistics
But patients are disappearing mid-treatment.
A typical physio care plan runs 6-12 sessions. Most patients feel some improvement by session 3-4 and stop coming. They're not cured. They're just past the acute pain. Without follow-up, they regress, re-injure, or find another provider.
Sources: WebPT, JOSPT Open - routiq.ai/statistics
Patient attrition is the single biggest drag on practice revenue.
43% of healthcare organisations lose more than 10% of revenue to poor retention. One in five loses more than 20%.
A single missed appointment increases disengagement likelihood by 70%. One no-show often means the patient never returns.
Sources: Bain & Company, Dialog Health, TrackStat - routiq.ai/statistics
We analysed patient databases across APAC physiotherapy practices.
Different sizes. Different models. Different markets. The same pattern emerged in both.
In the multi-location practice, only 2.5% of the patient base had been seen in the last 90 days. Nearly 40% hadn't visited in over 3 years. Another 43% were leads or initial contacts who never converted into active patients.
Multi-location practice, 27,000+ patients
The retention gap in physiotherapy
No system.
Most physio practices rely on patients rebooking themselves at reception. There is no automated, treatment-plan-aware recall system that follows up when patients drop off mid-care. The patients are reachable. The clinical need is there. The system isn't.
Four patient groups hiding in every physio database.
Analysis: Feb 2026 - routiq.ai
What does this mean in dollars?
Using Australian private physiotherapy benchmarks, we modelled conservative reengagement scenarios. Even modest reactivation rates deliver significant revenue uplift.
| Segment | Pool | Recoverable Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Care Plan Dropouts | ~3,800 | $190K - $380K |
| Long-Lapsed Patients | ~10,500 | $315K - $630K |
| No-Show Recovery | ~1,480 | $44K - $88K |
| Initial Contact Conversion | ~11,500 | $172K - $345K |
At 5-10% reengagement, a practice this size has a recoverable opportunity of $720K - $1.4M from patients already in the database.
Revenue modelled on AU private physio rates ($110 avg session, 6-session avg course = $660 patient value)
These aren't aspirational numbers. They're industry benchmarks.
Sources: JMIR, BMC Health, Klara/PMC, Dialog Health - routiq.ai/statistics
“Patients drop off. That's just how physio works. What can you actually do about it?”
It's not inevitable. Patients don't drop off because they've decided they're done. They drop off because they feel a bit better, get busy, and nobody follows up at the right moment with the right message.
Behavioral science applied to patient retention.
Routiq's messaging engine is built on 82 proven cognitive principles from Nobel Prize-winning research in behavioral economics and psychology.
Applied to physiotherapy, these frameworks address the specific psychological reasons patients drop out: they feel better (not the same as being better), the next session feels optional, and rebooking requires effort.
From: Kahneman, Thaler, Cialdini, Fogg, Clear, Heath, and more.
Commitment & Consistency: People want to finish what they started.
The same patient. The same situation. Completely different outcomes.
Long-Lapsed Patients
Loss Aversion + Backcasting
References their specific history. Reframes follow-up as prevention, not treatment. Shrinks the ask to 15 minutes.
No-Show Recovery
Pratfall Effect + Make It Easy
Zero guilt. Treatment plan is still “held open” (status quo). One-word reply to rebook. Named practitioner for continuity.
Every campaign follows a 3-touch behavioral sequence.
Commitment & Progress
“You've completed 4 of 8 sessions and made real progress...”
Remind them of investment and gains
Default Effect
“Your physio has a session ready for you on Thursday. Reply YES to lock it in.”
Remove friction, make YES easy
Loss Aversion
“Without the remaining sessions, the progress you've made may not hold long-term.”
Risk of losing what they've gained
Three messages. Three psychological mechanisms. Personalised with their treatment history, practitioner name, and care plan progress.
Three layers no one else has.
Clinical Intelligence
Integrates with your PMS. Knows each patient's treatment plan, how many sessions they've completed, who their practitioner is, what they were treated for, and how long they've been away.
Behavioral Science
82 proven principles from Nobel Prize-winning research. Commitment & consistency for care plan dropouts. Loss aversion for lapsed patients. Zero-guilt framing for no-shows. Applied automatically.
Automation at Scale
Monitors every patient, every treatment plan, every location. Sends from your clinic's own number. AI-powered replies. Works 24/7 across all practitioners. Zero admin hours.
Why not your front desk, your PMS, or a marketing agency?
| Capability | Front Desk / PMS / Agency | Routiq |
|---|---|---|
| Knows James completed 4 of 8 sessions for his shoulder | No - sees “last visit 6 weeks ago” | Yes - treatment plan tracking |
| Follows up the day a patient misses a scheduled session | Maybe - if reception remembers | Yes - automated same-day follow-up |
| Applies behavioral science to each patient segment | No | Yes - segment-specific frameworks |
| Sends from the clinic's own number | Usually no (agencies) | Yes - white-label |
| Handles patient replies with clinical context | During business hours only | Instant, AI-powered, 24/7 |
| Scales across multiple practitioners and locations | Manual / expensive | Yes - automatically |
| Identifies at-risk patients before they lapse | No | Yes - predictive flagging |
Retention compounds. Attrition compounds too.
Every patient who completes their care plan is more likely to return for future injuries, refer friends and family, and become a lifetime patient. Every one who drops off is a lifetime loss.
A 5% improvement in retention delivers a 25-95% increase in profit.
Example: 5-practitioner clinic, $110/session
Cumulative recovered revenue from care plan completions + reactivated patients
What does this look like for your clinic?
| Your patient database | Estimated lapsed (~85%) | Conservative (5%) | Moderate (10%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 patients | 850 | $28K | $56K |
| 3,000 patients | 2,550 | $84K | $168K |
| 10,000 patients | 8,500 | $280K | $561K |
| 25,000 patients | 21,250 | $701K | $1.4M |
Based on average course value of $660 (6 sessions at $110). Industry benchmarks show 15-25% reengagement is achievable with targeted recall campaigns. Even 5% delivers meaningful returns.
With Routiq vs. without.
Without Routiq
- 70% of patients drop off before completing care
- No follow-up when patients miss sessions
- Thousands of lapsed patients sitting idle
- Revenue dependent on new patient acquisition
- No system for care plan adherence
- Front desk too busy to chase dropouts
With Routiq
- Every dropout followed up automatically
- Behavioral science campaigns running daily
- Care plan completion rates improving
- Revenue growth from existing patient base
- Treatment-plan-aware recall system
- Zero admin overhead, 24/7 operation
Your patients didn't quit because they were unhappy with your care.
They quit because they started feeling better and nobody reminded them they weren't done yet.
They're still in your database. They still trust you. They just need the right nudge at the right moment.
How many patients are you losing to silence?
routiq.ai
routiq.
Clinical Intelligence Meets Behavioral Science
routiq.ai
Sources
AHPRA Annual Report 2024 · IBISWorld · AIHW
WebPT · JOSPT Open · Bain & Company / HBR
JMIR · BMC Health Services Research · Dialog Health
Klara / PMC · TrackStat · Etactics
routiq.ai/statistics
Data from APAC physiotherapy practices. All identifying details anonymised. Analysis: February 2026.