No-show rates at Dakar physiotherapy practices sit at 22-28% without a deposit. Twenty minutes of tray prep, a room blocked, a clinician available — and the patient doesn't come. For a practice running 4 sessions/hour, two no-shows a day adds up to 160,000 to 240,000 FCFA in lost revenue per week.
TL;DR
- A 5,000 FCFA Wave/OM deposit (refundable if cancelled > 24h) cuts no-shows by three.
- A physio website doesn't need 10 pages — 5 are enough (home, team, conditions, practical info, booking).
- Integrating the physio calendar + the clinician's Google Calendar = zero double-booking, zero phone-juggling during sessions.
The invisible bottleneck: the receptionist on the phone
An independent physio in Dakar fields 50-80 calls per week for bookings/changes. At 2-3 minutes per call, that's 2 to 4 hours of the receptionist's day on the phone. That person no longer processes CMU invoices, follow-ups, or referring-physician transfers.
A typical patient: Mr Diouf, 52, Ouakam, prescribed 10 post-rotator-cuff-surgery sessions. He needs to fit 10 slots into 4 weeks. By phone that's 12 minutes of manual scheduling. Online, he picks all 10 slots compatible with his calendar, pays a 5,000 FCFA deposit per session (refunded at end if all honoured), gets the 10 SMS reminders automatically.
What belongs on the site
Team page with credentials
Many Dakar residents conflate a state-certified physio with a "masseur". Highlight: state diploma (ISSK Dakar, or French IFMK), specialisations (sports, neuro, respiratory, paediatric, post-op), membership of the Senegalese National Council of Physiotherapists.
List of conditions / acts treated
- Post-op orthopaedic rehab (knee/hip replacement, fracture)
- Neurological rehab (stroke, Parkinson's)
- Respiratory rehab (bronchiolitis, post-COVID, COPD)
- Pelvic-floor rehab (postpartum, incontinence)
- Sports rehab (sprain, tendinopathy, return to sport)
- Lymphatic drainage (post-surgery oedema, heavy legs)
Each condition gets a dedicated page with typical prescription, number of sessions, average duration, CMU/IPM coverage.
Booking module
The patient picks: clinician (if group practice), reason (first session vs follow-up), duration (30 or 45 min), date/slot. Direct deposit payment. SMS + email confirmation with address + Google Maps route.
Patient area
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Downloadable invoices, CMU receipts, secure messaging for between-session questions. This empties the physio's pro WhatsApp in the evening.
What Kolonell delivers for a physiotherapy practice
Paramedical Starter Pack: 5-page site + custom booking module with reason/duration/clinician logic, Wave + OM integration, D-1 SMS reminders, secure patient area, Google Business optimisation, Law 2008-12 health data compliance.
Delivered in 4 to 5 weeks, 680,000 to 980,000 FCFA depending on number of clinicians. Maintenance 30,000 FCFA/month. Pays back in 2-3 months on the no-show drop alone.
"Last year I lost 3 patients who told me they'd moved to a competitor simply because she had a website with booking. Now I get 4-5 per month coming from Almadies, Ngor, Mermoz, purely through Google Maps and the site."
— Private-practice physio, Point E Dakar
FAQ
Is online payment for medical acts allowed?
Yes — the booking deposit counts as a commitment payment, not payment for the medical act itself. The treatment payment happens in the practice, on the standard CMU/IPM care book.
Which scheduling software on the practice side?
We integrate with Doctolib Pro (expat), Agilys, Kinékare, or plain Google Calendar for smaller setups. FEC export for your accountant.
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You're a physiotherapist in Dakar and your calendar is chaos?
Ask for a free audit: kolonell.com/en/devis-gratuit — WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Ba
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
