Key points
- In a US survey of 2,338 consumers, 40% of millennials chose providers that offer booking, changing or cancelling online, against 19% of baby boomers.1
- Eight in ten Canadians want online booking to stay after the pandemic, and 74% of US patients would use chat or text to check in before a visit.23
- A good booking page opens on the earliest time, shows every price and finishes in three taps with payment, confirmation and intake.
- The install is one line of code on the existing site, plus a WhatsApp link and a QR code for the front desk.6
- The booking widget should meet WCAG 2.2 AA, the current W3C standard published in October 2023.5
Summary
Build a booking page from the services and prices already on your website, connect your own Stripe account and paste one line of code into the site. Patients then see the earliest time first, book and pay in three taps, and receive a confirmation, a receipt and an intake questionnaire.
Patients book and pay on your own website through the evening and the weekend, and arrive with their intake already done. The site already lists your services and prices, so adding booking and payment needs no rebuild.
See it in your clinicThirty minutes on your own patients and doctors.
Request a demoPaste your website address and see your own services, prices and clinicians as a working booking page in demo mode.
| Step | What to check | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| Services and prices | Every bookable service has a name, duration, price and clinician | Nothing on the site says price on request |
| Booking page | Earliest time shows first and booking takes three taps | A colleague books on a phone without help |
| Payments | The clinic's own Stripe account is connected | A test booking appears in the clinic's Stripe account |
| Website install | The line of code sits on the services page and the homepage | The widget loads on mobile and desktop |
| Other doors | WhatsApp link in the chat profile, QR code at reception | A patient can book without visiting the website |
| Confirmation | Address, what to bring, cancellation terms and receipt are correct | The test patient knows exactly what happens next |
| Intake | The questionnaire asks only what the clinician needs | Forms arrive completed before the visit |
| Accessibility | Keyboard use, contrast and labels checked against WCAG 2.2 AA | A screen reader user can complete a booking |
What patients now expect
In a US survey of 2,338 consumers in late 2018, millennials were about twice as likely as baby boomers to choose a provider that lets them book, change or cancel appointments online, at 40% against 19%.1
In Canada, eight in ten people want online booking and scheduling, pharmacy services and telehealth to remain after the pandemic.2 In the US, 74% of patients said in 2020 that they would likely use online chat or texting to give check-in information before an appointment.3
In a 2020 Deloitte survey of 30 finance leaders at large US health systems, online scheduling was the top consumer capability they planned to build, cited by 70%.4 A private clinic can have it running first.
What a good booking page does
It opens on the earliest available time and shows the price beside every service.
It finishes in three taps, with service, time and payment on the same page. Each extra field or account screen is a place where a patient stops. See booking with payment on one page for how the two fit together.
It confirms in the clinic's name, with where to come, what to bring, the cancellation terms and the receipt, and one press to add it to a calendar.
The install, step by step
Start from the website you have. wai Checkout reads every published service with its price, the clinicians and the locations, and builds an editable booking page from them.6
Connect the clinic's own Stripe account, or create one. Card and Apple Pay payments land in the clinic's account and the clinic stays the merchant of record.6 There is no wai subscription or setup fee, and Stripe charges its published rate.
Add one line of code to the site. The same package includes a WhatsApp booking link and a QR code for the front desk, so patients book from a chat or the reception counter as easily as from the homepage.6
What happens after the patient pays
The patient receives a confirmation, a receipt and an intake questionnaire, and the booking appears in the clinic's calendar.6 The clinician starts the visit with the patient's history already in hand.
Every patient who books also gets a wai Profile with their appointments, forms, results and letters from the clinic.6 Returning patients are remembered, so the follow-up booking is quicker still.
Accessibility and privacy are part of the build
WCAG 2.2, published by W3C on 5 October 2023, is the current international standard for accessible web content and is approved as ISO/IEC 40500:2025.5 The booking widget should meet level AA.
The wai Checkout widget meets WCAG 2.2 AA, card details never touch wai's servers, and the booking stores the service booked, never the reason for the visit. A business associate agreement is signed before anything goes live.6
The bookings that start and do not finish
Some patients choose a time and stop before paying. wai Checkout posts a webhook when a booking is started, abandoned and paid, and without a system of your own the unfinished ones arrive at the foot of the booking email the same day.6 A call from the desk while the decision is fresh often completes the booking.
Where to start
Give every bookable service a name, a duration, a price and the clinicians who offer it on the website, because the booking page is built from it.
Then build the page, connect payments, paste the line of code and put the QR code on the front desk.
After four weeks, measure the share of bookings made online, the share made outside opening hours, the unfinished bookings recovered by a call and the intake forms completed before the visit.
Open the demo, or see the widget on a clinic's own website. Both run in demo mode and nothing is charged.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need a new website to add online booking?
No. The booking page is built from the services and prices already on the site, and one line of code adds it to the existing pages.6
Who receives the money?
The clinic. Payments run on Stripe in the clinic's own account and the clinic stays the merchant of record.6
What does it cost?
wai Checkout has no wai subscription or setup fee. Card payments run through the clinic's own Stripe account at Stripe's published rate. Other wai products are published on the pricing page.
Can patients book from WhatsApp or at reception?
Yes. The package includes a WhatsApp booking link and a QR code for the front desk.6
What happens if a patient starts a booking and leaves?
A webhook is posted when a booking is started, abandoned and paid, and without a system of your own the unfinished bookings arrive at the foot of the booking email the same day.6
Is the booking widget accessible?
Can we change a price after launch?
Yes. Every service, price, duration and clinician sits on one screen, and a change is live on the site straight away with no republishing.6
Sources
- 1Accenture, 2019Millennial and Gen Z Consumers Paving the Way for Non-Traditional Care Models, Accenture Study FindsRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 2Accenture, 2022All In for Transforming Canadian HealthcareRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 3Accenture, 2020Two-Thirds of U.S. Consumers Likely to Switch Healthcare Providers If COVID-19 is Poorly ManagedRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 4Deloitte, 2021Greater transparency and interoperability in health careRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 5W3C Web Accessibility InitiativeWCAG 2 OverviewRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 6wai, 2026wai Checkout, booking and payment for any clinicRead 14 October 2026Read source
Paid bookings arriving on your own website while the clinic is closed.
Paste your website, connect your Stripe and add one line of code. No wai subscription and no setup fee.
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