Ask for the accident date first, treat any caller inside the first 14 days as urgent, and offer the earliest slot you have. In Florida the 14 day rule decides whether personal injury protection pays at all, and a chiropractor can provide the initial care but cannot make the emergency medical condition finding. GoHighLevel can capture the date on the form, flag the deadline, and put the right task in front of staff. The bottom line: for a car accident caller the first reply is the most time sensitive message the clinic sends.
What Florida's rule requires
Under Florida Statute 627.736, as summarized by law and billing sources, a person injured in a motor vehicle accident must receive initial services and care within 14 days after the accident to qualify for PIP medical benefits, and the requirement applies regardless of who caused the crash. Florida requires $10,000 in PIP coverage, which pays 80 percent of medical expenses. Medical benefits are capped at $2,500 unless a qualified provider determines that the patient had an emergency medical condition. Sources agree that a chiropractic physician can provide qualifying initial care, but that a chiropractor cannot determine an emergency medical condition, which is done by a medical doctor, osteopath, dentist, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse. So a patient whose first visit is with a chiropractor may need a referral to a medical provider to reach the full $10,000.
Days since the accident decide the response
| Days since the accident | What the clinic does | Who acts |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 7 | Offer the first available slot, same day if possible, and ask whether the patient has seen a medical provider | Front desk, then doctor |
| 8 to 13 | Urgent: offer a slot within 24 hours, and say plainly that the 14 day window is closing | Front desk, doctor notified |
| 14 or more | Offer an evaluation, and explain that PIP eligibility is a question for the patient's insurer or attorney | Doctor |
| Any day, no medical provider seen | Ask whether a medical evaluation has been arranged for the emergency medical condition finding | Doctor or coordinator |
Other no fault states have their own deadlines and benefit limits, so the table is a Florida example. Replace it with your state's rule, and ask your counsel what the clinic may say about insurance and claims.
What the intake form should ask
Add a question to every new patient form: Were you in a car accident? If yes, ask for the accident date, the insurance company, and whether the patient has seen another provider since. Use conditional logic so the extra questions only appear when the answer is yes. Do not ask for details of the injury beyond what scheduling needs, and keep clinical questions for the doctor.
Build it in HighLevel
- Build the form with the accident question and conditional fields for the accident date, insurer, and prior provider.
- On submit, create an opportunity with the tag Auto accident and store the accident date in a date field.
- Use an If/Else to branch on how recent the accident is. Calculate the days since the accident in your system, or compare the date field against the current date if your account supports date comparison.
- For the urgent branch, assign the contact to the front desk lead, create a task due in 15 minutes, and send a text offering the earliest slots.
- Add a Custom Date Reminder set to 10 days after the accident date to create a task for any caller who has not booked.
- For callers past 14 days, send a message offering an evaluation and create a task for the doctor.
- Turn on Stop on Response so any reply goes to a person.
A message, written out
Sample: Hi Alex, this is [Clinic]. We received your request about the accident. We can see you today at 3:30 or tomorrow at 9:00. If you have not yet seen another medical provider, please tell us when we talk. Call us at [number] if you would like to book by phone. Reply STOP to stop messages. The text does not mention injuries or insurance coverage.
Worked example
A clinic that gets 20 accident inquiries a month, with 12 of them inside 14 days (60 percent), handles 12 urgent responses. If the 15 minute task means 9 of those 12 are booked within 24 hours instead of 6, the clinic books 3 more patients inside the window (9 minus 6). The percentages and counts are assumptions to replace with your own.
Limits
Do not give legal or claims advice, and do not tell a patient what their insurer will pay. Say what the clinic can do, which is evaluate and treat, and send questions about coverage to the insurer or an attorney. Texts still need consent and a registered number, and health information stays out of them.
When the caller asks about their claim
Callers will ask whether their insurance will pay, whether they need a lawyer, and how long they have. Give the same answer every time: the clinic can evaluate and treat, the clinic cannot give legal or claims advice, and the insurer or an attorney can answer coverage questions. Staff who improvise answers about benefits create risk, and a short script prevents it.
Callers who already have an attorney
Some accident patients arrive through an attorney's office. Ask for the attorney's name and record it on the opportunity, and handle any records request through your normal process, which requires the patient's written authorization under HIPAA. Do not send records or status by text, and do not discuss a case with anyone the patient has not authorized.
How this was handled before
A caller left a voicemail and the front desk returned it in the afternoon. Because the 14 day rule is date driven, a callback that is a day late can matter. A task due in minutes changes the order of the day.
What to measure
Track accident inquiries, time to first response, bookings inside 14 days, and callers past 14 days. The response time for the urgent branch is the number to push down.
Questions people ask
What is Florida's 14 day PIP rule?
Under Florida Statute 627.736, a person injured in a motor vehicle accident must receive initial services and care within 14 days to qualify for PIP medical benefits.
Can a chiropractor satisfy the 14 day rule?
A chiropractic physician can provide qualifying initial care, but cannot determine an emergency medical condition, which unlocks the full $10,000 instead of $2,500.
Does this apply outside Florida?
No. Other states have their own no fault or insurance rules, so check your state.
You can start a GoHighLevel account here and build the accident intake form, and see forms and tasks together in our capabilities demo.