Quest Physical Therapy books 300 appointments a month and fills weekend cancellations automatically
Quest Physical Therapy, an owner-led orthopedic practice in Issaquah, Washington on WebPT, added Penciled to automate its waitlist and open up online scheduling—filling Friday-afternoon cancellations before Monday morning, booking 300 appointments a month, and ending its search for a new EMR.
Overview
Quest Physical Therapy, an owner-led orthopedic practice in Issaquah, Washington on WebPT, brought in Penciled to automate the waitlist work that had been falling on two staff members squeezing calls into their day. Penciled now contacts waitlist patients the moment a cancellation appears—including on weekends—and books 300 appointments a month. The practice was considering switching EMRs before Penciled; now it isn't.
High-impact features
- Automatic waitlist outreach the moment a cancellation or opening appears in WebPT
- Around-the-clock coverage—cancellations get filled on weekends, while the office is closed
- Online self-scheduling for patients, without portals or phone tag
- A front desk freed from calling down the waitlist by hand
About the team
Quest Physical Therapy is a locally owned orthopedic practice serving Issaquah, Issaquah Highlands, and Sammamish, Washington. Founded in 2010 by Anthony Yengo—a physical therapist who has traveled internationally with USA Track & Field—and his wife Laura, the practice is built around one-on-one patient care delivered by a deeply credentialed team of therapists.
For Anthony, the operational problem before Penciled was simple to name: the schedule didn't fill itself.
"We were spending a lot of time calling patients to fill the schedule."
Core problem
Quest's strategy for recovering cancellations was the same one most practices rely on: people and phones. Two team members carved time out of already-busy days to work the waitlist whenever a patient cancelled.
"We had two individuals that would make time during their busy day to call patients on our wait list when patients cancelled."
The software wasn't helping. WebPT couldn't automate the waitlist, and the gap was serious enough that Quest was weighing a full EMR switch.
"Our EMR platform was not able to automate our wait list. We were considering switching EMRs—but Penciled allowed us to stay with our current medical records system."
Why they chose Penciled
What captured Anthony's attention from the first discovery meeting was the prospect of taking waitlist work off his staff's plate entirely.
"Penciled could automate our wait list and our staff could focus on other tasks."
And after the demo, the decision came down to a straightforward claim: Penciled would fill openings better than the team could by hand.
"Penciled was going to allow us to fill openings on our schedule better than we could."
Product
Penciled integrates directly with WebPT. When a cancellation or opening appears on the schedule, Penciled's AI automatically contacts patients on the waitlist over SMS, answers their questions in a natural back-and-forth, and books them straight into the slot—while patients can also schedule themselves online any time.
Through a front-office dashboard, the team can monitor cancellations as they're being filled in real time, see which patients were contacted and which accepted each slot, and read—or manually step into—any individual text conversation to override the AI when needed. Using generative AI-powered SMS, patients reply to the assistant and schedule appointments without any portals, logins, or extra steps.
The early days
The moment that answered Anthony's biggest question came in the first week—and it happened while the office was closed.
"My concern was: would this actually work? The first week, we had a couple of cancels at the end of the day on Friday, but Penciled was able to fill them before Monday morning."
Weekend coverage turned out to be the immediate, tangible win—outreach that no front desk can provide was now happening automatically.
"Penciled contacted patients on the weekend when patients cancelled."
The rollout wasn't frictionless everywhere. Some patients made mistakes when trying to cancel appointments through Penciled—an area the team managed operationally by training patients, and one where Quest continues to work with Penciled on fine-tuning.
Results
300 appointments booked every month
Penciled now books roughly 300 appointments per month for Quest—openings filled without staff working the phones.
"Using Penciled resulted in filling appointments at a much faster rate."
A front desk focused on higher-value work
The two staff members who used to carve out time to call the waitlist don't have to anymore.
"Penciled allowed us to focus on other tasks rather than trying to fill the schedule."
Patients scheduling themselves online
Online scheduling closed one of the two gaps that had Quest shopping for a new EMR.
"It is very helpful for patients to schedule online."
Worth the investment
Asked whether the money could have gone somewhere better, Anthony's answer was direct.
"We are getting good value for our money invested. So far so good—I would do it again."
Discussion
The reason to stay on WebPT
Before Penciled, Quest was actively considering an EMR switch. Penciled filled the exact gaps—online scheduling and the waitlist—that were driving that search.
"Now I am not looking to switch from WebPT. There were gaps Penciled was able to fill: online scheduling and working the wait list."
He'd even follow Penciled deeper into the stack: asked whether he'd consider transitioning if Penciled built its own EMR, Anthony said yes.
A partner that listens
For Anthony, the quality that matters most in an AI technology partner is how well it listens to the people actually using the product—and that's what he's found.
"Penciled has been very easy to work with. They are eager to please and willing to make changes in real time."
Where the industry is heading
Anthony sees scheduling as the first step in a much bigger automation story—documentation and billing are next.
"If we can fully automate our EMR and billing platforms, that would be a game changer. Documentation and billing can be cumbersome. The more we embrace AI, the more we can focus on patient care."
Advice for other practices
Anthony's advice for peers considering Penciled centers on taking the setup seriously—the payoff comes from doing the groundwork.
"Other practices should invest time into the preparation and implementation phases so that Penciled works as it is intended to."
And asked who Penciled is an ideal fit for, his answer was short: any organization using WebPT.
Conclusion
Quest Physical Therapy shows how an owner-led practice can stop spending staff time working the phones without switching EMRs. By layering Penciled on top of WebPT, Quest turned its manual waitlist into automatic outreach that runs nights and weekends, gave patients online scheduling, and books 300 appointments a month—ending the search for a new medical records system along the way.
"Penciled has helped us focus on what matters most: patient care. Instead of scrambling to fill openings when patients cancel, we have confidence knowing Penciled is proactively working to keep our schedule full. Their support has reduced administrative stress and allowed our team to spend more time caring for our patients."
