Treatment time runs on a clock, staff planning rarely does
Individual therapy, group therapy, manual therapy, lymphatic drainage, equipment training and home visits: the daily plan reflects the 20-minute rhythm and shows who is with a patient and who is at reception.
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- Treatment units of 20 minutes as the default
- Home visits and equipment cleaning are part of the plan
- Hour balance per therapist right in the sheet
In shortPhysiotherapy practices have to record all working time, not only the treatment units billed (section 3(2) no. 1 ArbSchG, Federal Labour Court, 13 September 2022). Documentation, preparation and follow-up count too. In the Professional plan, MetronHR maps the therapy day in 20-minute slots and records working time separately in the app, the browser or at the terminal.
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What sits above time tracking in a physiotherapy practice
Here a second clock runs alongside working time: the deadline by which a prescription has to be started. Miss it and it lapses, and the treatment cannot be billed.
- Typical size
- 4 to 12 employees
- Price for 8 people
- 40 euros on Team, 80 euros on Professional
- Matching template
- Duty roster for the month, free of charge
- Start of treatment
- within 28 days, urgent 14, discharge 7
Deadlines from the Remedies Directive
For a regular prescription, treatment must begin within 28 calendar days of issue. If an urgent need for treatment is noted it is 14 days, and for prescriptions from discharge management 7 days.
Under section 187 (1) BGB the deadline starts on the day after issue. For a business this is a planning question: an appointment two days too late costs not just the appointment but the whole prescription. The plan therefore has to know the deadlines, not just the free slots.
Therapy time and working time are two quantities
Scheduled treatment time is the service that gets billed. Working time additionally covers documentation, preparation and follow-up, coordination and travel time for house calls.
Anyone who only counts the slots records too little working time and creates a problem for the next inspection. MetronHR records working time to the minute and maps the rhythm alongside it as an activity in the daily plan.
House calls are working time, including the journey
Travel time between two work locations during work counts as working time and towards maximum working time and the duty to take breaks.
With house calls this creates days that look short on paper and actually run past eight hours. Anyone clocking in with the app on the move has the times where they arise instead of reconstructing them from memory in the evening.
Deadlines for starting treatment
| Type of prescription | Start at the latest | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| regular prescription | 28 calendar days after issue | Remedies Directive |
| urgent need for treatment noted | 14 calendar days | Remedies Directive |
| from discharge management | 7 calendar days | Remedies Directive |
The deadlines have applied since the 2021 reform of the Remedies Directive and were checked on 4 September 2026. Under section 187 (1) BGB the day of issue does not count. The applicable version of the directive and the framework agreements is authoritative.
regular prescription
- Start at the latest
- 28 calendar days after issue
- Where it comes from
- Remedies Directive
urgent need for treatment noted
- Start at the latest
- 14 calendar days
- Where it comes from
- Remedies Directive
from discharge management
- Start at the latest
- 7 calendar days
- Where it comes from
- Remedies Directive
The deadlines have applied since the 2021 reform of the Remedies Directive and were checked on 4 September 2026. Under section 187 (1) BGB the day of issue does not count. The applicable version of the directive and the framework agreements is authoritative.
Further reading: Remedies Directive of the Federal Joint Committee (start of treatment) · Section 187 (1) BGB (start of a deadline) · Sections 3 and 4 of the Working Time Act (maximum working time, breaks)
As at: September 2026. This is not legal advice; for a specific case in your business it is better to ask someone with a licence to practise.
The appointment book is full, the staff plan is empty
Treatment appointments are fixed. Who covers reception, cleans the equipment and checks the prescriptions works itself out during the day.
- Problem
Non-treatment time is invisible
Documentation, prescription checks and equipment cleaning take time, but appear in no plan and therefore in no hour calculation.
- Problem
Home visits break up the day
Travel time and treatment away from the practice fall outside the practice rhythm, yet show up in the weekly plan as an ordinary working day.
- Problem
Part-time work makes the hours question hard
Many practices work with different part-time models. Whether someone reaches their hours only becomes clear after the fact.
The therapy day on a single sheet
The physiotherapy template comes with the groups physiotherapists, masseurs, trainees and reception, plus fourteen activities from individual therapy through lymphatic drainage and equipment training to prescription checks and equipment cleaning. Grid interval 20 minutes.
Documentation and cleaning are planned time tooWhatever is in the plan counts towards planned time and towards the comparison with the target.
This is how the therapy day comes together
Three steps, and the sheet is valid.
Load the template for the therapy practice
Qualification groups, fourteen activities with colour and abbreviation, the 20-minute rhythm and a staffing rule for reception are preset.
Whatever does not fit you change yourself, without a consulting appointment
Template for the therapy practice Ready for the industry
The groups, time grid and rules of a practice are already there. You only change what differs for you.
Activities with short codes
Every activity has a short code for the plan and is marked billable or internal.
Template for the practiceGroups, activities, grid, rulesGroupsDoctors, medical assistants, trainees, reception, labGrid30 minutes, 08:00 to 19:30RulesDoctors require a medical assistant, reception at least 1Consultation hoursCON · Doctors, medical assistantsbillableBlood testsBT · Medical assistantsbillableReceptionREC · ReceptioninternalPlace treatment blocks
Drag a time span in the therapist's column and pick an activity. Home visits get their own block, so travel and treatment do not disappear into practice time.
The day is planned the way it actually runs
Treatment block in the 20-minute grid Day in activitiesAylin Demir · ThursdayThat day9:00hBillable6:00hConsultation hoursbillable4:45hDocumentation1:30hMaintenancebillable1:15hHandover0:45hBreak0:45hPublish and share
The released plan is available on the web, in the app and as a PDF. Anyone who has to hand over a block offers it for pickup, and management approves.
Absences are reassigned in an orderly way instead of by phone calls
Published day plan Day plan for Friday, 6 NovemberPublished on Thursday, 17:020810121416
Dr. LindnerSPRSPRSPR
Sophie B.ANMANMTEL
Lena H.BELABDOKReminder sent to all three the evening before.
Features for therapy practices
From the treatment unit to the hours account.
- Planning
20-minute rhythm
The grid follows the usual treatment unit.
Selectable from 5 to 60 minutes per grid cell.
- Planning
Home visit as its own block
Time away from the practice is visibly planned.
Can also be recorded on the move via the app.
- Time
Part-time calculated cleanly
Every employee has their own working-time model.
The daily target follows from it, and the difference is shown in the plan.
- Team
Reception staffed throughout
The rule checks the full opening hours, not just the morning.
Gaps are flagged before publishing.
- Apps
Therapy plan on the phone
Your own day is available, even on the way to a home visit.
For iOS and Android, including handing over a block.
- Reports
Analysis by type of therapy
How much time went into manual therapy, how much into massage?
Each row of the export gives date, person, type of therapy and duration.
- Documents
Certificates in the personnel file
Proof of further training sits with the personnel data.
Including a reminder before a certification expires.
- Security
Long therapy days under control
Maximum working time and rest periods are checked when assigning.
Data encrypted in German data centres.
For management, therapy and reception
Every role asks the plan a different question.
- Practice management
Treatment time and ancillary time in proportion
- How much staff time actually reaches the patient cannot be quantified.
- The plan separates therapy, reception, documentation and cleaning into their own blocks.
- Therapists
Your own day is set the evening before
- The sequence emerges in the morning from the appointment book and from people calling out.
- Your own blocks with time and type of therapy, available in the app.
- Reception
Answers without asking back
- Only management knows who is covering an absence today.
- The published plan is readable for everyone and always up to date.
- Billing
Hours without retyping
- Part-time hours and home visits are collected at the end of the month.
- Export with hours as a number, separated by activity and person.
Secure, traceable, in Germany
A practice's personnel data is closely protected.
- Server location Germany, processing under the GDPR
- Hours and reasons for absence only for authorised roles
- Who changed what in the plan and when stays on record
- Transmission and storage encrypted end to end
What else the daily plan can do
Staffing rules, day patterns, hour calculation, PDF printing and Excel export explained on one page.
Related
Where to go from here, and what waits for you there.
Frequently asked questions from therapy practices
Answered briefly.
Question not answered here? Every step is explained in the help centre.
Send us a messageWhy is there no pairing rule like in a doctor's practice?
Because therapists work with patients on their own. Blindly carrying a rule like „treatment requires an assistant“ over from another template would be consistency misunderstood. The template therefore contains only the rule for reception; you can add your own rules at any time.
Do home visits get their own time?
Yes, a home visit is a separate activity in the template. The block appears in the plan with a time, and the actual time can be recorded on the move with the app.
Does this work with different part-time models?
Yes. Every employee gets their own working-time model, and the daily target in the plan follows from it. The difference between target and planned time is shown per person below the grid.
Does MetronHR replace our appointment software?
No. Patient appointments stay in your appointment software, MetronHR plans the staff and records working time. There is no interface to practice management systems.
Can we post the plan on the wall?
Yes, as a real PDF. There is a daily sheet and a compact weekly sheet that fits a whole week on one page.
How quickly are we up and running?
Register, choose the physiotherapy template, invite the team. After that the first day can be planned. There is no setup appointment and no activation fee.
Make the therapy day plannable
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