Online Booking for Psychologists, Dietitians and Clinics in Turkey: A KVKK-Compliant Setup Guide

Why is a booking system for health professionals different from a salon booking system?

Because the booking itself is sensitive. A haircut appointment says nothing about the customer; an appointment with a psychologist or a dietitian already says something about the person's health. Client confidentiality is the basis of trust in these professions, so the system has to be designed around it: what the form asks, where the data is stored and who can see it all matter more than in a typical booking setup. The scheduling mechanics are similar to those in our salon booking guide; the data rules are not.

How does online booking reduce no-shows?

Online booking reduces no-shows mainly by making it as easy to cancel or move an appointment as it is to book one. Clients see free slots around the clock instead of calling during working hours, and a confirmation message with a reschedule and cancel link turns a silent no-show into a freed slot you can offer to someone else. The system should let you define working hours, session lengths and breaks between sessions, so a 50-minute session never runs into the next one. For a practitioner who works alone, each recovered slot is income that would otherwise be lost.

What should a health appointment reminder say?

Only the client's name, the date, the time and a link to confirm, move or cancel. Send one reminder the day before and, if you like, another a few hours before. Leave out the diagnosis, the complaint, the topic of the session and even the practitioner's specialty where you can, because a message preview on a locked phone can be read by anyone nearby. SMS, email and messaging apps each have their own consent and privacy implications; if you use WhatsApp, our WhatsApp Business API guide explains message categories and consent rules.

What information should a psychologist's booking form ask for?

Ask only for what you need to schedule the appointment: name, phone or email, preferred time and, if useful, whether it is a first visit or a follow-up. Do not ask for the reason for the visit, symptoms, medication or a diagnosis. A free-text 'notes' box is the most common leak, because clients will type exactly the details you did not ask for, so either remove it or label it clearly, for example 'Please do not share health information here; we will talk about it in the session.' Health details belong in the session, in a secure environment, not in a web form.

Why is health data special-category data under KVKK?

Because Article 6 of Turkey's Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK, Law No. 6698) lists health data among the special categories of personal data, which carry stricter processing conditions than ordinary data. Law No. 7499, published in the Official Gazette on 12 March 2024, amended Article 6 and Article 9 of KVKK with effect from 1 June 2024: it revised the legal grounds for processing special-category data and replaced the rules on transferring personal data abroad. The practical questions stay simple: why are you collecting each piece of data, and do you really need it? Collecting less is the measure that reduces risk the most. Confirm which processing condition applies to your practice with a lawyer.

How should the privacy notice and explicit consent be set up?

Give clients a privacy notice (aydınlatma metni) before you collect anything, explaining which data you process, for what purpose, on which legal ground, for how long and with whom you share it. Where you rely on explicit consent, ask for it separately and freely: the Personal Data Protection Board's principle decision of 18 February 2026 (2026/347) states that the privacy notice and the explicit consent text must be separate documents with separate statements, and considers 'I have read and understood' the right wording for the notice rather than 'I accept'. Define retention periods and a deletion procedure. Our KVKK website checklist covers the website side, including cookie consent.

If your booking software, email provider or messaging service stores data outside Turkey, that is a transfer abroad under the amended Article 9. After the 2024 change, transfers rely on an adequacy decision or appropriate safeguards such as standard contracts, and a signed standard contract has to be notified to the Personal Data Protection Authority within five business days. The procedure is set out in the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles for the Transfer of Personal Data Abroad (Official Gazette, 10 July 2024). Ask every provider where the data sits before you choose it.

Can a psychologist or dietitian take online payment or a deposit?

Technically yes, but weigh it against your profession's ethics and rules before you do. If you take payment, use a licensed payment provider so card data never passes through your own systems, and show the cancellation and refund terms at the moment of booking. Session packages and recurring payments need a subscription-style setup. The trade-offs between bank virtual POS and payment institutions are covered in our payment provider guide.

What does Turkey's health advertising ban cover for psychologists and dietitians?

Turkey's Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Health Services, issued by the Ministry of Health and published in the Official Gazette on 12 November 2025 (No. 33075), replaced the July 2023 regulation of the same name. It covers health professionals, private health institutions and international health tourism intermediaries, and states that open or covert advertising in the provision of health services is prohibited. Among its rules: promotional material may not include fee, discount or campaign information, patient thank-you messages may not be shared as advertising, before-and-after images are allowed only under strict conditions, and websites must show their last update date and the editor's contact details. Law No. 1219 (additional Article 13) defines dietitians and clinical psychologists as health professionals. Whether and how the regulation applies to your exact title and practice is a question for a lawyer, so have your site content reviewed before you publish it.

How do you appear in local search and AI assistants?

A complete Google Business Profile with the right category and up-to-date details decides most local searches such as 'dietitian near me' or 'psychologist in Kadıköy'. On your site, describe your areas of expertise, the locations you serve and common questions in plain language, within the limits of the health advertising rules. AI assistants recommending local professionals rely on clear, consistent and well-structured information; our AI search visibility guide shows how to provide it. When you reply to reviews, never confirm that the reviewer is your client.

What should a booking chatbot for a health practice avoid?

It should never interpret symptoms or suggest a diagnosis; keep it to booking, rescheduling, opening hours and general practical questions. Tell users they are talking to an automated assistant and ask them not to share health details in the chat. Decide where chat logs are stored, who can read them and when they are deleted, since logs are personal data too. Our chatbot integration guide explains where these limits sit in practice.

Which questions should you answer before setting up the system?

Does the booking form collect only what you need? Where is the data stored, in which country, and who can access it? Are the privacy notice and any consent texts ready and separate? Do reminders carry only the name, date and time? Are backups, access rights, retention periods and deletion defined? Has a lawyer reviewed the website content against the health advertising regulation? If you can answer all six, you have protected your clients' trust and your own position. This guide is general information and does not replace legal advice.