Hiring a web developer for an Australian medical, dental, allied health, or aesthetic clinic is different from hiring one for a generic small business website. Clinic workflows have specific requirements — Medicare integration, practice management system sync, AHPRA-compliant advertising, consent forms — and most generic web developers don't know what they don't know.
These seven questions will surface whether the developer in front of you actually understands clinic operations or is going to deliver a generic small-business website with a contact form bolted on.
Question 1: “Have you built booking systems for clinics before? Show me one.”
“Yes” with a vague reference is not the same as “here’s a live clinic site I shipped, here are the integrations, here’s the result.”
Look for: live URLs you can audit, screenshots of admin/booking flow, named clients (or anonymized case studies with verifiable details). Be wary of: generic agency portfolios with mostly retail or restaurant work and one “medical” project that's actually a homepage refresh.
Question 2: “Can you integrate Tyro for Medicare Easyclaim and EFTPOS?”
Tyro is the standard for Medicare-rebated bulk-bill and gap-payment flows in Australia. If your developer has never integrated Tyro, they don't know what's involved (terminal pairing, settlement reconciliation, refund flows). Ask for a specific past integration.
Adjacent question: do they support Square, Stripe, PayPal? For online deposits and pre-payments. The answer should be yes with specifics — “we use Stripe for deposits and Tyro for in-clinic payments” — not “yes we can integrate anything.”
Question 3: “Can you integrate with our practice management system?”
Cliniko, Best Practice, and MedicalDirector are the dominant PMS systems for Australian clinics. They have APIs (with varying quality) — but integrating with them properly takes specific knowledge. Ask whether the developer has done it, and what the failure modes are.
Most multi-practitioner clinics use a hybrid: PMS for clinical records (treatment notes, billing), custom booking layer for the patient-facing flow. Developers should understand this pattern and have a recommendation specific to your stack.
Question 4: “How do you handle Australian Privacy Principles?”
Patient data is sensitive. The Australian Privacy Principles (APP) govern collection, storage, use, and disclosure. Developers handling clinic data should be able to articulate:
- Where data is hosted — Australian infrastructure (AWS Sydney, Vultr Sydney, etc.) is the default expectation.
- Data Processing Agreements — signed by default as part of engagement.
- Audit trails — every booking action, payment, admin change logged with full context.
- Access controls — role-based permissions, secrets management, no shared credentials.
- PII redaction — particularly for any AI/agent workflows that touch patient data.
If the developer's answer is “we’ll figure it out as we go” — pass.
Question 5: “What's your process? When do I see working code?”
Beware of agencies that quote a 6-month timeline with no visible deliverables until the end. Sprint-based delivery — working functionality every 2–4 weeks — is the standard for credible developers. You see progress, you can adjust priorities, you don't get a 6-month-late surprise.
What to expect: a 1-week kickoff/discovery, then sprints of 2–4 weeks, with a working build at the end of each sprint. Total timeline 4–8 weeks for a focused booking + website build.
Question 6: “Do I own the code and data?”
This is the most important contract clause. The answer should be unambiguously yes — code, database, domain, all integrations are handed over with full documentation and runbooks. If you ever want to take the system to another team, you can.
Red flag: developers who insist on hosting on their own infrastructure with no path to migrate. The hostage retainer is real and we've seen it bite multiple clinics.
Question 7: “What does ongoing support look like?”
Optional retainer ($200–$1,200/month depending on scope) is the standard. Pay-as-you-go is also valid — call when you need something, billed at standard rates. Both should be on the table.
Avoid: mandatory ongoing fees, multi-year support contracts, “you can only call us through your account manager” structures. The whole point of owning your own booking engine is that you're not locked in.
Red flags to watch for
- Generic stock photos in their portfolio's clinic page — they probably haven't shipped one.
- Vague pricing or refusal to quote integration cost upfront.
- “We don’t hand over code” or “hosting must stay with us.”
- No live clinic case study with verifiable client.
- Refusal to sign a Data Processing Agreement.
- “We use WordPress for everything” — fine for some sites, but rarely the right call for clinics with real workflow needs.
Next steps
Take these seven questions into your next vendor call. Most developers won't pass — that's the point. The ones who do are the ones worth working with.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't I just use a generic web developer?
Clinic websites have specific requirements that generic developers rarely understand: multi-practitioner scheduling logic, Medicare via Tyro Easyclaim, integration with practice management systems (Cliniko, Best Practice, MedicalDirector), treatment notes, consent forms, AHPRA-compliant cosmetic injectable advertising, and Australian Privacy Principles compliance. Generic devs deliver generic outcomes.
What if my clinic is small — do I really need this much rigor?
If your clinic handles patient health information at all, the privacy and compliance requirements apply equally regardless of size. The cost of a developer who handles them properly is the same as one who doesn't — but the cost of a privacy breach or AHPRA penalty is materially higher.
How much should a clinic website cost in Australia?
Standalone clinic websites range $5,000–$12,000 depending on number of treatment pages, practitioner profiles, and integrations. Bundled with a custom booking engine, the combined cost is typically $12,000–$20,000. Per-month subscriptions plus paid add-ons rarely beat a one-time custom build over 3 years.
What about ongoing maintenance after the build?
Most credible developers offer optional retainers ($200–$1,200/month depending on scope) for updates, monitoring, and small features. The key word is “optional” — you should be able to take the codebase to another team without penalty. Avoid developers who lock you into mandatory ongoing fees.
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