You should aim for your patients to book in for their next appointment as they are checking out of their appointment at the practice. However if a patient cancels or refuses to book during that time, you can follow the below to book them in according to their treatment plan when they are ready.
You can choose to book them in by through their Patient Profile or through the Timeline.
Patient Profile
1) At the top of any page, click into the Search bar start typing in the name of the patient then select their profile.
2) In the Upcoming Appointments Box, find the appointment under "Unscheduled."
3) Click into the 3 dots, and choose Reschedule.
4) You'll be taken to the Manage Appointment Page where you can fill in steps 2-5 mentioned below.
Alternatively,
1) Still in the Patient Profile, click the '+ New Appointment' button, located in the section beneath the profile photo.
2) The Manage Appointment page should appear. The patient details should be auto-filled, however you can edit their details if needed.
4) Click Next.
5) Enter in the Appointment Details. This should be pre-filled and only appointments applicable to the patient will show up in the Treatment field. Choose the appointment that the patient would like to book in.
6) Click Next and complete steps 2-5.
Completing steps 2-5
Step 2:
In 'Select a Time' add in additional time parameters if the patient can only come between a certain date or time. This will filter down the appointment search query:
Date from: By default this will be today's date. Type in or select a date from the calendar icon
Date to: This is optional, however, by default, it will select a date two weeks from today's date. You can type in a new date or select one from the calendar icon. If your patient is flexible with their appointment date, delete the date from this field.
Time from and Time to: If the patient can only make it from/to a certain time, select that time from the drop-down list.
Possible appointment slots should generate based on your search query.
Score: Utilise the score column to select the most suitable appointment slot.
Sorting: You can sort appointment slots from each column shown: date, time, from now, duration, score, brand, practitioner. Click for either ascending or descending order.
You can have the Timeline open on another window or tab to make sure you are happy with that generated time slot in context of other appointments happening that day.
Select an appointment by clicking the checkbox. Click Next.
Step 3:
By default, all patients get added to the 'Waitlist'. This is to ensure that patients always have the opportunity to be offered an earlier appointment as well as having a database of patients to select from when filling in gaps in the day.
Click Next.
Step 4
Add any additional tasks or notifications you'd like to complete for the appointment.
Step 5
Do a final 'Confirmation' of the appointment. Check the details that have been entered and selected.
Click Save.
Using the Timeline
You can also use the Timeline to book in a patient's unscheduled appointment.
1) Find the Timeline either in the main menu or on the top right corner on the Receptionist Dashboard
2) Using the arrows on the top left of the page, toggle through the calendar to find a suitable time.
3) Once you've found the appropriate time, click create mode on the right side of the page.
4) Drag the cursor to over the time slot to create an appointment. The Patient sidebar should appear.
5) Find your patient in the search field. If you haven't booked an appointment using the Timeline before, follow this tutorial first.
6) The patient's treatment plan(s) will appear under the treatment section. Choose the next step of their treatment and click either unscheduled or rescheduled.
Important: make sure you are booking the time with the appropriate practitioner!
7) Click save on the bottom right.
Your appointment is now rescheduled.