Appointment Scheduling

APPOINTMENT_SCHEDULING.md

Appointment Scheduling

Complete guide to scheduling, managing, and optimizing appointments in MyClinicSoft.

Overview

The Appointment Scheduling system provides a comprehensive calendar view for managing patient appointments, with features including:

  • Interactive calendar interface
  • Multiple view modes (day, week, month)
  • Doctor-specific schedules
  • Appointment reminders
  • Waitlist management
  • Public booking integration
  • No-show tracking

Accessing the Calendar

Navigate to Appointments from the main menu.

Calendar Views:

  • Day View - Hourly breakdown of single day
  • Week View - 7-day overview
  • Month View - Monthly calendar with appointment counts
  • List View - Scrollable list of upcoming appointments

Creating an Appointment

Quick Appointment (from Calendar)

  1. Click on a time slot in the calendar
  2. Quick form appears with:
    • Patient (search or create new)
    • Doctor (pre-selected if viewing doctor's calendar)
    • Time (pre-filled from clicked slot)
    • Duration (default from settings)
  3. Click Save

Detailed Appointment Form

  1. Click New Appointment button
  2. Fill in all details:

Basic Information

  • Patient* (required)
    • Search existing patient
    • Or click New Patient to add quickly
  • Doctor* (required)
    • Select from available doctors
    • View doctor availability
  • Date and Time* (required)
    • Use date picker
    • Select from available slots
  • Duration (default: 30 minutes)
    • 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 minutes
    • Custom duration

Appointment Details

  • Appointment Type
    • New patient consultation
    • Follow-up visit
    • Routine check-up
    • Emergency
    • Procedure
    • Lab work
  • Service (select from services catalog)
  • Reason for Visit
    • Free text description
    • Helps doctor prepare
  • Chief Complaint
    • Primary symptom or concern

Additional Information

  • Status
    • Scheduled (default)
    • Confirmed
    • Arrived
    • In Progress
    • Completed
    • Cancelled
    • No-show
  • Priority
    • Normal (default)
    • Urgent
    • Emergency
  • Notes
    • Special instructions
    • Preparation required
    • Accessibility needs

Reminders

  • SMS Reminder
    • Send 24 hours before
    • Send 2 hours before
    • Don't send
  • Email Reminder
    • Same options as SMS
  • Custom Reminder Time
    • Specify exact timing
  1. Click Save Appointment

Managing Appointments

Viewing Appointment Details

Click on any appointment in the calendar to view:

  • Patient information
  • Doctor assigned
  • Date, time, and duration
  • Appointment type and reason
  • Status and priority
  • Notes
  • Creation and last updated info

Quick Actions:

  • Edit appointment
  • Change status
  • Reschedule
  • Cancel
  • Mark as no-show
  • Start visit (creates clinical note)
  • Send reminder
  • Print appointment slip

Editing an Appointment

  1. Click on appointment
  2. Click Edit button
  3. Modify any field
  4. Click Save Changes

Note: System checks for conflicts when changing date/time.

Rescheduling

  1. Click on appointment
  2. Click Reschedule button
  3. Select new date/time
  4. Confirm change
  5. Patient notification sent automatically

Drag and Drop:

  • In day or week view
  • Click and drag appointment to new time slot
  • System prompts to confirm change

Cancelling an Appointment

  1. Click on appointment
  2. Click Cancel button
  3. Select reason:
    • Patient cancelled
    • Doctor unavailable
    • Emergency
    • Weather/external factors
    • Other
  4. Add notes (optional)
  5. Confirm cancellation
  6. Patient notification sent

Note: Cancelled appointments remain in system for record-keeping.

Appointment Status Updates

Update status as appointment progresses:

  1. Scheduled → Patient has appointment
  2. Confirmed → Patient confirmed they will attend
  3. Arrived → Patient checked in (auto-updated from queue)
  4. In Progress → Doctor is seeing patient
  5. Completed → Appointment finished
  6. No-show → Patient didn't arrive
  7. Cancelled → Appointment cancelled

Auto Status Updates:

  • Checked in at queue → Status changes to "Arrived"
  • Visit created → Status changes to "In Progress"
  • Visit saved → Status changes to "Completed"

Doctor Schedules

Viewing Doctor Availability

Calendar Filters:

  1. Select doctor from dropdown
  2. Calendar shows only that doctor's appointments
  3. Available time slots highlighted in green
  4. Blocked time shown in gray

Doctor Schedule Page:

  • Navigate to Doctors → Select doctor → Schedule tab
  • View recurring availability
  • See blocked dates
  • View appointment statistics

Setting Doctor Working Hours

Admin only

  1. Go to Doctors → Select doctor → Schedule
  2. Click Edit Working Hours
  3. For each day:
    • Set start and end time
    • Mark as working day or off
    • Add breaks
  4. Click Save

Example:

  • Monday-Friday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
  • Lunch break: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
  • Saturday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
  • Sunday: Off

Blocking Time

Block doctor availability for:

  • Holidays
  • Vacation
  • Training/conferences
  • Administrative time
  • Procedures/surgeries

To Block Time:

  1. Go to doctor's schedule
  2. Click Block Time
  3. Select date range
  4. Select time (all day or specific hours)
  5. Add reason
  6. Click Save

Blocked time:

  • Shows as unavailable in calendar
  • Cannot be booked by patients
  • Shows "Unavailable" label

Appointment Reminders

Automatic Reminders

The system sends automatic reminders based on settings:

Default Schedule:

  • 24 hours before appointment (SMS + Email)
  • 2 hours before appointment (SMS only)

Reminder Content:

  • Patient name
  • Doctor name
  • Date and time
  • Clinic address
  • Preparation instructions (if any)
  • Cancellation link

Manual Reminders

Send reminder manually:

  1. Click on appointment
  2. Click Send Reminder
  3. Choose method:
    • SMS only
    • Email only
    • Both
  4. Edit message if needed
  5. Click Send

Reminder Settings

Admin only

Configure in Settings → Notifications:

  • Enable/disable automatic reminders
  • Set reminder timing
  • Customize message templates
  • Set SMS provider settings

Waitlist Management

Adding to Waitlist

When preferred time slot is unavailable:

  1. Click Add to Waitlist in appointment form
  2. Patient added to waitlist for:
    • Specific doctor
    • Date range
    • Time preference
  3. Patient notified when slot opens

Managing Waitlist

Navigate to Appointments → Waitlist tab

View:

  • All waitlisted patients
  • Requested date/time range
  • Priority
  • Contact information

Actions:

  • Schedule when slot available
  • Remove from waitlist
  • Contact patient
  • Change priority

Auto-notification:

  • When appointment cancelled
  • System checks waitlist
  • Sends notification to waitlisted patients
  • First-come-first-served basis

Public Booking

Patients can book appointments through public booking page.

Public Booking Features

  • No login required
  • Select doctor
  • Choose from available slots
  • Provide basic information
  • Receive confirmation email

Enabling Public Booking

Admin only

  1. Go to Settings → Public Booking
  2. Enable public booking
  3. Configure settings:
    • Advance booking period (e.g., up to 30 days)
    • Same-day booking allowed (yes/no)
    • Available doctors
    • Available services
    • Required fields
    • Approval required (yes/no)

Public Booking URL

Share booking link with patients:

https://your-clinic.com/book

Add to:

  • Clinic website
  • Social media
  • Email signature
  • Business cards
  • QR code

Queue Integration

Appointments integrate with the Queue Management system:

When Patient Arrives:

  1. Patient checks in at reception
  2. Added to queue automatically
  3. Appointment status updates to "Arrived"
  4. Doctor sees patient in queue
  5. Can start visit from queue

Benefits:

  • Smooth patient flow
  • Automatic status updates
  • Real-time queue visibility
  • Reduced wait times

No-Show Management

Recording No-Shows

When patient doesn't arrive:

  1. Click on appointment
  2. Click Mark as No-Show
  3. Add notes
  4. System records:
    • Date of no-show
    • Appointment details
    • Whether patient called

No-Show Tracking

View no-show history:

  • Patient detail page → Appointments tab
  • Shows all no-shows
  • Percentage of no-shows

Automatic Actions:

  • After 3 no-shows: Flag patient
  • After 5 no-shows: Require deposit
  • Configurable in settings

No-Show Policies

Admin only

Configure in Settings → Appointments:

  • Grace period (e.g., 15 minutes late = no-show)
  • Automatic actions based on no-show count
  • Require confirmation after no-show
  • Cancellation fee
  • Deposit requirement

Recurring Appointments

For patients needing regular appointments:

  1. Create first appointment
  2. Click Make Recurring
  3. Set pattern:
    • Daily
    • Weekly (select days)
    • Every 2 weeks
    • Monthly
    • Custom
  4. Set end condition:
    • After X occurrences
    • Until date
    • Never (manual stop)
  5. Click Create Series

Managing Series:

  • Edit single occurrence
  • Edit all future occurrences
  • Cancel series
  • Skip occurrence

Appointment Conflicts

Conflict Detection

System checks for conflicts when scheduling:

Double Booking:

  • Doctor already has appointment at that time
  • Patient already has appointment at that time

Resource Conflicts:

  • Room not available
  • Equipment in use

Working Hours:

  • Outside doctor's working hours
  • During break time
  • On blocked dates

Conflict Resolution:

  • System prevents saving conflicting appointment
  • Shows conflict details
  • Suggests alternative times

Overbooking

Admin only

Allow limited overbooking:

  1. Enable in Settings → Appointments
  2. Set overbooking rules:
    • Max appointments per time slot
    • Overbooking time slots only
    • Priority appointments can overbook
  3. Use cautiously to avoid delays

Appointment Reports

Available Reports

Navigate to Reports → Appointments

Reports:

  • Appointments by date range
  • Appointments by doctor
  • Appointments by service
  • No-show report
  • Cancellation report
  • Utilization report
  • Revenue by appointment type

Export Options:

  • PDF
  • Excel
  • CSV

Appointment Analytics

Metrics:

  • Total appointments
  • Completed vs. scheduled
  • Average duration
  • No-show rate
  • Cancellation rate
  • Peak booking times
  • Popular services
  • Doctor utilization

Charts:

  • Appointments over time (line chart)
  • Appointments by type (pie chart)
  • Doctor workload (bar chart)
  • Peak hours (heat map)

Mobile Access

Access appointments on mobile devices:

Mobile Features:

  • Responsive calendar view
  • Quick appointment creation
  • Status updates
  • Send reminders
  • View patient details
  • Check-in patients

Tips for Efficient Scheduling

  1. Book Ahead - Schedule follow-ups before patient leaves
  2. Buffer Time - Allow breaks between appointments
  3. Peak Management - Spread appointments throughout day
  4. Confirmation - Call to confirm day before
  5. Overbooking - Use sparingly for chronic no-shows
  6. Templates - Create appointment templates for common types
  7. Reminders - Always send reminders
  8. Flexible - Keep some slots open for emergencies
  9. Queue - Use queue system to manage walk-ins
  10. Review - Weekly review of no-shows and cancellations

Troubleshooting

Cannot Book Appointment

Possible Causes:

  • Doctor not available
  • Outside working hours
  • Patient already has appointment
  • System conflict

Solutions:

  • Check doctor schedule
  • Verify working hours
  • Check existing appointments
  • Contact administrator

Reminders Not Sending

Possible Causes:

  • SMS/Email not configured
  • Invalid contact information
  • Reminders disabled

Solutions:

  • Verify settings in Settings → Notifications
  • Check patient contact info
  • Test SMS/Email settings
  • Check system logs

Calendar Not Loading

Solutions:

  • Refresh page
  • Clear browser cache
  • Check internet connection
  • Try different browser
  • Contact support

Best Practices

  1. Consistent Scheduling - Use same process for all appointments
  2. Verify Information - Confirm patient contact info when booking
  3. Set Expectations - Tell patients how to prepare
  4. Follow Up - Call no-shows to reschedule
  5. Document - Add notes for special circumstances
  6. Review Regularly - Check schedule weekly
  7. Optimize - Analyze reports to improve efficiency
  8. Communicate - Keep patients informed of changes

Related Documentation