Appointment

Last updated: 2026-03-29

Overview

The Appointment module is your central hub for scheduling and managing patient visits. It provides a visual calendar for your staff to organize daily schedules, assign patients to specific doctors or departments, and track the status of each visit. It also includes a self-service feature that allows patients to book their own appointments online.

When Do I Use This?

  • When a patient calls or visits the front desk to schedule a check-up or procedure.
  • When you need to review the daily or weekly schedule for a specific doctor (Practitioner) or department (Speciality).
  • When a patient arrives, and you need to update their appointment status to "Checked In" or "Waiting".
  • When you want to allow patients to book themselves through a public-facing website.

How To Use

Viewing the Calendar

  1. Navigate to Health → Appointments from the main menu.
  2. You will see a calendar view of all scheduled visits. Appointments are color-coded based on their current status.
  3. Click on any appointment block on the calendar to view its full details or make changes.

Booking a New Appointment (Internal Staff)

  1. From the Appointment Calendar, click + New.
  2. Select the Patient.
  3. Choose either the specific Practitioner (Doctor/Nurse) or the general Speciality (Department).
  4. Set the Time Start and Time End.
  5. Select the current State (e.g., Scheduled, Confirmed).
  6. Click Save.

Self-Service Appointments (For Patients)

Patients can use the self-service portal to book their own time slots. When they submit a request online:

  1. The system automatically captures their chosen date, time, and timezone.
  2. It creates a new patient record (if needed) using their First Name, Surname, Phone, Date of Birth, and Gender.
  3. It automatically generates a 30-minute appointment on your internal calendar.
  4. The patient sees a confirmation screen letting them know their booking was successful.

Field Descriptions

Appointment Details

Field Name Description
Patient The person receiving care.
Practitioner The specific doctor, nurse, or medical professional assigned to this visit.
Speciality The medical department (e.g., Cardiology, General Practice). Use this if a specific practitioner hasn't been assigned yet.
Subject A short title for the appointment. If left blank, the calendar will automatically display the Patient's name alongside the Practitioner's name.
Time Start The exact date and time the appointment begins.
Time End The exact date and time the appointment is scheduled to finish.
Chief Complaint The primary medical reason or symptom for the patient's visit.
State The current status of the visit (e.g., Scheduled, Arrived, In Progress, Cancelled).
Notification Check this box if the system should send an automated reminder/alert to the patient.
Note Any extra administrative details or instructions for the front desk staff.

Appointment States (Status Settings)

Your system administrator can define custom "States" to track the patient journey. Each state has the following settings:

Field Name Description
Name The label for the status (e.g., "Checked In").
Color The color that appointments in this state will display on the calendar, helping staff see the daily flow at a glance.
Active Determines if this status can currently be selected by staff.
Tip: Smart Time Adjustment! When you are editing an appointment and you change the Time Start, the system will automatically update the Time End to maintain the original duration of the appointment. You don't have to calculate the end time manually!
Tip: List View vs. Calendar View By default, appointments show up on a visual Calendar. If you need to print a list of appointments or export them to a spreadsheet, you can switch to the Report view using the display options on the screen.
↑ Up to