Scheduling

Complete

This screen displays two tabs:

Appointments

The appointments tab displays data in several modes:

Note that the left hand panel displays the current customer and patient. This will change as the different appointments are selected. Below the Bourke/Muffett appointment is selected (note the italic font).

First the multi-schedule display.

This is essentially a select screen. The selection fields area as follows:
View - this is used to select the Schedule View to be used
Schedule - this can be set to All or any one of the Schedules that are part of the current Schedule View.  If you select other that All, then the schedule will be displayed in single schedule mode - see below.
Clinician - this can be set to All or any one of the clinicians. If you select a clinician, then all the appointments for clinicians other that the one selected will be 'greyed out'.
Date - the date selector allows you to enter a date, go back or forth one day, or one week (the outer arrows), or, with the black square, select today.
Highlight - this can be set to Clinician, Event Type or Status and changes the colours used to display each appointment
Time - this can be set to All, Morning, Afternoon, Evening, AM or PM. This sets the part of the day for which the schedule is displayed. Note also that if there is part of the day for which the schedule is not available then there will be no slots in that part. In the picture, the Surgery starts at 8am but the main clinic not until 9am.

The display area consists of one column per schedule, each showing the events that match the selection conditions. Events may be appointments or calendar blocks; calendar blocks can be used to block out parts of a schedule to restrict appointment creation.
What is displayed for each appointment is set via the Administration|Organisation|Schedule View screen. Here you can see that this view is set to display the customer, patient and status (but not the clinician).

If a bell icon is displayed, it indicates that an SMS reminder may be sent for the appointment:

  • a grey bell indicates no reminder has been sent
  • a gold bell indicates a reminder has been sent
  • a red bell indicates a reminder could not be sent. The Reminder Error field in the appointment will display the reason.

The buttons are as follows: (see below for when the various buttons are displayed)
New - create a new appointment in the currently selected time slot. To select a time slot, click it and it will display in the slot, then press the New button (or click the slot again) and the New Appointment screen will open. The new appointment will have status Pending.
Edit - edit the selected event
Delete - delete the selected event. A confirm window will appear. Note that you cannot delete appointments that have status Completed - if you really do need to delete a completed appointment, first edit it to change the status to other than Completed.
Print - print the selected appointment.
Mail - email the selected appointment.
Check-In - initiates the check-in process      }
Consult - opens the Visit Editor window        } click here for details
Check-Out - initiates the check-out process  }
Transfer - transfers a patient to a Work List }
OTC - Over The Counter sale - opens the New Counter Sale window to allow you to make an OTC sale
New Flow Sheet - creates a Smart Flow Sheet for the patient associated with an appointment.
Remind - sends an appointment reminder SMS for the selected appointment.
Block - creates a new calendar block in the current selected time slot.

 

Moving an event

To move an appointment or calendar block to another date/time, either:

  • edit it and change the start and end times; or
  • 'cut and paste' it:
    • select the event by clicking on it
    • cut it using Ctrl-X
    • navigate to the day and schedule that you want
    • click on the new time slot so that appears
    • paste it using Ctrl-V

Cut and paste allows the event to be moved to another schedule.

Copying an event

To copy an event to another date/time, either use 'copy and paste':

  • select the event by clicking on it
  • copy it using Ctrl-C
  • navigate to the day and schedule that you want
  • click on the new time slot so that appears
  • paste it using Ctrl-V

 

The single-schedule display is as follows:

The selection fields and buttons are the same as for the multi-schedule display.

The display area columns are as follows:
Time - the slot start time
Status - the appointment status - which will be (in logical order) one of Pending, Waiting, Admitted, In-Progress, Billed, Completed, or Cancelled. Note that the status 'Checked-In' is translated here to 'Waiting' with the time since checked-in - see the 9.30 slot in the picture above.
Appointment Type - the type of appointment - those available are set via Administration|Types|Appointment Type
Customer - the customer - note that the name is a link - clicking on it will take you to the Customers|Information screen
Patient - the patient - note that the name is a link - clicking on it will take you to the Patients|Medical Records screen
Notes - the notes for the appointment
 


The multi-day display is the default display for Schedule Views that have Multiple Day View selected:

The selection fields and buttons are the same as for the multi-schedule display. It adds:

Dates - this allows the date range to be selected:

  • Month - displays a month of appointments
  • Fortnight - the default. Displays 2 weeks of appointments
  • Week - displays a week of appointments
  • Day - the same as the multi-schedule display

Show - this determines how schedules are displayed

  • All - displays all schedules as they appear in the selected View
  • Cages - displays schedules grouped by their Cage Type, with:
  • total slots by Cage Type
  • available slots by Cage Type, by day
  • Summary - similar to the Cages view, except that the appointment details are displayed as one of:
    • B - indicates that the pet is boarding, i.e. is staying overnight
    • D - indicates that the pet is in for the day only
    • > - indicates that the pet is leaving on the day
  • Check-Ins - displays all schedules that have check-ins for the selected day
  • Check-Outs - displays all schedules the have check-outs for the selected day

The display area consists of one column per day, and one row per schedule, each showing the appointments that match the selection conditions.

Appointments that start on a date before the first displayed date have an icon.

Appointments that end on a date after the last displayed date have an  icon.

 

 

Available Buttons
The following table shows when each button is displayed.

Button Displayed When
OTC Always
New Time slot selected
Edit Event selected
Delete Event selected
Print Appointment selected
Check-In status = Pending
Consult status = In-Progress, Billed, Completed
Note that if you press Consult on a Completed or Billed appointment, then the Visit Editor opens so that you can add to the visit record
Check-Out status = In-Progress, Billed, Completed
Note that if you press Check-out on a Completed appointment, a new invoice will be opened so that you can add items to it.
Transfer status = Checked-In, In Progress, Admitted, Billed, Completed
New Flow Sheet An appointment is selected and Smart Flow Sheet is configured for the Practice Location.
Remind The selected appointment has status Pending, the appointment is either for today or in the future, and the customer can receive SMS messages.
Block Time slot selected

Find Free Appointments

The Find Free Appointments tab simplifies locating free appointment slots.

The upper part of the screen displays the query critiera. The lower part, the free slots matching the criteria.

Below, the query is for free slots in the Main Appointment Schedule from the 1/7 to the 3/7 between 10:00am and 1:00pm that are at least 1 hour in length.

Four matches have been shown. Clicking on one of these will switch to the appropriate Schedule View on the Appointments tab, selecting the Schedule time.

 

View - this is used to select the Schedule View to be used.
Schedule - this can be set to All, or any one of the Schedules that are part of the current Schedule View. 
From - the date to start searching from.
To - the date to search to.
From Time - the time of day to start searching from. If not set, this defaults to the time the schedule starts at.
To Time - the time of day to search to. If not set, this defaults to the time the schedule ends at.
Duration - the minumum duration to search for. This defaults to the minumum duration of the selected Schedule(s).
Clinician - filters by clinician. The clinician must be rostered on within the date range.
Cage Type - filters by Cage Type. This is only displayed when Schedules have Cage Types.

Boarding Schedules

Find Free Appointments can be used to locate consecutive days in boarding schedules. These should be configured to either have no Start Time nor End Time set, or to start at 0:00 and end at 24:00.

 

Appointment

Complete

This window is used to create and edit an Appointment.

The fields are:
Customer - the customer - this is a mandatory field
Patient - the patient - this is an optional field
Appointment Type - the type of the appointment.
Start Time - the date and time that the appointment will start
End Time -the date and time that the appointment will end. If the practice operates on a 24 hour basis, you can create the appointment to run across the midnight boundary - ie start 23:00 on 3/7/13 and end at 00:30 on 4/7/13.  For multi-day (such as Boarding) appointments, you can enter a relative date such as 7d and this will set the end time to 7 days after the start time. (Note that using relative dates normally sets a date relative to the current date - in this case it is relative to the appointment start date.)
Duration - the appointment duration, expressed in days, hours and minutes.
Repeat - determines the appointment recurrence. See Repeating Appointments below.
Reason - the reason for the appointment - the available reasons are set using Administration|Lookups|Visit Reason and Administration|Lookups|Visit Reason (VeNom). Note that this will be placed into the Visit Reason field when the appointment is checked-in. Note that if you key in something (say x) and press enter, you will be shown all reasons containing 'x', eg Desexing, Discuss X-Ray, and X-Ray - ie the search is "contains 'x'" rather than "starts with 'x'".
Notes - any pertinent notes
Clinician - the clinician - this is an optional field
Status - the status can be one of (in logical order) Pending, Checked-In, In Progress, Admitted, Billed, Completed or Cancelled
Author - the user that created the appointment
Send Reminder - displayed if appointment reminder SMS messages can be sent to the customer. Reminders can be sent if:

  • SMS is configured
  • the customer has an SMS contact
  • the appointment Schedule has Send Reminders ticked
  • the appointment Type has Send Reminders ticked

Online Booking - if ticked, this appointment was created using the Online Booking interface.

If the first two are true, but not the last two, then an SMS Reminder can still be sent manually. If the first three are true, but not the last, Send Reminders will be displayed, but the check box will be disabled and un-ticked. Changing the Appointment Type to one that supports reminders will enable the checkbox.

Reminder Sent - displayed if a reminder has been sent for this appointment
Reminder Error - displayed if a reminder couldn't be sent, and indicates the cause of the error.

Customer & Patient Alerts - if the customer or patient has any current alerts, these are displayed.
 

Note that normally both the status and the completed date/time are updated by the system's workflow processing when you use the Consult (sets status In Progress) and Check-Out (sets status Completed and the Completed date/time) buttons on the Work List screen, and Complete/Finalise (sets status Billed) button on the Invoice screen.

The two status settings not set automatically by the workflow processing are Cancelled and Admitted. You set Cancelled to show that an appointment has been cancelled. Admitted can be used to indicate that the patient has been admitted to hospital.

Appointment Type

The Appointment Type determines:

  • the default duration of an appointment
  • how the appointment is is displayed
  • a default Reason for the appointment

The available types and their duration are set via Administration|Organisation|Schedule.

Repeating Appointments

Appointments can be made to repeat one or more times, to form a series of appointments. Each appointment in the series:

  • has the same details as the first appointment
  • can be edited independently of the series

This can be used to schedule a follow-up appointment, or recurring appointments e.g. Puppy Class.

Repeat Options

Appointments can be made to repeat:

  • Daily
    • Every day
    • On weekdays
    • Every N days
    • Every Sunday...Saturday
  • Weekly
    • Every Week
    • Every N weeks
  • Monthly
    • Every month
    • Every N months
    • On the first..fifth or last Sunday...Saturday every N months
    • On the 1..31 or last day(s) every N months 
  • Yearly
    • Every year
    • Every N years
    • On the 1..31 January...December every N years
    • On the first..fifth or last Sunday...Saturday of January...December every N years

Appointments repeat until a specified date, or number of times. If you use 'until date' you can use the relative date facility - eg 0ye will set the end of the current year, and 6me will set the end of the 6th month ahead.

Restrictions

  • at most only 364 recurring appointments can be scheduled (i.e. for a total of 365 in a series)
  • if an appointment is set to repeat on a day that is not available, it is skipped. E.g specifying a monthly repeat on the 31st of the month will skip all months without 31 days.

 

Calendar Block

Complete

A Calendar Block is a block of time in a schedule that can be used to:

  • limit scheduling of appointments
  • reserve the schedule for specific customers

The fields are:

Block Type - the type of the block, e.g. Public holiday, Reserved for Puppy School etc
Name - the name of the calendar block. If none is specified, the Block Type name will be displayed. E.g. the Block Type may be Public holiday, and the Name Easter.
Start Time - the date and time that the block will start
End Time -the date and time that the block will end. If the practice operates on a 24 hour basis, you can create the appointment to run across the midnight boundary - ie start 23:00 on 3/7/13 and end at 00:30 on 4/7/13.  For multi-day calendar blocks, you can enter a relative date such as 7d and this will set the end time to 7 days after the start time. (Note that using relative dates normally sets a date relative to the current date - in this case it is relative to the start date.)
Duration - the calendar block duration, expressed in days, hours and minutes.
Repeat - determines the calendar block recurrence. This has the same options as Repeating Appointments.
Notes - optional notes.
Author - the user that created the calendar block.

Block Type

The Block Type:

  • provides a default name for the calendar block, if no Name is specified
  • determines the colour of the block in the schedule
  • can be used to reserve times for customers

Reservations

By default, a Calendar Block will allow appointments to be scheduled during the block period, with a warning.

A Calendar Block may be used to reserve times in a schedule by selecting a Block Type that is specifies reservations for particular customers. An appointment will only be allowed to be created if a customer is one of the types identified by the Block Type.

Restrictions

Calendar blocks may not overlap existing appointments or other calendar blocks.

Confirm Delete

Complete

This screen is displayed when you initiate the deletion of an appointment on the Workflow|Scheduling screen.

Press OK to confirm else Cancel.

Copy Series

Complete

The Copy Series window is displayed if a repeating Appointment or Calendar Block is selected for copying and:

  • there are future events in the series; or
  • all event in the series are in the future

Selecting:

  • Only this ...
copies the current event block
  • This and all future  ...
creates a series containing the current and subsequent events
  • The entire series
copies all events in the series

For appointments, all copied appointments have Pending status.

Delete Series

Complete

The Delete Series window is displayed if a repeating appointment or calendar block is selected for deletion and:

  • there are future events in the series; or
  • all events in the series are in the future

Selecting:

  • Only this ...
deletes the current event
  • This and all future ...
deletes the current event, and all subsequent events
  • The entire series
deletes the current event and all other events in the series

Edit Series

Complete

The Edit Series window is displayed if a repeating appointment or calendar block is edited and:

  • there are future events in the series; or
  • all events in the series are in the future

Selecting:

  • Only this ...:
    • the Repeat field cannot be changed
    • changes are not propagated to other events in the series
       
  • This and all future ...:
    • the Repeat field can be changed. This does not affect prior events.
    • changes to the event are propagated to all subsequent events
       
  • The entire series
    • the first event in the series is edited
    • the Repeat field can be changed. This affects all subsequent events
    • changes to the event are propagated to all subsequent events

 

Move Series

Complete

The Move Series window is displayed if a repeating appointment or calendar block is selected for moving and:

  • there are future events in the series; or
  • all events in the series are in the future

Selecting:

  • Only this ...
moves the current event
  • This and all future ...
moves the current and subsequent events
  • The entire series
moves all events in the series