The scheduler is a highly-utilized interface with many features to help you optimally manage even the most complex calendar.
This step-by-step guide has two parts to fully educate you on how to optimize your use of the scheduler. Part 1 covers how to navigate the scheduler interface, and Part 2 covers how to use the scheduler and manage appointments.
In this article you will learn how to:
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The scheduler can be accessed by clicking on the Calendar icon from the dashboard or wherever it appears in the platform.
Mini Scheduler
The Mini Scheduler is located in the top left corner above the blue bar filters. It allows you to view your calendar by day, week, or month, quickly displaying your practice availability over a broader time frame.
With the month view it's possible to check open slots for providers. To do this select the Open Time Slots checkbox.
You will see the lines representing every provider (color is set in User Accounts). If the line is long, it means that the provider has many time slots open. If the line is short - the provider doesn't have many open time slots.
To check the time slots for a specific provider for a day, you can click on their color. A window with their available time slots will appear.
It's possible to schedule the time slot right from that window by clicking the Schedule button.
To return to today's schedule in daily view, click the icon
in the top left corner.
Calendar Filters
Calendar Filters are the blue bars located under the Mini Scheduler. They are used to filter which appointments are displayed on the calendar.
Note: Be sure to enable all checkboxes at all times using the Select All option. Unchecking a filter will remove associated appointments. If you cannot find an appointment in the calendar, the filter has probably been turned off.
Locations Filter
Enables appointments for specific locations to display on the calendar.
Staff Filter
Enables appointments for specific staff to display on the calendar.
Note: Clicking the eye icon next to a staff member when hovering to only show that staff member's appointments. Clicking it again will show all staff members' appointments.
Visit Reason Filter
Enables appointments for specific treatments/visit reason to display on the calendar.
This filter is only activated if you have activated Color Coding by Visit Reason filter (see below for more information).
Appointment Status Filter
This legend interprets the icons in the bottom right corner of each appointment for a visual representation of each appointment's status.
Appointment Info Filter
Choose which key details will be enabled to display on each appointment:
- Patient names
- Procedure names
- Appointment names
- Location
- Rooms
Note: If patients complete consent forms or medical history using a mobile device in the waiting room, it is strongly suggested that the mobile device logs in using a separate account configured in User Accounts which has disabled patient names from displaying on the calendar for HIPAA compliance. This prevents a patient from viewing other patient names while using the mobile device.
Color Coding
This feature determines how appointments are color coded on the scheduler for visually interpretation. There are 3 options:
- By staff member
- By appointment type
- By visit reason
- By visit reason (infill)
Color coding each appointment is most effective By Appointment Type or By Visit Reason/By Visit Reason (infill). Color coding By Staff Member only gives each column a separate color so provides less value.
To use color-coding by Appointment Type, first go to Practice Account > Practice Profile > Appointments to edit the colors by appointment type. Once configured the calendar will show each appointment type as a different color.
In this example, Consultations are pink and Treatments are green.
To use color coding by Visit Reason/ by Visit Reason (infill), first go to Practice Account > Treatment Setup to edit the color of each treatment. Once configured the calendar will show each treatment as a different color along the the top bar. If an appointment has multiple treatments, each treatment will show as a different color in the bar.
In this example, the first appointment is for multiple treatments each represented by a different color bar and the second appointment is for one treatment represented by a single color bar.
By Visit Reason Infill color-coding fills the appointment with the treatment color(s). If there is more than one treatment assigned to the appointment and the treatments are configured with different colors, as in this example, the appointment will be striped with the treatment colors.
Calendar Icons
On the top right corner of the Scheduler, there are eleven calendar icons providing access to different features.
Calendar Scroll 
Enables formatting the entire calendar into a single screen. You can enable or disable the ability to scroll your calendar either horizontally or vertically.
Note: to enable the calendar to display weekends, view by the Week in the Mini Scheduler then activate the Show Weekends option.
Search Icon
The search icon allows you to search for appointments by patient or provider:
Patient Search (left side) allows you to see all appointments past and future for that patient.
Staff/Provider Search (right side) allows you to see all appointments or availability for that staff/provider for the time period provided. This is helpful when scheduling patient appointments to determine staff/provider availability as well as finding all appointments assigned to a staff/provider.
- Note: to schedule an appointment for an open time slot, use the Schedule button which defaults to the first appointment availability. If necessary, change the time by clicking on the default time in the top of the appointment.
- Note: to print out a summary of a staff/provider's appointments for a period of time, use the Print PDF button.
Patient Appointment Requests
This feature provides a summary of all appointment requests submitted via the patient portal which have not yet been responded to.
For more information on patient appointment requests, please see this article:
Manage Claimed Specials
This feature provides a summary of all marketing specials which patients have claimed via the patient portal to allow for their fulfillment.
For more information on patient appointment requests, please see this article:
Current Contacts
The feature provides an address book of contact information accessible across the practice.
Note: in order to add a provider as a referral source, they will need to first be added as a contact with the role ReferringMD.
For information on how to add a Referring MD, please see this article:
Waitlisted Patients
This feature provides a list of all patients who are waitlisted for a more preferable appointment time.
For more information on this feature, please see the following article:
Current Leads
This feature provides a list of all leads who have shown interest in your practice.
For more information on this feature, please see the following article:
Financial Transactions
This icon provides a link to open the Financial Dashboard in a separate tab.
Note: the Financial Dashboard is also available in the left side menu.
Print Schedule as PDF
This feature enables printing of the calendar including different formatting options.
Reminder List
This feature displays the list of all reminders of follow up items across the practice.
Columns Manager 
This feature allows formatting of the columns on your scheduler. The scheduler can display columns for Rooms, Resources, and Staff.
Column Order allows the ability to order your activated columns from left to right by dragging and dropping your preferences.
Video
Content Timelines per Minute:
00:00 - 00:04 - Introduction
00:05 - 00:32 - Mini-scheduler
00:33 - 00:41 - Adding a new patient from the calendar
00:42 - 2:20 - Filters
2:21 - 2:53 - Columns manager
2:54 - 3:03 - Reminders list
3:04 - 3:13 - Print out a PDF version of a calendar
3:14 - 3:22 - Financial dashboard
3:23 - 3:34 - Current Leads
3:35 - 3:53 - Waitlisted Patients
3:54 - 4:12 - Current Contacts
4:13 - 4:28 - Claimed Specials
4:29 - 4:41 - Patient Appointment Requests
4:42 - 5:33 - Search by patient or provider
5:34 - 5:41 - Activating horizontal or vertical scroll of the calendar
5:42 - 5:44 - Wrapping up