Appointments Advanced

Overview

There are more features that will be useful to you as a receptionist when you are using Core Practice. In this guide, you will learn how to:

Select a patient file
Patient file details
Navigate through the appointment books
Select an available time
Set the appointment details
Edit appointment details
Edit appointment length
Move appointment
Appointment block elements
Appointment details pop-over
Attendance log workflow

Select a patient file

Search for an existing patient

Click on Select Patient.

When making an appointment, the first thing you should ask of the patient is their details. This will allow you to bring up their file, check how many times they have "Failed to attend", and check if they have any outstanding accounts in their file.
Search for an existing patient file first by using any of the following fields: As you can see from the example above, there are multiple patients with similar names. In this case, ask the patient for other personal details such as their date of birth or mobile number. You should check the database first in order to ensure you do not have multiple files for the same patient.

If you are booking an appointment for an existing patient, click here to go to jump to that section.

Create a new patient file

After selecting New Patient, enter all the mandatory fields. Click Create Patient when finished.
If the patient has never been to your clinic before, you would need to add the patient to your database.

Patient file details

The patient file details can be found above the patient's personal details.

a) FTA: number of times which the patient's appointments have been marked as "Cancelled".
b) TP: number of treatment plans active in the patient's file (if applicable).
c) Balance: amount outstanding from previous treatments.

Navigate through the appointment books

There are two ways to view the appointment books:
- Click on (a) Location and then select the clinic from the (b) dropdown menu to view the location's daily schedule.
- Click on (a) Book and then select the dentist's name from the (b) dropdown menu to view the dentist's weekly schedule.
Click on Calendar to open the calendar.

You can also click on the month and the calendar will go into a yearly view, showing each month in the year for faster navigation. You may also click on the following:
>: to move to the next day
>>: to move to the next week
+3: to move to three months
+6: to move to six months
+12: to move to twelve months

Select an available time

The different conditions which you might encounter in the appointment books:
a) Grey area: this book is not open; the dentist is not scheduled to work on this date.
b) White area: this is available space. The dentist is scheduled to work on this date; appointments can be made in this space.
c) Selection lock: this area has been locked because someone is making an appointment within this area; you cannot make an appointment in this area until this selection lock has cleared.
d) Not available: appointments cannot be made in this area. It is a white area because the dentist was scheduled to work on this date but has taken time off. See the explanation in this example: "Amber @ Course".
To select the amount of time, click and drag for the desired length.
The blue area is the amount of time that you have selected for this appointment. If you happen to select the incorrect time or length of time, simply click elsewhere to deselect the time block, and click and drag the availability for the correct time/length. Confirm the treatment required in order to allocate sufficient time.

Set the appointment details

The appointment details are important because they help to give the person viewing the appointment book a quick overview of the day.

Enter the appointment details, confirm these details, and click Create Appointment when finished.

a) Reason: dropdown menu with different appointment types, such as "Check Up/Scale Clean", "Fillings" etc.
b) Time Select: quick select options which allow you to select common appointment length options.
c) Status: dropdown menu with different statuses, such as "Message Left", "No Answer" etc.
d) Description: notes which help to guide anyone when viewing the appointment.

Appointment class and status are completely customisable. If you think there is something missing or you think something should be changed, contact your manager.

Edit appointment details

Click on the patient's appointment and select Edit.
Click Update Appointment once you have finished making changes.

You can change the patient's contact numbers, appointment class, status, or description.
As you can see in the example above, the appointment time has been updated.

Edit appointment length

Click and drag the block to lengthen or shorten it as required.

Move your mouse cursor over the bottom edge of the appointment block in order to do this.

Move appointment

This method is as simple as clicking and dragging the appointment in order to move it. It can only be used when moving an appointment on the same day.

Click on the appointment which needs to be moved.
Drag it to the desired time slot.
You will only be able to move an appointment to an empty slot in the appointment book.

Appointment block elements

a) Confirm: this element will appear once the appointment has been confirmed.
b) Checked out: this element represents the patient's appointment log workflow. Red is "Arrived", orange is "Checked in" and green is "Checked Out".
c) Status: these elements represent the "Status" which has been selected for this appointment at the time of creating/editing it. The letters are always the same for each status, as set by your administrators.

Appointment details pop-over

Click on the patient's appointment.

All the details which the user has input when making/editing the appointment will be shown here.
Description: any notes saved. If you would like to read the entire note, click more.
Attendance: the appointment log workflow. It also shows the duration between each step.
Status: any statuses for the appointment.

Attendance log workflow

An appointment logging workflow is an important tool for dentists in recording and displaying their time management.

Click on the patient's appointment block and then click Confirm.
Patients are able to confirm their appointments if they reply "Yes" to their SMS appointment reminder. If it has not been confirmed yet, do so once they arrive at their appointment. You will need to click on Confirm in order to start logging the patient's activities.
Click on the patient's appointment block and then click Arrived.

When you click "Arrived", there will be a red element that appears on the appointment block, and the appointment details pop-over (seen below). It is red because it is alerting the user that this appointment requires an action; the patient needs to be attended to.
Click on the patient's appointment block and then click Checked in when they have been called into the treatment room.

When you click "Checked in", there will be an orange element that appears in the appointment block, and the appointment details pop-over (seen below). It is orange because it tells the user that this appointment is in progress.
Click on the patient's appointment block and then click Checked out when they have come out from the treatment room.

When you click "Checked out", there will be a green element that appears in the appointment block, and the appointment details pop-over. It is green because it tells the user that this appointment does not need further action.