Appointment Basics

Overview

Making an appointment is one of the most common things you will do when using Core Practice. This article will teach you how to do the following:

1. Select a patient
2. Navigate through the appointment books
3. Select an available time
4. Set the appointment details

 You can also watch this quick video showing you the appointment workflow:

Select a patient

Search for an existing patient

1. 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.
   
   
   
2. 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

1. 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.

Navigate through the appointment books

1. 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.                                                                                                                   
     
     
     
     
2. 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

1. 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".

    

2. 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.

1. Enter the appointment details, confirm these details, and click Create Appointment when finished.         
   
   a) Time select: quick select options which allow you to select common appointment length options.
   b) Class: dropdown menu with different appointment types, such as "Check Up/Scale Clean", "Fillings" etc.
   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.

If you have any questions, please click the yellow Help button at the bottom left and chat with us. We are more than happy to help!

Click Next to learn the treatment basics.

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