Creating and managing appointments

‍

Creating New Appointments

There are two primary ways to initiate a service within the pharmacy, depending on whether the patient is planning a future visit or is currently standing at the counter.

Method 1: Booking a Future Appointment

Use this method when a patient contacts the pharmacy to book a slot for a later date or time.

1. Navigate to Dashboard > Book an appointment.
2. Input Details: Select the date and time, then choose the specific service the patient requires.
3. Patient Information: Enter the patient’s contact details.
4. Confirmation: Once saved, the system automatically sends the patient a confirmation email. This email includes a link for them to complete their pre-screen online before they arrive, saving you time during the clinical consultation.

Method 2: Starting a Walk-in Appointment

Use this method for patients who are already in the pharmacy and ready to receive a service immediately.

1. Navigate to In Pharmacy > Walk-in Menu.
2. Select Service: Click on the service the patient requires and select Start.
3. Immediate Action: This workflow skips the email phase. You will complete the pre-screen details immediately with the patient at the counter or in the consultation room, then transition straight into the formal consultation.

‍

⚠️ Important: Same Day Bookings

By default, same day bookings are switched off for all services. This is designed to give pharmacists sufficient lead time to prepare for consultations and manage their daily workload without unexpected additions to the diary.

If your organisation prefers to allow patients to book appointments for the current day, this must be enabled manually within the Head Office settings for each individual service.

How to enable Same Day Bookings for a service:

1. Log in to your Head Office account.
2. Navigate to Service Builder > Services.
3. Find the specific service you wish to update and click Edit.
4. Scroll to the configuration options and check the box labelled 'Allow same day bookings'.
5. Click Save/Update at the bottom of the page.

Once this is checked, the service will immediately become available for patients to book on the same day, provided there is an open slot in the pharmacy's appointment calendar.

‍

‍

Viewing Upcoming Appointments

You have two main methods for viewing your pharmacy's schedule:

Method 1: Appointments Dashboard (List View)

1. Navigate to Dashboard > Appointments.
2. Default View: By default, this screen displays a list of all upcoming appointments for your specific pharmacy branch (not just your personal bookings), ordered from soonest to furthest away.
3. Filtering: You can use the filters at the top of the page to look for previous or archived appointments.

Method 2: Appointments Calendar (Calendar View)

1. Navigate to In Pharmacy > Appointment Calendar.
2. Default View: This screen shows a calendar view of the current week's appointments.

Managing Calendar Availability

By clicking on an available time slot in the Appointments Calendar, you can perform three critical scheduling actions:

• Add a new pharmacy appointment.

Blocking Time Slots

Critically, you can click on a slot to add a Limited Service or a Break to manage your availability:

• Break Events: Booking a Break (e.g., a regular lunch break) prevents any service from being booked in that time slot.
• Limited Services: Booking a Limited Service slot means that only certain, specific services can be scheduled or run during that time.

‍