The following information explains how to schedule an appointment for either new or existing patients.

Open the Appointment module by either;

Clicking

Selecting Waiting Room > Appointment Book.

 

If you have multiple Appointment Books in use, select the Appointment Book you wish to use via the associated drop-down list.

Select the Practitioner for whom you wish to assign an appointment, using the associated drop-down list. The image above indicates that the appointment schedule for Dr. A Practitioner is currently selected.

Click a time slot in the date/time matrix in which to schedule an appointment. The insert point should appear within the time slot, ready for you to begin typing a patient's name. Alternatively you can click and drag across multiple time slots, to schedule the appointment for a greater time period than the standard schedule period.

Enter the patient's surname, comma, first name (or part of), or the first name and surname without commas. Alternatively, you can also search for patients by using the patient's Chart Number field. Chart Numbers are searched for using the format [x] where x equals the chart number. For example, if you enter  "Andrews, Jennifer [123a]", the following is returned:

 

Press ENTER to confirm your entry. If there is more than one matching patient, or the patient cannot be located (e.g. a new patient) the Select Patient window appears. If the patient is present and you have their Medicare card, swipe it now to save you typing their name manually.

You can always check the patient's recorded appointment schedule, by selecting the patient, and clicking

 

To record an Appointment for an Existing Patient:

If the patient is an existing patient (i.e. already recorded in your Pracsoft database), you can search for them now by typing their name into the text box provided. The list of corresponding names is generated on-the-fly, as shown below. When you select a patient from the list, the Select button becomes available. Click this to add them to the Appointment Book.

Note also that if you need to edit the patient's record before adding them to the Appointment Book, you can do so now by clicking

 

 

To record an Appointment for a New Patient:

If this is a new patient, you have two options;

To create an appointment for the new patient without also adding them to the Pracsoft database, click  Later, when the patient arrives, you can create a record for them by linking them to Pracsoft.

To create an appointment for the new patient and simultaneously add them to the Pracsoft database, click  See Adding/Editing Patient Records via the Appointment Book for more information.

 

If you are using MedicalDirector Clinical, and the patient in question has any current due Recalls, the following window will appear.

Indicate which Recall(s) the patient is attending for. This information is saved back to the patient's record in Clinical.

The default view displays all Recalls due within the last three months or one month from the current date.

A current recall is defined as active, and;

Due today, or

Due within the 3 months prior to today, or

Due within 1 month after today

A future recall is defined as active, and due later than 1 month after today

The Reason column is visible only to users with permission to view it, granted via the Show Recall Reasons check box in User Details.

 

Upon selecting the patient you may be notified if the patient has an outstanding account. This prompt can be enabled/disabled via Appointment Book Options.

Click  The patient's name now appears in the selected time slot, and their appointment has been scheduled.

You can indicate the type of appointment by right-clicking the appointment entry and selecting Type from the menu that appears.

Information about an appointment is available by hovering your mouse over it.