Scheduler: Managing Appointments

This article explains how to edit, delete, and reschedule appointments. If you are looking for instructions on how to move appointments on and off the waitlist, please check out this article.

Accessing the Scheduler 

Navigate to the Schedules tab and choose Scheduler.  

View Appointment 

Once you’ve scheduled the appointment, you can view additional information like insurance eligibility, any communication sent to the patient and provider about the appointment, and the appointment change history.  

1. From the appointment card, click the View icon. 
   • The icon location can change depending on the view you’re in.  
2. You will now see the View Appointment window. Click on the refresh icon to refresh the appointment information statuses without having to refresh the entire page and on the x icon to close the appointment window.
3. From the View Appointment window, you can access three tabs: Details, Communication, and History. 
4. The Details tab lists the appointment information and contains a section focused on the patient details.
   • Contact Icons: Hover over these icons to reveal the patient’s primary phone number and email address. If these fields are blank in the chart, nothing will display upon hover.  
   • Eligibility Status: Review the patient’s insurance eligibility information. Use the refresh icon if insurance information was recently added to the patient’s chart and hasn’t appeared yet. This requires the user to have the VOBGetter Admin or VOBGetter User permission. 
   • Chart: Open the patient’s chart in a popup window. Clicking on the patient’s name will also open the patient’s chart.  
   • Documents: Review any forms tied to the appointment type for your selected location. All these forms are set up when creating the Appointment Types in your Scheduler Settings. Use the Add button to include the form on the visit. The form opens in a pop-up for completion. 
   • Appointment Status icon: This icon indicates the appointment’s current status. You can also click on the drop-down menu and update the appointment status. The available status options are dependent on the current status. For example, it’s unlikely that you would change an appointment from Arrived to No-show, so the system limits the available status options. If you’d like to update which statuses can be selected based on the current status, review the Valid Transition section of the Appointment Status Scheduler Settings. 
      
5. The Communication tab displays the communication sent to the patient and Resource(s) about this specific appointment. You can view the send method (email or text), date/time sent, and the message delivery status (Failed/Success).
   • Appointment Statuses: These statuses indicate the message state of the appointment communication, and are as follows:
     • Sent: The message about this appointment has been sent.
     • Success: The message about this appointment has been successfully delivered to the patient.
     • Undeliverable: The message about this appointment could not be delivered.
     • Opted Out: The patient has opted out of receiving messages about appointments.
     • Invalid Phone: The patient's mobile number is no longer valid and the message could not be delivered.
     • Failed: The message has not been sent at all.
   • Clicking on the envelope icon will re-send the message.
   • The communications sent from the Scheduler are entirely controlled by your organization. Create, edit, or sunset communications from the Appointment Communications section of the Scheduler Settings.  
   • Send Communication: If no communication has been sent yet, you can send communication directly from this tab.
     • Select the Communication Template from the drop-down and click Send.
     • The method (text/email) of the communication is determined by the template setup and patient and/or patient contact(s) available methods of communication.
6. The History tab allows you to review a complete change history for the appointment. You can see if the appointment was rescheduled or if any of the details have changed. If the appointment has been canceled, the cancellation reason will appear in this tab as well. 
   • You can also export this history as a PDF, CSV, or Excel file by clicking the Export button.
       

Edit Appointment 

Let’s review how to make updates to an already scheduled appointment.  

1. Click on the appointment card in Calendar View.
2. Click the Edit icon.  
   • Or, from List View, hover over the appointment and click the Edit icon. 
3. In the Edit Appointment window, make the required updates and Save.

Delete Appointment 

1. Click on the appointment card in Calendar View. 
2. Click the Delete icon. 
3. Or, from List View, hover over the appointment and click the Delete icon.  
4. Add an optional reason and click Delete. 

Reschedule Appointment 

Easily reschedule an appointment using the drag and drop functionality. 

Important: The drag and drop Scheduler preference in Settings must be enabled to use this feature.  

Manage Drafts 

When creating an appointment, you have the option to save the appointment as a draft. This is helpful for situations where you don’t have all the info you need, or if you are interrupted when creating an appointment.   

Draft Tips 

• Icon: Draft appointments have a specific appointment status tied to them, which is displayed as an icon in the calendar tile.
   
• Filters: To quickly locate draft appointments, use the Appointment Status drop-down and select Draft. All appointments in the draft status will be displayed.
  
• Schedule Drafts: Double-click on the appointment to complete scheduling.