How do I book an appointment?
There are several ways to book an appointment in Dentally, depending on what screen you wish to book from, and how much information about the appointment is already known.
Click a slot in the calendar
Drag and drop an appointment from the clipboard
Use the appointment finder to identify a slot
If you are not using the clipboard or the appointment finder, you can book a new appointment at any point through the calendar:
Navigate to the calendar.
Navigate to a suitable day, find an empty slot in a suitable practitioner's column, and click it.
An appointment card will open for you to input details. The fields will all initially be empty.
💡 Top tip: You can also link/unlink appointments at any time if needed.
What details can be added when booking an appointment?
When booking an appointment, you will need to input a number of details (this view is sometimes known as an appointment card) - some of these may be pre-populated if you are pulling from an existing unbooked appointment, but if not, you will need to add them to ensure the booking has all the right info.
Patient - This can be populated by searching for the patient's name, or other searchable details such as patient ID or date of birth. You can also click the arrow button to pre-fill the field with the last patient you booked, or click the plus + button to add a new patient
Unbooked appointments - This field will appear underneath the patient once you have selected them. If the patient has no unbooked appointments, this field will stay empty. If they do have unbooked appointments, a dropdown will appear so you can select one of them, or select 'New appointment' instead.
Date and time - This will pre-fill with the time you have selected on the calendar (either by clicking a slot, or by dragging and dropping into the slot).
Reason - Select the appointment type. Ensure you select the right reason, as this may impact other workflows such as recalls.
Status - This defaults to 'Pending' but can be amended to a different appointment status if needed.
Duration - Select the required duration for the appointment, or click 'Default' to pre-fill it with 10 minutes. If pulled from an unbooked appointment, this field will be pre-filled with the duration the clinician indicated.
Location - If you are a multi-site, select the location where the appointment will take place.
Practitioner - This will default to the practitioner whose column you clicked on (or dragged into) to start the booking, but can be amended as needed. If you do edit it, the booking will move to the selected practitioner's column.
Room - Select if you have multiple rooms set up.
Lab work - Indicate if the patient has any lab work - this will default to 'None required'.
Notes - You can add any notes for yourself or your colleagues - if the details have been pulled from an unbooked appointment, this field will populate with any notes added by the clinician.
