How to book an appointment?
Here are the main steps to follow when booking an appointment:
Once you are on the calendar, Navigate to the date and time the patient requires.
Click on the time the patient requires in or click and drag over the length of time required.
Enter the patient’s name in the box labelled ‘No patient’. Choose the patient from the drop down list which will appear as you start typing. You can also use the Use last patient or add new patient button on the right if needed.
Check the date and time are correct for the appointment.
Set the appointment Reason and Length.
Check the practitioner is correct.
Add any notes needed.
Click ‘Save’ to finalise the appointment.
Let's delve a little deeper into each step...
Booking an appointment
To book an appointment in the calendar, you must first navigate to the date and time the patient requires in the appropriate book. Click the time the of day patient requires or click and drag over the length of time required. Once this is done, a drop-down menu will appear where you can add the appointment details as follows:
To double book an appointment at the same time as another that is already in the book, click in the blank area just to the right of the current appointment in the book. Once saved the two will sit side by side in the same area.
Select the patient:
At this point, you have several choices of how to select the patient.
Enter the name - Enter the patient’s name in the box labelled ‘No patient’. An automatic shortlist will appear as you start typing allowing you to select the correct patient. Searching by surname tends to find the patient quicker. If there are multiple patients with the same surname, typing a space and then the first name will usually find them very quickly.
Use Last Patient - The circular arrow icon by the patient’s name box brings in the last patient you used in Dentally and is helpful when making multiple appointments for the same patient.
New Patient - If the patient is new to the practice you can add them at the same time as booking their appointment by clicking the icon beside the patient name box. This will navigate to a menu where you can enter just enough new patient details to enter them onto Dentally. The remaining details should then be added when the patient then visits the practice.
Date & Time
These boxes allow you to confirm the date and time selected from the Calendar and make any changes if required.
Reason
This is the type of dental appointment that the patient is coming in for. Clicking this box will give you a drop-down menu of options to choose from:
Exam
Scale & Polish
Exam + Scale & Polish
Continuing Treatment
Emergency
Review
Other
It is important that the appointment is booked using the correct reason. For example, when a patient has an Exam appointment that is successfully attended and marked as complete, that triggers a recall for that patient and they will be reminded to make their next Exam appointment in line with the recall period allocated to them.
If the patient has unbooked appointments scheduled in a treatment plan, they will show under their name. Selecting the appointment from here will complete the Reason and Duration for you.
Status
Clicking this box will give you a drop-down menu of options to choose from. Typically a newly booked appointment would be marked as Pending, but on occasions, it may be helpful to add it with one of the following statuses:
Pending
Confirmed
Arrived
In Surgery
Completed
Cancelled
Did Not Attend
Duration
You can edit the length of the appointment in minutes. This will lengthen or shorten the appointment in the calendar.
📝 Please note: It is not possible to automatically set appointment duration based on other criteria such as the appointment reason. However, for existing patients with pre-planned unbooked appointments created by the clinician on the chart tab, the appointment time can be automatically allocated.
Practitioner
Typically this will have been already successfully entered by clicking on the appropriate Calendar. If you book your appointments by room, you can choose the available practitioner from the drop-down menu.
Room
If you have set up Dentally to use rooms in your calendar, you can set which room this appointment is due to be seen in. This will show the appointment if that room is selected in the calendar.
Notes
Here you can add any notes that are required for the appointment. For example, giving any further information about the treatment that the patient is to receive, or to remind staff on the day of any special requirements for the appointment.
Click ‘Save’ to book the appointment in the calendar.
Booking Appointments from a Treatment Plan
Because treatment plans are ordered by appointment, your reception should know if there are any future appointments required for a patient currently under treatment.
These appointments will be visible in the Unbooked Appointments section of the patient’s Appointment tab in their records. To book these, they can simply be added to the clipboard by clicking the clipboard icon to the right of each appointment.
You can then find a suitable date and time for the patient and drag the appointment into place from the clipboard.
Alternatively, find a suitable time on the appointment book and click the start time of the appointment. Then choose from the unbooked appointments dropdown menu the appointment you wish to book in. This will pre-populate all the fields as required for the planned treatment.
If you have appointments in the diary which are not currently linked to planned treatment for a patient then take a read of our help article here on linking/unlinking appointments
Lab work
This can be updated to reflect the lab status - find out more about this in our dedicated guide.