Scheduling Appointment Tabs

The Appointment tab displays appointment item, time, status, and assigned resource information. Appointment dates and times can be updated, and child tabs allow the user to update recurrence and order information, answer prompts, view appointment history, and add the appointment to the waitlist.

For an individual appointment, the user has the option to cancel, arrive, un-arrive, depart, or no-show the appointment. For a group appointment, the user only has the option to cancel the appointment. Patients in a group appointment are arrived, un-arrived, departed, or marked as no-show in the Patients tab.

 

Update Appointment

The start and end time for an appointment can be changed by moving the appointment in the Appointment Scheduler or by changing start times in the Appointment tab. To update an appointment, follow these steps:

1. Start – The start date/time defaults to the time selected on the Appointment Scheduler. Click the field to enter the date directly or click to select a date from a calendar. Then enter the time directly or click the clock icon to select a time. The End time will update to the default length of the item.
2. End – The end date/time defaults to the length of the scheduled item. They item may be configured to have maximum and minimum lengths that are different from the item length. Click the field to enter the date directly or click to select a date from a calendar. Then enter the time directly or click the clock icon to select a time.
3. Max Visits (Group only) – Update the maximum number of visits.
4. Click Save.

Cancel/Arrive/Depart/No-Show Appointments

For more information on these functions, see the following topics:

• Cancel
• Arrive/Un-Arrive
• Depart
• No-Show

Recurrence

The Recurrence tab allows the user to update recurrence information. A recurring appointment is a repetitive appointment that is scheduled at specific intervals for individual patients (group appointments cannot be recurring). Recurring appointments can be set up daily, weekly, or monthly and for a specific number of occurrences or for a date range.

Recurring appointments must be created from the Recurrence Options page in the scheduling wizard. Once the appointment is scheduled without using the recurring option, it cannot be made recurring.

To update a recurring appointment, follow these steps:

1. Start Time – The start time defaults to the time for the initial appointment. Enter a new time.
2. Duration – Defaults to the scheduled item’s length. Enter a different duration, in minutes.
3. Select a Recurrence Pattern to determine how often the appointment will occur from the following options:
   • Daily – Click to set up an appointment that occurs every day of the week or at a specific interval. Then, choose from the following:
     • Every_days(s) – Click the option and enter or use the arrows to set the gap in days between appointments. The field must have a number greater than zero.

Example
If an appointment is scheduled on Wednesday and 2 is entered into the day(s) field, the next appointments occur on Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, etc.

• • • Every weekday – Click the option to schedule the appointment at the same time Monday through Friday.

• • Weekly – Click to set up an appointment that occurs at specific times on specific days every week or over a specific interval of weeks. Then, complete the following:
    • Recur every_week(s) on – Click the option and enter or use the arrows to set the gap in weeks between appointments. The field must have a number greater than zero.

Example
If 1 is entered into the week(s) field and Wednesday is selected, the appointments occur on Wednesday every week.

• • • Click on a day or days for the appointment.

• • Monthly – Click to set up an appointment that occurs on a specific date (for example, the 10th of the month) or day (for example, the first Wednesday) each month. Then, choose from the following:
    • Day_of every_month(s) – Click the option and enter or click the arrows to set the day and then the monthly interval.

Example 
If an appointment is scheduled for March 5 and 5 is entered into the Day field and 1 into the month(s) field, the next appointments occur on April 5, May 5, etc.

• • • The_ _of every_month(s) – Click the option, click the positional dropdown to select the position (first, second, last, etc.), and click the daily/weekly dropdown to select the day (day, weekday, specific day, etc.). Enter or use the arrows to set the gap in months between appointments.

Example
if an appointment is scheduled for March 1, 2012 and First and Weekday are selected from the dropdown and 1 is entered into the month(s) field, the next appointments occur on April 2, May 1, etc.

4. Select an end option from the following:
   • End After_occurrences – Click the option and enter or use the arrows to set the number of occurrences in the occurrences field.
   • End By – Click the option and enter a date or click the date picker to select a specific date to end the recurring appointments.

5. Click Save. Updates are made on the Appointment Scheduler.

Order Information

The Order Information tab allows required order information for the scheduled item to be entered before a patient can be arrived to an appointment. The required information depends on the ancillary department and the template used by that department.

If required order information is missing, warning messages will display when there is an attempt to arrive the patient.

To enter order information, follow these steps:

1. Ordering Dept. Click the dropdown menu and select a department. This defaults to the department set up for the workstation.
2. Priority. Click the dropdown menu and select a priority. This will default to the item or department’s default priority, if configured.
3. Ordering Phys. Enter a physician code in the first field or a physician name in the autocomplete field (clicking a suggested description to select it). For more information, see Autocomplete Fields.
4. Reason. Click the dropdown menu and select a reason for the item.
5. Transportation. Click the dropdown menu and select a mode of transportation for the patient’s arrival.
6. Order Comment. Enter any comments regarding the order.

7. Click Save.

Note: If more fields are required, a warning message displays and lists the required menus/fields. Click OK and complete the required menus/fields.

Prompts

The Prompts tab allows questions or data entry fields associated with an item to be completed before completing the order or arriving a patient for a scheduled appointment. The prompts may or may not be required and come in a variety of formats (yes/no options, dropdowns, text fields, date fields, etc.).

Required prompts are noted in the list in the Required column. If required prompt information is missing when an item is scheduled, a warning message displays and lists the required menus/fields. Click OK and complete the required menus/fields.

To complete prompt information, follow these steps:

1. Click on a prompt item in the list to select it. The Question and Answer fields are enabled.

2. Complete the information, which can be in the following formats:
   • No response – Information displays, but no response is required.
   • Numeric – Enter a number. Depending on prompt configuration, the number may need to fall within a range of numbers.

• • Text – Enter the required text.

• • Yes/No – Click the Yes or No option.

• • Date – Click the field to enter the date directly or click to select a date from a calendar.

• • Dropdown – Click the dropdown and select an option.

3. Click Save.

Appointment History

The Appointment History tab displays a history of any changes made to the appointment. This includes information such as time changes, status changes, order information updates, etc.

The changes are displayed with their date, description, and the user who changed them. The information is read-only.

Waitlist

The Waitlist tab is used to add an appointment to the waitlist, which is a queue designed to hold appointments that need or prefer to be rescheduled to an earlier day or time (excluding the current date). Any existing future individual, non-recurring appointment can be placed on the waitlist. The waitlist takes into account item and department availability when determining open time slots.

 

The tab is also removed from the waitlist using this tab.

Add Appointment to Waitlist

To add an appointment to the waitlist, follow these steps:

1. Select a future appointment in the Appointment Scheduler. If eligible, the Waitlist tab will be enabled.
2. Location – Click the dropdown and select the location.
3. Resource – Click the dropdown and select from a list of eligible primary resources for the item.
4. Select a time preference from the following options:
   • Any Time – Select to reschedule to the first available time slot.
   • Morning – Select to reschedule to the first available time slot before noon.
   • Afternoon – Select to reschedule to the first available time slot after noon.
   • Before – Select to reschedule to the first available time slot prior to the time selected in the dropdown.
   • After – Select to reschedule to the first available time slot after to the time selected in the dropdown.

5. Click Save. The appointment is placed in the Waitlist queue and the Remove button is enabled.

Remove Appointment from Waitlist

To remove a waitlisted appointment, follow these steps:

1. Select the appointment in the Appointment Scheduler.
2. Click the Remove button. The information is cleared and the appointment is removed from the waitlist queue.