Scheduling an Appointment 

There are several ways to schedule an Appointment.
- Double-click on the Appointment schedule at the desired time.
- In the Appointments module, click Make Appt, Make Recall, or Fam Recall.
- Use the Unscheduled List.
- Schedule recall appointments from the Recall List.

The window that shows depends on the patient's appointment history.
- If the patient does not have a scheduled appointment, the Edit Appointment window shows.
- If the patient has a Planned Appointment, a scheduled appointment, an unscheduled appointment, or a Recall due, the Appointments for [patient] window shows.

This window shows the patient's appointment history.

Recall for Family: Lists all recall appointments due and scheduled for all family members. Red entries indicate the patient is delinquent for an appointment. Click on a family member to quickly switch to their appointment history.

Planned Appt Done: If this box is checked, the patient does not have a Planned Appointment. It cannot be checked/unchecked here. It only shows the value of the box in the Chart module, Planned Appointment tab.

Appointment Module Note: These notes will show in red when you hover over any family member's Appointment.

Family Urgent Financial Notes: Notes entered in the Account module andFamily Urgent Financial Notes section cannot be edited here. These notes also show in red when you hover over any family member's appointment.

Appointments for Patient: Lists all of the patient's planned, scheduled, broken, unscheduled, and completed appointments. By default, Today's appointments show in yellow, and future appointments show in green. Background and text colors for appointment types can be customized in Definitions, Prog Notes Colors. Double click on an appointment to open the Edit Appointment window.

Go to Appt: Quickly jump to the selected appointment in the schedule.

Copy to Pinboard: Copy the selected appointment to the Pinboard for scheduling. Completed appointments cannot be copied.

Entire Family: Quickly schedule Recall appointments for all family members. For each patient, an appointment with the necessary procedures will be sent to the PinBoard for scheduling.

Schedule Recall: Send a recall appointment, with the necessary procedures, to the PinBoard for scheduling. If a recall appointment is already scheduled, you will receive a message. If patient has an unscheduled recall appointment, and you schedule a new recall appointment with the same procedures, the procedures will be duplicated in the Treatment Plan. 

Note for Patient: Create a patient note that can be placed on the Appointment schedule. Enter notes in the lower left, then click OK to send it to the PinBoard. Place the note on the schedule like an appointment. These notes can be set complete, but cannot be broken or sent to unscheduled list.

Create New Appt: Open the Edit Appointment window to schedule a new appointment.

Planned Appointments
A Planned Appointment is usually created by a chairside assistant, then used by front staff to quickly schedule a patient. It appears in the Appointments for Patient list just like any other appointment, except it has no date or time.

To schedule a planned appointment from this window:
1. Click on the planned appointment.
2. Click Copy to Pinboard.
3. Place the appointment on the schedule.

The planned appointment will remain in the Appointments for Patient list until it is deleted in the Chart module, Planned Appointment tab. The scheduled appointment will also list. Both should have the same procedures and length.

Usually changes to a planned appointment are not changed by front staff. If changes are needed, it is usually because of poor communication between the chairside assistant and the patient. The chairside assistant should instead review the chart and discuss the next steps with the patient. In some offices, the dentist specifies the planned appointment (procedures and length). If a patient leaves the office without making an appointment, the planned appointment can be scheduled later.

See Supplemental Services for vendors that provide online appointment scheduling, etc. as an add-on service.