Setting Up Online Scheduling

Online scheduling lets patients book themselves in from your website. It takes two settings that people routinely mistake for one, so do both before you tell anyone the feature is live.

The two switches

Online Scheduling Enabled on the ApptPro Admin page turns the feature on for the practice. That alone books nothing.

Each appointment type then has its own Offer Online toggle. Only types you switch on there can be booked, and until at least one is on, the booking page loads and offers a patient nothing at all.

This is the most common way online scheduling appears broken, and it is silent - there is no warning that the practice switch is on with nothing behind it. Turn on the types in the same sitting as the practice switch.

Choosing what to offer

The visit type list shows each type with its Duration: and Estimated Price:, which is what a patient is committing to. Check both read sensibly before offering a type - a wrong duration books the wrong amount of your day, every time.

Give every offered type an online description. It is the only explanation a patient gets of what they are booking, and a type offered without one is a slot with no context.

Start with two or three straightforward types. New patient appointments, anything needing triage, and anything expensive are better booked by a person, at least at first.

Portal features

Under Portal Features you choose what else patients can do - Ask the Doctor, Documents, History, Products, Providers, Uploads. Each is independent of scheduling.

Turn on only what you will actually service. Ask the Doctor in particular creates messages somebody has to answer, and an unanswered patient message is worse than a feature you never offered.

Terms and disclaimer

Portal Disclaimer and Terms and Portal Terms and Conditions for Patients are what patients agree to. Write them before you go live, and have whoever advises you on such things read them - this is the one part of the setup that is not easily undone after patients have accepted it.

Appearance

Portal Style carries Main Colors and an Accent, a Header Font and Content Font, a Header Image and the Dimensions it embeds at. Match your website closely enough that a patient does not think they have been sent somewhere else.

Before you publish the link

• Test your Portal URL and check Portal Location points where you expect.
• Book a real appointment yourself, on a phone, and confirm it lands on the right provider's schedule at the right length.
• Check the times offered are ones you actually want booked.
• Cancel your test booking.

Use Save your portal settings as you go.