Managing an Appointment
Once an appointment has been booked, you will need to manage the appointment to keep information up to date, and to provide accurate data for your Reports.
Adding Additional Notes
At any point once the appointment has been made, additional Notes can be added. To add a Note:
- Double click on the necessary appointment
- Click the New Note button
- Enter the Note and Click Save and Back, or use the Auto Save feature. The Note will automatically be date and time stamped and the user recorded against it.
- Please note, only the last note entered will be displayed on the Appointment popup and printed on the Appointment Schedule report.
Updating the Appointment Status
There are 4 possible outcomes after an appointment has been booked. Either the appointment will be attended, failed to be attended, cancelled or deleted.
Although the Status field is capable of more than 4 options, each option will cater for at least one of the first 3 of these outcomes, the delete button in the ribbon caters for the last.
To update an appointments status, either double click on you appointment and adjust the Status combo box, or, right click on your appointment and go to the Status menu option. You will then be able to adjust the status accordingly.
Each status will do the following:
Booked
- Automatically selected when booking an appointment.
- Automatically updates the Notification field with the notification associated with this status, where the necessary patient details are available.
- Displayed in the Appointment diary with a thin blue (default colour that can be changed) line down the left of the appointment.
Attended
- Should be chosen as soon as the patient has attended their appointment.
- Automatically updates the Notification field with the notification associated with this status, where the necessary patient details are available.
- Displayed in the Appointment diary with a thin green (default colour that can be changed) line down the left of the appointment.
Failed to Attend
- Should be used shortly after the appointment time has passed and the patient hasn't turned up.
- Automatically updates the Notification field with the notification associated with this status, where the necessary patient details are available.
- Displayed in the Appointment diary with a thin red (default colour that can be changed) line down the left of the appointment.
Cancelled
- Should be used when the patient requests to cancel their appointment.
- Automatically updates the Notification field with the notification associated with this status, where the necessary patient details are available.
- Removed from the Appointments module so the time can be booked again with another appointment. Details are saved against the patient record for future reference.
Assigning an Outcome
When an appointment has been completed, an outcome of that appointment is always good to keep track of.
To update an appointments outcome:
- Double click on the necessary appointment (you can also right click on your appointment and choose the Outcome menu option)
- Click the Outcome drop down field and choose an option.
- Click Save and Back, or use the Auto Save feature.
- Outcomes can be assigned to appointments for future reference and to also provide data for the Appointment Detail report.
