Recurring Appointments from the patient record

Schedule recurring appointments via the patient's record Bookings menu, or via the Practice Explorer > Appointment Book.

Before you begin

The procedure is virtually identical, except for the possibility of automatically populated fields, depending on the work area accessed:
  • Via Bookings: click the New button and select the appropriate Practitioner from the drop down list. The Patient's name is automatically populated.
  • Via the Appointment Book: select the Practitioner, Date and Time slot of the first appointment prior to adding the appointment. This information is automatically populated in the new appointment screen. Selecting the appropriate Patient is required from this work area.

    Regardless of which method you use, the appointment will be available in both Bookings and the Appointment Book (always cross referencing).

Procedure

  1. For this example the appointment is made through the Appointment Book. Access Practice Explorer > Appointment Book from the margin menu. This will automatically display today's appointments for each Practitioner. From the calendar tool, select the required date. All appointments recorded for that day are displayed.
  2. Click in the time slot for the appropriate practitioner to select the appointment time.
  3. Double-click the slot to display the New Appointment Wizard, or right click and select Add > Appointment.
  4. Enter the Patient's surname into the Patient field.
  5. Select the Type of appointment from the dropdown list.
  6. The Referring > Doctor field automatically populates the patient's most current referral (if attached to the Patient's record) and referring doctor. If required, a new referral can be added via this screen by clicking the drop-down arrow and then clicking the Add button.
  7. Tick the Make multiple recurring appointments check box.
  8. Click Next A free Comment field is provided to record any relevant information regarding the patient's appointment.
  9. Click Next to display the Create > Recurring > Appointments screen.
  10. The Date of first appointment will automatically populate from the selection made via the Appointment Book. This can be altered if required.
  11. Enter the Number > of > appointments the patient requires.
  12. Enter the Time between bookings; enter a number to represent a frequency of duration, and then select a period via the drop-down list provided e.g. "3 Months".
  13. Depending on the period you selected at Step 12 the Best day/date in period field changes accordingly. If you selected 'Month', you can use this field to specify an actual day date e.g. "6th"
  14. Specify a Best > time for the appointment; either manually or via the associated clock button

  15. Select whether or not to Allow double bookings by enabling/disabling the associated check box, and then indicate how many double-ups are permitted.
  16. Click Next to display the Revise Recurring Appointments screen.
  17. Take a moment to confirm the appointment schedule is suitable. Amendments can be made from this screen by clicking into the required cell and manually making the change. A Print list option is also available.
    • A Next button will be made available to this window if Bluechip determines any warnings are required about the appointments just recorded. Click the Next button to reveal the Review Appointment Warnings screen.
  18. Click the Finish button when you are ready to record the range of multiple appointments. The new appointments are also entered in the Appointment Book.

Results