General Tab

The General tab in the Scheduling module allows you to set up how appointments are displayed and to define the characteristics of how appointments are scheduled.

The following areas are availble from the General tab:

• Display Appointments: Enabling this setting allows patient portal users to see upcoming and past appointments in the Patient Portal. Having this setting enabled allows Patient Portal users to use self-scheduling services and video visits.
• Self-Scheduling: Enabling this setting allows Patient Portal users to schedule appointments with providers they have previously seen, schedule favorited appointments, reschedule appointments, reschedule appointments, cancel appointments, and book prior appointments again without having to contact the provider directly. Self-scheduling can be limited to specific appointment types.
• Find Care in Portal: Enabling this setting allows Patient Portal users to search for and schedule new care for appointment types that are set to allow self-scheduling.
• Find Care Outside of Portal: When this setting is enabled, users outside of the Patient Portal can search for and schedule new care for appointment types that are set to allow self-scheduling.
• Display Specialty Selection: When this setting is enabled, the selected specialty is displayed throughout the scheduling workflow for added context. If an organization's appointment types often include the specialty in their names, consider disabling this option to reduce duplication.
• Scheduling Lead Time (Hours): The scheduling lead time is the minimum amount of time in hours ahead of an appointment slot that self-scheduling may occur.
• Rescheduling Lead Time (Hours): The rescheduling lead time is the minimum amount of time before an existing appointment that self-rescheduling can occur. To reschedule after the time has passed, patient portal users are directed to call the clinic.
• Cancellation Lead Time (Hours): The minimum amount of time ahead of an existing appointment that self-cancellation can occur. To cancel after this time has passed, patient portal users are direct to call the clinic.
• Maximum Number of Self-Schedulable Appointments Per Day: The largest number of appointments that a patient portal user can self-schedule in a continuous 24-hour period. Limiting this number can ensure that users do not abuse the scheduling system by booking unnecessary appointments.
• Maximum Number of Self-Reschedulable Appointments Per Day: The largest number of appointments that a patient portal user can self-reschedule in a continuous 24-hour period. Limiting this number can ensure that users do not abuse the scheduling system by booking unnecessary appointments.
• Maximum Number of Self-Cancelable Appointments per Day: The largest number of appointments that a patient portal user can self-cancel in a continuous 24-hour period. Limiting this number can mitigate accidental or malicious cancellation of appointments.
• Scheduling in Advance Limit (Month): This is the maximum amount of time ahead of an appointment slot that a user can self-schedule an appointment. Organizations may want to limit this time because schedules are more likely to change for dates further in the future.
• Safety Policy: The Safety Policy contains a message telling Patient Portal users what to do if they experience a health emergency. The Safety policy is created in the Policy Editor module of the Administrative Console.
• Self-Scheduling Policy: The self-scheduling policy outlines your organization's policy around self-scheduling. The self-scheduling policy is created in the Policy Editor module of the Administrative Console.