Define the visit schedule for a branch

When you define the visit schedule for a branch, you specify the amount of time that must occur between the visits included in a branch. You should be aware of how the time between visits is calculated.

The first visit in a branch is scheduled based on the previously scheduled visit in the non-branched visit schedule or the final scheduled visit in the previous branch tier. For example, visit A in Branch 1 can be scheduled 15 days after the Baseline visit in the non-branched schedule. Or the Day 1 visit in Branch 3 can be scheduled 7 days after the final scheduled visit in Branch 2.

Before you begin, you must know that you cannnot schedule the first visit in a branch if no visits have been scheduled prior to the branch. For example, you must have an initial (non-branched) visit schedule or another branch prior to the branch you want to schedule. If the Add Schedule button is not enabled, check that a scheduled visit has been added above the branch.

Make sure you already created a visit branch with scheduled visits included in it. For step-by-step instructions, see Create a visit branch and Add a scheduled visit to a branch.

To define the visit schedule for a branch:

1. Access the Draft version of a study as described in Open a study's design.
2. On the right, below Scheduled Visits, select the branch for which you want to define the visit schedule. If there are multiple branches in the carousel, use the right and left arrows next to each branch name to navigate to the branch you want.
3. In the branch, click Add Schedule above the visit you want to schedule.
4. Fill in the fields in the top section.

   Note:

   To view tips for completing a field, click into the field or choose an option.

   Field	Description
   Scheduled From	By default, this field shows the previous visit that was scheduled either in the branch or in the section above the branch where your visit is located. Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the visit name to select a different visit, if needed. If the visit is part of a cycle, you can only select a previous visit in the cycle. The system defaults to the first visit within the cycle.
   Days	Specify the number of days between the visits.
   Hours	This field is always grayed out.

   

5. Fill in the fields in the Visit Window section:

   Field	Description
   Before Days	Specify how many days before the scheduled date the visit can occur.
   After Days	Specify how many days after the scheduled date the visit can occur.
   Hours	This field is always grayed out.

   

   The Add Schedule button in the branch is replaced with the number of days between the visits. Hover over the text using your cursor to view visit window details.
6. Click Save.
7. If the branch cycles, after all visits in the branch have been scheduled, you must specify when the cycle should start again. To schedule the restart of the cycle, below the last visit in the branch, click Add and follow steps 6 and 7 to complete the fields in the Schedule Visit dialog.
8. Click Save.
9. You can skip branches when scheduling visits, but only if they are located in different tiers.
   For instance, if you want to skip Branch 4 and schedule visits in Branch 5 starting with the last visit in Branch 3 you need to:
   1. Click the right arrow next to the branch you want to skip until the Skip button appears.
   2. Click Skip.
   3. Go to the branch for which you want to define the visit schedule and schedule the visits following steps 5, 6, 7, and 8.