Front Desk has a powerful waiting list feature that allows you to set a number of appointment parameters for clients waiting for an available appointment which constantly monitors your appointment book and provides an alert when a suitable appointment time becomes available.
To access the Waiting List, click the Waiting List option on the left hand side menu of the Appointment Book.
Patients can be added to the waiting list by double clicking in the blank area of the waiting list, or by right clicking and selecting either Add to Waiting List or Add New Patient to Waiting list.
Selecting Add to Waiting List will allow users to select an existing patient to add to the waiting list. Selecting Add New Patient to Waiting List will first bring up the menu to create a new patient file before listing waiting list options.
Users then have a range of filters that they can set to specify the particulars of the desired appointment, when one becomes available.
Users can select the priority of the appointment compared to other clients on the waiting list, as well as the practitioner(s) or practice group(s) the patient would like to see. Other options include the client’s preferred times, how long they are willing to wait for an appointment to become available as well as adding ‘Waiting List Notes’ regarding the appointment.
Clicking Finish will add the patient to the Waiting List.
Alternately, clicking Next will find the first available appointment if one is already available.
If an available appointment time is found, an appointment can be made by clicking Finish. If the appointment time is not suitable, selecting Find next available appointment will present the user with another appointment time. If an appointment cannot be found, the patient will be added to the Waiting List.
When an appointment is found or becomes available, the waiting list entry will automatically turn bold and the waiting list button begins to flash in red.
The simplest way to make the appointment is to double click on the waiting list entry. If you wanted to view the empty appointment slot prior to making the appointment, right click the waiting list entry and select Go to Appointment. Alternatively, an appointment can be made by selecting Make Appointment from the right click menu, dragging and dropping the waiting list item onto the appointment book or selecting Move to Appointment Book in order to create a link to the entry similar to the way you book a patient’s next appointment.
Appointments can be dragged/moved to the appointment book at any time, not just when an available appointment has been found. You can use this ability to easily override the conditions you have previously set if the patient has settled on an alternate appointment time.
Changes can be made to the Waiting List defaults by going to the System Information screen and select the Waiting List tab.
With the waiting list implemented in your clinic, you can let Front Desk do the work for you by searching your appointment book for available times allowing you to get on with your other duties and improve the clinic’s efficiency.
Please note the ability for the Waiting List to find available appointment times also depends on the rules you have set up in your appointment book, and whether you have ‘Available for Scheduler/Waiting List/Booking Gateway’ enabled for the rules.
Please see the following article about how to create and implement rules in Front Desk:
http://help.smartsoft.com.au/en/articles/4193650-appointment-rules