How do I show practitioner availability in the calendar?
There are two easy ways you can block out a calendar:
Scheduling for regular occurrences: ideal for blocking out longer periods of time off, as well as regular absences - this overrides practice opening hours.
Marking someone as 'Unavailable': great for blocking out short periods of time off and for reflecting last-minute absences - this overrides schedules and practice hours.
📝 Please note: With these methods, there's no need to book 'fake' appointments to block time out in your calendar - which can lead to inaccurate utilisation reporting.
How do I use scheduling to block out the calendar?
You can use scheduling to block out annual leave and extended time off so that appointments aren't accidentally booked when they're not available.
Schedules can be found in 'Settings' > 'Diary'.
Choose a team member and create a schedule.
Set the start and end dates to match the practitioner's annual leave, and you're good to go!
The practitioner's calendar will show as unavailable on those dates.
💡 Top tip: Scheduling is also a great way to reflect your team's individual working patterns and breaks - you can adjust start and finish times, add in coffee/lunch breaks and reflect any regular appointments.
How do I use the 'Unavailable' button to override availability in the calendar?
For one-off or last-minute changes, you might want a quicker method than creating a schedule. Instead you can mark a practitioner as 'Unavailable' for an individual day in the calendar! This will override schedules or practice opening hours, and will only apply to that one day.
To do this:
Go to your 'Calendar'.
Find the date you need, and click on the name of the practitioner at the top.
Here you can mark them as unavailable (you can change it back to 'Available' at any time if you wish), or adjust their start/finish time on that particular day.
Why is it important to block out your calendar?
Blocking out your calendar for both planned and unexpected time off is important to help your administrative staff keep track of when team members are available, and ensure appointments are booked at suitable times.
📝 Please note: Blocking out your calendar shouldn't be confused with using zones to mark out periods of time in the calendar for specific activities, such as clinics and emergency slots.