Book an appointment

Make an appointment for a patient in the Zedmed appointment book. This includes multiple and linked bookings and bookings from the waitlist. To book a surgery, see the Book a surgical procedure article.

Considerations:

• The Appointment Book that opens is for the branch you logged into. This is the default branch. 
• The change branch, press F3 and choose from the Select Branch screen
• If you select a time slot that's been booked by another workstation, you will be prompted to refresh your screen. 
• If you answer No to the screen refresh prompt, this will make a double booking in that time slot.
•  If you don't find a match for the patient, you can select Register the patient now or Cancel and make a non-patient booking.
• Book using a scheduled time that supports the appointment type. To learn more, see the create Appointment Type article.
• A daily Appointment Report can be distributed to staff. It includes cancelled or missed appointments and SMS activity.  

Make a patient appointment

This section explains how to create an appointment for an existing patient.

To make an appointment:

1. Go to Zedmed's Reception tab.
2. Select Appointments.
   The Appointments Display Grid screen will open. If the screen was already open, select Refresh. 
3. Right-click a time slot for the appointment, under the required doctor and select Add (Patient).
   The Patient Search screen will open.
4. Search for the patient and select them.
   The Appointment Details screen will open.
   To learn about searching, see the find a patient's record article.
5. Fill in the relevant appointment details:
   
   
   • In the Type field, select the Appointment Type.
   • Change the Duration if required. The End Time will update to reflect any Duration change.
   • Use the Notes section to record information relevant to the booking.
   • Any Referrals will appear on the right side. 
   • The space by Alerts shows information from the Alerts section of the patient's record. For example, it could note that the patient needs to pay in advance or that they have missed past appointments.
   • The operator's code and booking time are recorded and shown on the Booking screen.
6. Select Close to save the appointment.

Repeat, linked and multiple bookings

These topics are extensions of the Make a Patient Appointment section above.

Repeat bookings

Selecting Repeated booking (see screenshot above) on the Appointment Details screen will enable the week(s) (frequency) and Booking period fields. Use these fields to repeat the appointment every X weeks for a selected number of weeks (up to 52). When you select Close, the list of appointments will be displayed and conflicts will be checked. Deselect appointments to resolve any conflicts, and use the Search/Delete functions to remove multiple forward bookings.

Linked bookings

If the selected Appointment Type supports linked bookings, the Linked Appointment Details screen will open when you select Close to save the appointment. Linked appointments allow you to select two practitioners. One can be a non-attending practitioner to charge the attendance to. 

In the example below, an immunisation appointment has been booked with a nurse and a doctor has been added to charge the attendance to. The appointment will appear in both the nurse and doctor's schedules, so the doctor may have multiple (two) bookings in that time slot.

Multiple bookings

It's possible to create multiple bookings in any time slot. You will be warned of possible conflicts, and multiple bookings in the same time slot will be displayed in red. There is limited space to show the details, so right-click the booking and select Details for more information.  

Use the Cancellation Waiting List

If a patient makes an appointment but wants an earlier time, they can be added to the Cancellation Waiting List and given a priority. When another patient's appointment is cancelled, you can check the waitlist and move a patient to the new appointment time based on their priority.

Add an appointment to the Cancellation Waiting list

To waitlist an appointment:

1. Open the Appointment Details screen.
2. Create the appointment.
   If the patient already has an appointment, locate and open their appointment.
3. In the Cancellation Waiting Priority field, select a Low, Medium or High priority.
   The patient's appointment is now on the Cancellation Waiting List.
   To remove a patient from the waitlist, change the Cancellation Waiting Priority field back to blank.
   

Book an appointment from the Cancellation Waiting list

If your practice uses the Cancellation Waiting List, follow these steps whenever an appointment is cancelled.

To move a  waitlisted appointment:

1. Right-click the spot made available by the canceled appointment.   
2. Select Add (From Cancellation Waiting List).
   The Appointments for Cancellation List screen will open.
   This lists the patients who want an earlier appointment time, their waiting list priority and contact phone numbers.
3. Select the patient to add in the new time slot.
4. Click Select and the patient will be moved to this spot.
   The patient moved to the new appointment will have their previous appointment cancelled, and they will be removed from the Cancellation Waiting List.

Make a non-patient appointment 

New patients often have a patient record created for them before an appointment is made. However, there are times when you will want to make an appointment for someone without a patient record. For example, if you're not sure the patient will turn up.

To book an appointment for a non-registered patient:

1. Go to Zedmed's Reception tab.
2. Select Appointments.
   The Appointments Display Grid screen will open. If the screen was already open, select Refresh. 
3. Right-click the appointment's time slot and select Add (Non-Patient).
   The Appointment Details screen will open with many of the fields disabled.
4. Fill in the relevant appointment details:
   
   
   • In the Type field, select the Appointment Type.
   • Change the Duration if required. The End Time will update to reflect any Duration change.
   • Use the Notes section to record information relevant to the booking.
   • Any Referrals and Alerts will appear on the right side. 
   • The operator's code and booking time are recorded and shown on the Booking screen.
5. Select Close to save the appointment.
   When the patient arrives, you can open the appointment and use the Find Patient button then select New to start the Add Patient process. When you have completed their registration details, you will be returned to the Appointment Details screen and can Attend them directly.
   

To learn more, see:

• Appointment book time slot options
• Appointment display options