Unless otherwise stated, the tools and functions described in the following sections are common to both single and multi-column appointment books

Customising the Appointment Book Appearance

Users with appropriate security access can customise the appointment book appearance to optimise viewer interpretation.

1. Click Configure > Appointment Book... to display the Appointment Book window:
   
   

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2. Click the Appearance Options button to open the Appointment Book Appearance window:
   
   

3. Change the parameters at right and view your changes in the dynamic graphic display at left (see parameter explanations below).

4. Check that you haven't used the same colour for conflicting options, such as white for both 'Available time' and 'No Category', and then click OK when finished.

Week View Options:

Day View Options

To select Normal View Appointment Fields

To select Wide View Appointment Fields

To use a picture as a background

Click the 'picture' radio button and use a graphic such as a photo, texture, sketch, logo, etc. as a background.

The graphic must be accessible on your computer/network via the Browse button.

The graphic is displayed at 100% size, so if small it will be 'tiled' (the available space will be filled with multiple 'tiles' of the same image).

If it is larger than the space it is to be displayed in, it will be cropped (truncated) to fit, from the right and bottom of the graphic.

A small sample of the chosen graphic displays in the box next to the Browse button.

Tip: If you choose to use a graphic for the background, choose one that is not too 'busy', or if you can, edit the picture using a graphics program to reduce the contrast, increase the brightness, or reduce the colour depth, to give it a pastel effect. Alternatively, use a 'texture' graphic or other subtle background.

Online Booking Icons

Online Booking icons display in the top right corner of the appointment:

Appointment Colour Status

Overview

Each appointment book user can configure a set of coloured appointment statuses to visually differentiate appointment book blocks according to the patient stages of care within the dental practice.

Configurable stages of care by colour are: Booked > Confirmed > Late > Arrived > Seated in chair > Treatment complete > Checked out | FTA (Failed to Arrive).

This visual indication extends to the length of stay timer so that with a glance at the appointment book practice personnel can immediately see each patient's stage of care and how long the patient has been waiting at that stage.

The booked provider for an appointment can be indicated by means of a vertical colour bar.

Features

Benefits

Clear visual display

With a glance at the appointment book the EXACT user can see the stage of care of a patient and how long the patient has been waiting at that stage:

Improved responsiveness to patient needs translates into better customer service

Practice personnel quickly identify where patients have been waiting for long periods and are better able to respond to their needs.

More streamlined practice workflow

Being comprehensively aware of the patient stages of care enables all practice personnel to better collaborate in streamlining the practice workflow.

Requirements

EXACT version 11.3 SP5 or later

Limitations and exclusions:

• The status timer refresh is from 1-2 minutes. This is because EXACT uses the system time to calculate and appointment book, and this has an internal refresh timer. If the system time and refresh timer are in synch the timer will refresh at 1 minute, and at worst it will refresh at 2 minutes.

• The Timer is not present on the appointment card tool tip.

• Appointment Colour Status is not supported by Single column appointment book (single provider view) and the Week view.

• The booked provider identifier will only display for a Dentist when using the co-duties workflow and the other provider is a Hygienist.

• The double booking colour setting takes precedence over any status configuration setting.

Using

With Appointment colour status correctly configured the primary colour display for the appointment book as a whole is by status / stage of care:

Given the appropriate security settings, each EXACT user can configure the appearance settings of their appointment book. Users can configure the changing colour of the appointment cards according to the appointment status (stage of care) to provide a clear representation of a patient's stage of care.

To use the Colour Status Display

The status icon and the appointment colour show the Status / stage of care 

IMPORTANT:

These colours are over-ridden by the double booking colour setting, which always takes precedence.

All practice workstations that are configured for Status view will see the changes made by other workstations.

A Provider colour indicator shows the booked provider for the appointment.
The colour is the same as the appointment colour set for the Provider.
For co-duties the dentist identifier takes precedence over the hygienist, so only the dentist identifier will display when there is an overlap in the appointment.

A Status Timer (hours:minutes) shows how long a patient within the practice has been at the current status. The in-practice statuses are Arrived, In Chair and Treatment Complete.
The timer is visible in the coloured appointment block but not in the tooltip (the information display that appears when you mouseover the appointment block).
The timer will stop after 12 hrs and will no longer be displayed on the appointment.

If you drag (move) an appointment, the colours are retained to retain the status and provider. See Appointment retention guidelines for details.

The functionality is supported in multiple appointment book views:

The Appointment Colour Status is not supported in the appointment book Single Provider View and Week View.

Appointment Statuses, Icons and Triggers

Each appointment has a Status box in the top left corner, with status indicators of the patient's current stage in the appointment workflow:

If a patient does not arrive there is also a Failed to Arrive (FTA) icon:

Each time the status is clicked, it cycles through the following status items:

• A telephone handset icon indicates that the patient’s appointment has been confirmed; this option can be switched off in the configuration of the appointment book if not required.

• A hollow square icon indicates that the patient has not yet arrived.

• A stick figure icon indicates that the patient has arrived for their appointment.

• The patient in the chair icon indicates that the patient’s records are open in the surgery.

• A tick icon indicates the appointment has been completed and the patient is checked out. (Appointments are automatically updated as completed when the provider charges or TC’s the patient from the surgery).

These icons are especially significant for practices that use the appointment workflow to track and process patients through the practice.

Status Triggers

These statuses are triggered as follows:

Although the appointment workflow is a partly automated process, from EXACT v12.2 it is possible to manually set appointment statuses.

Resetting the appointment Status

Requires EXACT v12.2 or later. It is possible to manually reset or change a patient's appointment workflow status to either

• Booked (not yet in the workflow)

• Arrived (has been processed through reception and is now awaiting clinical treatment)

• In the Chair (being treated in the Clinic - only the assigned Provider can change the patient to this status)

• Complete (has been treated and is now in reception being processed through departure)

• Checked Out (completed the workflow)

To reset the patient appointment status

Right-click the appointment and select the reset status from the context menu:

(the options may vary depending on stages in the workflow and permissions)

IMPORTANT: When you reset the appointment status EXACT resets its expectation of where that patient is in the practice and what actions are applicable to that patient's current stage of the workflow.

Select Reset Appointment Status to set the patient to Booked.

You'll see the status icon in the appointment change: Booked

EXACT expects that this patient has not yet arrived in reception.

Select Mark as Booked to set the patient to Booked.

You'll see the status icon in the appointment change: Booked

EXACT expects that this patient has not yet arrived in reception.

Select Mark as Arrived to set the patient to awaiting treatment in the clinic.

You'll see the status icon in the appointment change: Arrived

EXACT expects that this patient has been through the Arrivals process and is queued, awaiting treatment by the Provider.

The Provider sees this patient as a queued icon, waiting for treatment.

(valid Provider only) Select Move Patient to Chair to accept the patient into the clinic:

A patient can only be moved to the chair by the Provider to whom that patient has been assigned in the appointment book, so only that Provider will see this option to Move to Chair.

You'll see the status icon in the appointment change: In the chair

EXACT expects that this patient is in the chair being treated by the Provider.

Select Mark as Complete to mark the clinical treatment phase as complete for this patient.

You'll see the status icon in the appointment change: Complete

EXACT expects that this patient has been treated and moved to Reception, and pops up the patients Departure Task List, where applicable.

Select Mark as Checked Out to mark the reception departure phase as complete for this patient.

You'll see the status icon in the appointment change: Checked out

EXACT expects that this patient has been processed through departure and left the practice.

Appointment retention guidelines

"Retention" here refers to cases where an appointment is moved, cut, copied or opened, and whether in these situations the booked provider rules and the colour status rules are kept intact.

NOTE: In actions with past appointments there is no retention.

Retention for Booked Provider Identifier Colour

i.e. In what circumstances is this vertical coloured bar retained:

Retention for Colour Status Rules

i.e. in what circumstances does the whole appointment block retain its colour: