 | The Appointment Search is a tool to use in discussion with patients in order to identify the best appointment option. It allows Receptionists to see all available appointment book gaps and guides them progressively towards identifying the optimum gaps. For example, the Receptionist can start by asking the patient for the best session (morning, afternoon, evening or night) for a particular day, then click that session to drill in, and read out specific start times to the patient. Practitioners can search from multiple areas: |
Overview
Purpose
Appointment Search speeds the process of finding appropriate appointment slots in the Appointment Book for both future appointments and for recall appointments.
It enables a user to address the appointment criteria required by the clinician, the configured patient preferences, and the patient's verbal directions.
It searches across Clinics, Blocks, Rooms and overlapping Providers within a single Room.
It is suitable for all practices.
It is used primarily by Receptionists, but may also be used by Clinicians and Practice Managers.
It is particularly beneficial for practices with complex appointment books, especially those with clinics, blocks and rooms used by more than one provider type (e.g. Dentist and Hygienist).
Features
Multi-location Appointment Search | Available from EXACT v12.10, and upgraded in v12.11. See: Multi-location Appointment Search This applies to practices that have multiple Locations configured under the same practice, and who therefore need to make bookings across these locations. With multiple Locations configured patients can book with their preferred Provider regardless which location that Provider is located. Receptionists can also offer a wider range of appointment options for multiple Providers across multiple Locations. The Provider dropdown/s instead of showing the preferred Providers now lists all Providers:  Where there are no Rooms, the Location (LOC) is indicated against each Provider:  Where Rooms are enabled, the location (LOC) shows alongside the room name instead:  Even with the Provider-Location specified, you can still override the Location:  Booking Summary: A summary of the booking information displays alongside the Booking button:  |
Appointment Search console |  The Appointment Search is a mini-console that instantly displays results based on information in the Appointment and in the Patient Preferences. It auto-displays the recommended day, session, and start times, but the Receptionist can flexibly change options in discussion with the patient. The search returns appointment optimum options that are adjacent to others in the book, thereby preventing the appointment being located in the middle of a large un-utilised smaller gap, but from v11.4 it also displays standard gaps that may be isolated in the book. The console caters to practices that use multiple Locations, enabling searches across rooms and locations, or just across Locations where Rooms are not configured. It is possible to Search for a single Provider in multiple Locations (for example, DentistA practices in Location1 during the week and in Location2 on Saturdays). |
Search speed | A window displays the appointment details and preferences for the search. As soon as it is ready the first available time that meets the search criteria is shown as selected by default, and can be booked with one click by pressing the Book Appointment button. Search preferences can be changed at any time, and the search will immediately search again to find new appointments that match. You can keep on changing the preferences until they are correct - you do not have to wait for the search to finish before making changes. |
Manual changes to search preferences do not affect Patient File preferences | Changing the patient preferences in the search does not affect the configured preferences in the Patient File. |
Fast selection of hours by dragging |  |
Select times to include or to exclude | By default the search is set to include (Times Between). You can also opt to search on exclusion (Times Outside of).  |
Appointment Search Window - one click to instantly toggle the patient's Day Preference: | By default the search is for the patient preferred days, as specified in the Patient File Recalls Tab, but with a single click you can instantly toggle results between different days of the week, with no time delay for processing/recalculation.  |
Appointment Search from the Clipboard | To search for a an appointment slot from the Clipboard
When the Search dialogue opens, follow normal Search procedures as covered in Using the Appointment Search Window. |
Appointment Search from the Hold List | See Searching from the Hold List   |
Search for co-ordinated appointments | If you search for two or more appointments simultaneously, EXACT co-ordinates their times, which is useful for family appointments. See Co-ordinating multiple patient appointments |
If you have Clinics enabled, there are Clinics and Spaces options |
 |
The suggested time in the Appointment Workflow (Departure Task List) utilises this same Appointment Search Window | Click Appointment Search icon to open the Appointment Search Window.  |
Two Provider Types can be rostered per room |  |
Overlapping Blocks and Clinics are now more clearly represented in the display |
 |
Right-click Menu has more functionality |
The right-click menu caters to multiple Providers per room, so that you can specify which Provider you wish to delete or edit. The right-click menu also caters to adding Clinics and Blocks.  |
EXACT correctly associates Providers when you drag appointments |
 |
Benefits
Appointment Search works intuitively with the way that Receptionists conversationally book appointments with patients.
It starts sensibly with identifying the most convenient session (morning, afternoon, evening or night) on a particular day.
The search is fast and intuitive - in a best-case scenario a Receptionist can book the best appointment gap for the patient in just 3 clicks: select Session > select Time > Book the appointment.
The Appointment Search is particularly beneficial for practices with complex appointment books, especially those with clinics, blocks and rooms used by more than one provider type (e.g. Dentist and Hygienist).
In practices with multiple Locations, practitioners can optionally search across the Locations for any appointment that suits a patient.
This includes searching by Provider or by Room:
Practitioners can also search for a single Provider across multiple Locations.
This applies where Providers may for example work some days of the week in one location and on other days work in a second location.
It can also apply where Providers work in clinics across multiple floors of a building, where each floor is configured as a Location.
The returned results clearly differentiate optimum appointment gaps (adjacent to other items in the book, so there is no chance the that the appointment will be located in the middle of a large gap) and standard gaps (that may have gaps on either side). Appointment Search users can try to book patients for the optimum gaps, but then fall back on standard gaps if necessary:
The Appointment Search Window is a mini console that overlays the appointment book while allowing the appointment book to be fully visible through the booking procedure.
Using Appointment Search, a Receptionist is more likely to find and fill appointment book gaps compared with booking by hand.
For example:
A Receptionist booking on average four weeks out by hand is likely to click the +4W button to go directly to the part of the book where gaps appear, skipping the intervening days.
But the Appointment Search might offer up a gap that has just appeared early next week due to another patient's cancellation.
The upgraded search algorithm is available by default in EXACT, requiring no module purchase, activation, or configuration.
The algorithm processes searches faster than previous versions, and automatically takes into account patient preferences.
Providers can be rostered in a single Room so long as they are of different types (Dentist plus Hygienist).
Requirements
Initiating Appointment Searches
Search can be initiated in these ways for future appointments or for recalls:
By clicking the search button in the appointment workflow departure task list.
By placing a single appointment in the Hold List or the Clipboard and selecting the Hold List search button.
By placing multiple appointments in the Hold List (usually for family appointments) and selecting the Hold List search button.
See Co-ordinating multiple patient appointments
NOTE - Multiple appointments in the Hold list:
If two or more appointments are placed on the hold list, then the original multi-appointment search function will be used. In all other cases the single appointment search will occur.
Search speed
A window displays the appointment details and preferences for the search. As soon as it is ready the first available time that meets the search criteria is shown as selected by default, and can be booked with one click by pressing the Book Appointment button.
Search preferences can be changed at any time, and the search will immediately search again to find new appointments that match. You can keep on changing the preferences until they are correct - you do not have to wait for the search to finish before making changes.
Searching from the Appointment Workflow
(Requires that Appointment Workflow is configured and functional)
To open an Appointment Search window from the Departure Task List
From the Appointment Workflow Departure Task List, click the Search icon 
to open the Appointment Search window, pre-populated with first available times, from where you can modify the parameters and book the appointment.
SEE Using the Appointment Search Window for detailed instructions on using the Appointment Search window.
To open the first available appointment slot in the Appointment Book
Click the "First available" hyperlink to display the first appropriate free slot in the Appointment Book.
Drag the hyperlink into that slot in the book.
Searching from the Clipboard
From EXACT version 12.2 it is possible to use the newer appointment search dialogue from the Clipboard and Hold List, both of which also have a right-click context menu.
To search for an appointment slot from the Clipboard
Click the Clipboard icon / name repeatedly until you see listed the appointment for which you want to search:
Then either
Click the Search icon:
OR Right-click the clipboard > Search.
When the Search dialogue opens, follow Search procedures as described in Using the Appointment Search Window.
To search for ALL clipboard appointment slots
Right-click the clipboard and select Search All from the context menu.
The Appointment Time Search window displays result options for all clipboard appointments:
Searching from the Hold List
Overview
The Hold List is a temporary storage area for appointments.
Moving appointments to the Hold List
Drag appointments from the appointment book to the Hold List at bottom right of the screen, or drag them to the clipboard, which causes them to also display in the Hold List.
Functionality
From the Hold List you can Edit a selected appointment, Add an appointment, Delete appointments from the list, Search All appointments, or Search for appointment slot options for a single appointment.
Search
This opens the appointment search window that was introduced in version 11. See Using the Appointment Search Window.
Search All
Search All is a simultaneous search to locate slots in the Appointment Book. Use it for co-ordinating multiple patient appointments for multiple people, which enables the booking of family appointments.
If two or more appointments are placed on the Hold List or Clipboard and you select Search All, then the original multi-appointment search function will be used. In all other cases the modern single appointment search applies.
See Co-ordinating multiple patient appointments
NOTES:
Appointments placed in the Hold List are not saved when you close the appointment book. If you try to close the appointment book and there are appointments in the Hold List, a warning will appear. You then have the opportunity to place these appointments in new slots or to click Yes and permanently delete them.
If an appointment listed in Hold List becomes deleted, invalid or completed, when you attempt to drag it to the appointment book you will see a message 'The corresponding planned treatment on the patient's chart tab has either been completed or no longer exists. Do you still wish to book this appointment?' Click YES to still book the appointment and link it to the Chart tab. Click NO to not book the appointment.
SEE ALSO: Using the Clipboard
To add Appointments to the Hold List
Either
Drag an appointment from the appointment book page to the Hold List:
Use the +1 button at the bottom of the Hold List to open the Add / Edit Appointment window from where you can edit details and select Copy to Clipboard (which also copies to Hold List).
Or, from any Edit Appointment window, use the Copy to Clipboard button, which also copies to the Hold List.
Patient appointments listed on the clipboard are also viewable under the Hold List, so the means of listing appointments in the Clipboard also apply to the Hold List.
To search for a SINGLE appointment from the Hold List
With a single appointment in the Hold List, select the Search All button or right-click > Search All to display the standard Appointment Search search window:
SEE ALSO: Using the Appointment Search Window for detailed instructions on using this Appointment Search window.
To search for MULTIPLE appointments from the Hold List (typically Family Appointments)
With multiple appointments in the Hold List, select the Search All button or right-click > Search to display the Appointment Time Search Search window:
Using the Appointment Search Window
A window displays the appointment details and preferences for the search. As soon as it is ready, the first available time that meets the search criteria is shown as selected by default. Book by clicking the Book button.
Change parameters and the Search will immediately search again to find new appointments that match. You can keep on changing the parameters until they are suitable - you do not have to wait for the search to finish before making changes.
Practices that use Locations can benefit from multi-Location searching.
To use the Appointment Search Window
The window has different functional areas:
Initially EXACT displays results with the optimum option highlighted (day, session, start time) based on configured preferences in the patient file recalls tab.
You can book appointments with as few as three clicks: 1) initiate the search, 2) select the session, 3) book the suggested optimum appointment.
TIP: Start from the general and then drill down... ask the patient which session (Morning, Afternoon or Evening) is most suitable on which day, then drill down to more specific available slots.
Use the top dropdown menus (above the calendar) to apply various parameters, and ask the patient as appointment slots become available.
You can override the initial (top) Provider / Room / Location parameters by flexibly selecting from the dropdown menus below the calendar. In this case, if EXACT calculates your Location dropdown selection as being inappropriate (for example, the Dentist is not scheduled to be at that Location at that time), you will see a Warning popup that explains why it is inappropriate.
When the patient agrees to an appointment, click the Book button.
Alternatively, discuss options starting with dates and sessions that are the most convenient. If none of the dates in the display are suitable, change the search parameters and/or simply click the < Previous Page or Next page > buttons to display more date options, each with its available sessions.
NOTES:
Search preferences can be changed at any time, and the search will immediately search again to find new appointments that match. You can keep on changing the preferences until they are correct; you do not have to wait for the search to finish before making changes.
Any modified day preferences for this appointment are NOT saved back to the patient file.
Details:
 | Appointment details.  Patient name | planned treatment service codes | appointment duration | Appointment Category colour swatch (if a category is set for the appointment) - hover the mouse over the box to see what the category is | Appointment Payor displayed as a colour swatch (hover your mouse cursor over the colour swatch for a tooltip description) If no category is set for the appointment then only the colour swatch showing payor will be present. |
 | Days preferred. Initial auto-display of the patient preferences (days and times) as recorded in the Patient Preferences area of the Patient File > Recalls tab:  NOTE: Any modified preferences for this appointment are NOT saved back to the patient file. |
 | Times.  By default the search is set to include (Times Between). You can also opt to search on exclusion (Times Outside of). Use the search Outside these times to find times that avoid the selected times. For example, if the patient works part time in the afternoon, you can search for times Outside of 12pm-3pm, and it would return suggestions in the morning or late afternoon. Drag the sliders to define a time range per day. EXACT will search within this range if set for Times Between, or outside of this range if set for Times Outside. |
 | Providers (Dentists and Hygienists).   If an appointment is for a specific provider, but no suitable results can be found, the provider selection will allow you to change the search over to be for Any Dentist or Any Hygienist. However if the appointment started out as being for Any Dentist, then the dropdown will allow you to select between Any Dentist or Any Hygienist or the patient's dentist or hygienist (if they have been set in the patient record). To search for a different specific provider, you will need to close the search window and select a provider for the appointment. For coordinated duty appointments the search options will only appear if there is time selected for each provider type. e.g. With only dentist time selected, then only the dentist dropdown menu will appear. As with non-coordinated duties appointments the dropdowns will only toggle between the dentist / hygienists selected for the appointment and All Dentists / All Hygienists, or if no dentist / hygienist is selected for the appointment, then between the patient's dentist / hygienist and All Dentists / All Hygienists. As with non-coordinated duties appointments the dropdowns will only toggle between 1) the dentist or hygienists selected for the appointment and 2) All dentists or All hygienists. Or if no dentist or hygienist is selected for the appointment, then between 1) the patient's dentist or hygienist and 2) All dentists or All hygienists. |
 | In Room. If the appointment book uses Rooms to book appointments the search preferences will contain a room selector:  If the appointment is already selected to be in a particular room, this will be defaulted, but if not it will be set to Any Room. Use the dropdown menu to select any specific room, or set it to Any Room. For practices that use multiple Locations with Rooms, the dropdown menu may include Rooms across two or more Locations. For example:  |
 | Times located (Clinics). If your practice uses clinics, and has set some clinics in the future the search preferences will contain a "Clinics" selector. The default option is Matching Clinics and Open Space.  The available options are shown in the table below. You can select one of these options to adjust the times returned as indicated. Searching for an appointment with 'green' clinic time will match the following gaps depending on the option selected:  |
 | Start Date. The earliest date from which to find appointments. If you are searching from the hold list or clipboard, the Start Date will default to today. If you are searching from the Appointment Workflow departure task list, the start date will be the earliest bookable date for either the recall or the appointment in the treatment plan. You can change the date by either typing a new date into the box, or clicking on the calendar and selecting a new one. You will not be able to select or enter a date that is earlier than the earliest bookable date. Change this the date as required, but note these conventions:
|
 | Selected date and session, displaying times over 6 hours and the booking button. The first available session opens immediately to speed booking. It shows available times over six hours for a particular date. There are four possible six hour-sessions:  Morning (6am to 12pm) Afternoon (12pm-6pm) Evening (6pm- Midnight) Night (Midnight to 6am) Sessions only show if 1) they have available time and 2) they meet the search criteria. If you click any other session,
The display for an open session shows the times over six hours:  Click one of the available times to be ready for booking. In the background the appointment book will centre on this time. |
Booking details for the current selections:  For the selected time, these are the options for rooms, providers and clinics. Normally it is not necessary to use the dropdown menu because the optimum option is already selected by default. Click the dropdown menu if you need to select an alternative to the default. If you click a different time the options in this Book Appointment row changes appropriately. If the appointment is already selected to be in a particular room, this will be defaulted; if not it will be set to Any Room. Optionally use this Location dropdown to select a Location:  Your selection may be different to the Location specified at top left of the screen. If you select a Location that EXACT calculates is inconsistent (for example, the selected Provider won't be at that Location), you will see a Warning message with a prompt to continue:  Select the Book button when you and the patient agree that all selected appointment options are suitable:  You will immediately see the following:
| |
 | Available sessions for the displayed dates. Click a session to
|
 | Click Previous Page or Next Page to display other dates/sessions than are currently on display. |
Multi-location Appointment Search
Appointment search for a single Provider across multiple Locations
Practices with multiple Locations often have individual Providers conducting treatment in Rooms across those Locations.
Patients tend to book appointments with their personal Provider, so Receptionists from one location need to be able to offer patients alternative appointments for the same Provider in another location.
For example, a patient wants to book an appointment with her preferred Dentist at Location 1 for Saturday morning, but that Dentist only practices at Location 2 on Saturday mornings.
The multi-location Provider Appointment Search gives patients a full choice of appointment slots for their personal Provider, wherever that Provider may be working across the entire practice.
Multi-location capability maximises appointment bookings for the practice, which contributes revenue.
Requirements:
This full functionality applies only to practices that have
EXACT version 12.11 or later.
Multiple Locations configured
Multi-location search with Rooms configured:
In this case the Locations are shown against Rooms, not against the Providers.
If you select Provider: Any Dentist and In Room: Any Room, you will then have multi-Location/Room options in the manual dropdown menu against the Book button:
Multi-location Search without Rooms configured:
In this case the Locations (LOC in this example) are shown against Providers, based on Preferred Location recorded in the Provider file.
Without Rooms configured, the multi-location Appointment Search historically could at best offer a list of appointments at Provider Preferred Locations.
However, from v12.11 there is an option to override the constraint of Provider- Preferred Location:
There are also ways to "hack" the Provider-Location constraint:
Configuring Provider Preferred Locations as a spread across the Locations, and training patients to accept different Providers.
Replicating multiple versions of the same Provider (Dave-A and Dave-B) and setting a different Preferred Location for each Provider-version.
To search across Locations for appointments with one Provider (Rooms configured)
Requires that Rooms have been made available for Multi-Location Appointment Search
Run an Appointment Search as normal (see Using the Appointment Search Window), but proceed as follows:
Select the Provider (in this example, Dentist RGP)
Select Any Room (because you want to locate appointment options for RGP across any Rooms, regardless of Location).
So long as RGP has been configured as practicing in Rooms across the Locations, you can then select a Room/Location for RGP, and view the appointment slot options from which to choose:
Co-ordinating Multiple Patient Appointments
EXACT has the means to co-ordinate multiple patient appointments, which is particularly useful for family appointments.
To co-ordinate multiple patient appointments from the Hold List or from the Clipboard
This is typically for family appointments.
Drag or Add patient appointments to the Clipboard or Hold List:
Either
Right-click > Search All in the clipboard:
- or -
In the Hold List right-click > Search All or select the Search All button
... to display the Appointment Time Search window:
If the patients cannot attend an appointment until after a certain date, enter this in the Search From field.
In the Search For field, enter the number of days within which to search (counted from the Search From date).
In the From and Until time fields, enter the time range the patient prefers or is available for.
Check (tick) the weekdays that the patients prefers to attend. The default is the overlap between the patient Day Preferences configured in each Patient File.
If the patients prefer a particular Provider, highlight the Provider's name.
If there are particular clinics that are appropriate for the treatment, check (tick) the button, otherwise accept the default of Search all times.
Click the
Search button.
EXACT will search for and display appropriate times.
Ask the patients which of the displayed times suits them, then click to highlight it. Notice that there are incompatible times if the second patient's availability is blocked out by the first patient's selection.
Requirement: You need to select compatible times for all patients before clicking the Book button.
Click the
button to create the patient appointments.
The appointment is created in the appointment book, and the entry is removed from the Hold List and the Clipboard.
Creating a Roster in the Appointment Book
Drag to define an appointment area, right-click and choose Add Roster...
Enter details in the Add Roster Window and then click OK:
The roster displays in the Appointment Book, labelled with the Provider initials:
Creating Overlapping Rosters in one Room
From EXACT version 11.3, it is possible to roster two Providers in a single room, so long as they are different Provider Types (Dentist and Hygienist).
Create a Roster with one Provider.
Repeat the procedure - drag over the same area of the Appointment Book and add a second Provider, ensuring that the second Provider is a different Provider Type to the first.
The roster changes outline colour and is now labelled with both Provider names:
Mouseover the Roster and check that the tooltip reflects the correct information:
Editing Overlapping Rosters in one Room
Right-click the Roster and select Edit Roster for [Provider]
Edit the Provider details in the Roster window and then click OK:
Configuring
The Appointment Search comes pre-configured, and in general there is no need for manual configuration.
However, to make a Room available for Multi-location Appointment Search, the Room must be configured with a Location. See Making a Room available for Multi-Location Appointment Search
Pre-capturing patient preferences
Best Practice for speeding appointment search is to habitually capture patient appointment preferences in the Patient File Recalls Tab, so that when you display the Appointment Search window, EXACT uses these recorded appointment preferences as the initial Search parameters:
NOTE: Modifying these parameters in the Appointment Search window to suit the patient does not modify them at source in the Patient File Recalls Tab.
Making a Room Available for Multi-location Appointments
The Room must be configured with a Location in the Appointment Book Setup > Edit Room window:
