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Scheduling Templates

Create and manage scheduling templates to guide appointment booking, support rotating schedules, and control availability by day or provider.

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Purpose

Scheduling Templates help clinics structure how appointments are scheduled on the main calendar. Templates can be organized by day of the week or by provider, allowing clinics to define recurring availability patterns, rotating doctor schedules, and controlled appointment type blocks.

Templates work alongside provider availability, office hours, and direct booking settings. Core scheduling hierarchy is always respected before template logic is applied.

Before You Start

  1. Go to Admin → Scheduling → Settings.

  2. Toggle on Enable Scheduling Templates.

  3. Choose a configuration style under Define Templates By:

    • Day (default)

    • Provider

  4. Select Save.

Only one configuration style can be active at a time. Switching between Day and Provider does not delete existing templates, but templates do not carry over between styles and must be configured separately.

Before creating templates, ensure:

  • Appointment types are configured.

  • Providers and their routine availability are defined.

Where to Find Scheduling Templates

After enabling templates, go to Admin → Scheduling → Scheduling Templates.

The Scheduling Templates page displays either a day based table or provider based table, depending on your selected configuration style.

Configuration Styles

Day-Based Templates

Day based templates organize reservations by day of the week.

To create a day based template:

  1. Go to Admin → Scheduling → Scheduling Templates.

  2. Select Add New or the plus icon beside a specific day.

  3. Define:

    • Day of week

    • Start date

    • End date, or select Ongoing End Date

  4. Select Open Calendar to design the template.

Multiple templates can be created for the same day, but their date ranges cannot overlap.

Provider-Based Templates

Provider based templates organize reservations by individual provider and support advanced recurrence patterns.

When Provider is selected:

  • Each provider can have multiple template versions.

  • The main table displays:

    • Provider

    • Template Versions

    • Excluded Dates

    • Actions

  • Rows are collapsed by default and can be expanded to view:

    • Start Date

    • Recurring details

    • End Date

    • Excluded Dates

    • Edit and Delete actions

Select Calendar Overview to view all providers in a single weekly calendar view. This allows you to visually confirm alternating weeks, rotating patterns, and template assignments across providers.

Creating and Designing a Template

  1. Go to Scheduling → Scheduling Templates.

  2. Select a day or provider.

  3. Select the plus icon or choose Open Calendar.

  4. Click within a time slot or click and drag to define a block.

  5. Configure:

    • Appointment type, or enable Block Off Time

    • Start date

    • Start time

    • Duration

    • Recurring pattern, if applicable

  6. Select Save within the modal.

  7. Select the final Save to confirm the template.

Templates are not saved unless you select Save. Closing the calendar without saving will discard changes.

Updating the start time automatically adjusts the template block position in the calendar view.

Calendar Behavior

  • Office hours determine the visible time range.

  • Days without office hours are grayed out and cannot be selected for recurrence.

  • Provider availability, unavailability, and breaks appear as grayed areas.

  • A blue line indicates the current clinic time.

  • Templates cannot overlap.

If an overlap occurs, the system displays:

"The selected time overlaps with another defined appointment type. Please review and update your start time, duration, or end date selections to remove the overlap."

Provider unavailability and clinic closures take precedence over template assignments.

Excluded Dates

You can exclude one or more specific dates from a template, such as holidays or temporary provider unavailability.

  • Excluded dates prevent the template from appearing on that date.

  • These dates remain available for separate scheduling definitions.

  • Excluded dates appear in the main table and as indicators within the calendar view.

  • Adding or removing excluded dates updates automatically.

If a template appears missing on the schedule, check for excluded dates.

Block Off Time

Block offs prevent appointments from being scheduled during defined time periods.

To create a block off:

  1. Open the calendar within a template.

  2. Click and drag to define a time block.

  3. Enable Block Off Time.

  4. Optionally customize the block off color.

  5. Select Save.

Block offs are always permitted, regardless of other scheduling restrictions.

Duplicating Templates (Provider Configuration)

Provider templates can be duplicated to reduce setup time.

To duplicate a template:

  1. Select Duplicate Templates.

  2. Choose the target provider.

  3. Optionally:

    • Copy excluded dates.

    • Overwrite existing templates.

Behavior rules:

  • If overwrite is enabled, existing templates for the selected provider are replaced.

  • If overwrite is not enabled, templates are added alongside existing ones.

  • Only appointment types supported by both providers are duplicated.

  • If no existing templates are present for the target provider, overwrite is unavailable.

Allow Scheduling Modifications

The Allow Scheduling Modifications setting controls how strictly templates are enforced on the main calendar.

When Off

  • Only the appointment type defined in the template can be scheduled in that time slot.

  • Staff cannot override the appointment type.

  • Drag and drop actions must match the template appointment type.

  • Provider level appointment type permissions still apply.

  • Block offs remain allowed.

When On

  • Appointment types can be changed, even if they differ from the template.

  • Staff can schedule different appointment types within template blocks.

  • Provider level appointment type permissions still apply.

  • Block offs remain allowed.

Rotating Doctor Schedules

Scheduling Templates support rotating provider schedules.

For structured rotations:

  1. Define each provider’s standard availability in provider settings.

  2. Create templates covering the rotation time period.

  3. Use appointment reservations and block offs to define each provider’s schedule within that period.

If each week within a larger rotation is unique and does not repeat predictably, create separate template time ranges for each week.

Direct Booking and Pet Portal

Direct booking respects scheduling hierarchy in this order:

  1. Clinic office hours

  2. Provider availability and unavailability

  3. Direct booking settings

  4. Scheduling Template assignments

Clients are only shown time slots that align with both hierarchy rules and defined templates.

Appointment duration must fit within the template block. If no valid time slots exist, availability will not be shown.

Using a Schedule Template

Once saved, templates apply immediately to the main calendar within the defined date range.

Template reservations appear as muted highlights of the appointment type color. A calendar clock icon appears in the upper right corner of the block to indicate it is part of Scheduling Template settings.

If a template does not appear as expected, verify:

  • The date is not excluded.

  • The provider is not out of office.

  • The clinic is open.

  • The template date range is still active.

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