Table of Contents:
To adjust the booking window, go to Settings > Appointment Types, select the appointment type, and find the options under the General tab.
Minimum Booking Window
What It Does:
This setting determines the minimum amount of time required between when a patient books an appointment and the actual appointment time. It ensures your team has enough time to prepare.
Common Use Case:
Vaccinations or Injections Requiring Stock Orders
If your pharmacy needs to order vaccines or medications in advance, such as for Yellow Fever vaccines or other less common travel vaccines, you can use this setting to prevent bookings on short notice.
For example:
If it takes up to 7 days to receive the vaccine after ordering, set the Minimum Booking Window to 7 days. This will block patients from booking within that timeframe, giving your team time to order and receive the product.
Additional Examples:
Appointment types that require a specifically trained professional to provide the service. (ex. DEC) and will need advance notice to ensure the individual is available on the day of the appointment.
Any clinical service where stock isn't routinely kept on-site.
Please Note: You can also batch update the Minimum Booking Window for multiple appointment types at once.
Learn more about Batch Update Settings Here.
Maximum Booking Window
What It Does:
This setting limits how far into the future patients can book an appointment. It’s ideal for managing services where appointments must happen within a specific timeframe or where your clinic needs to reassess its availability regularly.
Common Use Case:
Time-Sensitive Clinical Services
For services that need to be administered quickly after symptom onset, you can restrict bookings to a shorter future window. This ensures patients don’t book too far in advance, when treatment may no longer be appropriate.
Typical services include:
Shingles Treatment
Urinary Tract Infections (UTI)
Strep Throat Testing and Treatment
Insect Bites or Allergic Reactions
Example:
If you want to ensure patients only book these services within the next 14 days, set the Maximum Booking Window to 14 days.
Additional Examples:
Seasonal services that will only be offered for a limited time.
Appointments where long-term future scheduling isn’t feasible due to staffing or other operational constraints.
How These Settings Work Together:
You can use both settings simultaneously to precisely control appointment availability.
For instance:
Minimum Booking Window: 7 days (for inventory needs)
Maximum Booking Window: 30 days (limit long-term bookings to maintain operational flexibility)
Notes:
Both settings are optional. You can leave either or both unset if you don’t need restrictions.
Ensure your staff understands these settings to avoid confusion with patients about booking availability.