Appointments Module

The Appointments Module is where patient appointments can be viewed, scheduled, and managed.

See our Appointments Module Playlist.

Appointments Toolbar

These buttons appear in the top toolbar.

Calendar

Use the calendar to quickly switch days to view past or future appointments. Today's date is surrounded by a square. The currently displayed date, is highlighted.

There are various ways to change the calendar date.

Day or Week view: Select whether to view the calendar by a single day or a full week. Enable Appointments Module defaults to week view in Preferences to see Week view by default.

Pinboard and Searching for Openings

The Pinboard can be used for easy scheduling between various dates.

Click and drag scheduled appointments to the Pinboard or right-click and select Copy to Pinboard. Other appointments are automatically sent to the Pinboard when they are created. To search for available openings, use the Pinboard search function.

Appointment Views

Appointment Views determine the Operatories and providers that show and the information that shows in an appointment. It also determines the default start time when Open Dental is first opened.

The Appointment View selected when a user logs out is selected when they log back in. Click the dropdown to change views or press the associated function key on the keyboard.

When Clinics is enabled, Appointment Views are associated with specific Clinics. Changing the Clinic in the Main Menu changes the enabled Appointment View and available Appointment Views in the dropdown.

Lab Cases and Production

Track the status of Lab Cases and view estimated production.

Lab Cases: Click to open Lab Cases. Text box indicates the status of Lab Cases for the selected date. If Clinics are enabled, only the status of Lab Cases attached to appointments scheduled in the selected Clinic's Operatories, for the selected date are shown. If Headquarters is the selected Clinic, the status of all Lab Cases attached to appointments scheduled in all Operatories for the selected date is shown (including those not associated with a Clinic).

Daily Prod: View Production Totals. Production must be added to the selected Appointment View in order to view a value.

Daily Goal: View the total daily production goal for all scheduled providers in the appointment view. The value is calculated using the hourly production goals for each scheduled provider, as entered on the Edit Provider Window. Production or NetProduction must be added to the appointment view.

Confirmation Status and Other Tabs

Change the confirmation status of an appointment, and use tabs to track various information.

Confirmation Status: Select an appointment and click an option to change the Appointment Confirmation Status. The option is grayed out if the user does not have the ApptConfirmStatusEdit security permission or an appointment is not selected. Some statuses trigger Time Arrived, Time Seated, and Time Dismissed values, which affect the waiting room. Statuses that trigger these values are set in Preferences. Status options can be customized in Definitions: Appt Confirmed.

Tabs:

The Schedule

Time: Use the vertical scrollbar to move through the entire 24-hour day. Time increments set globally in Appointment View Setup.

Operatories: Define Operatory names, colors, and order in Operatory Setup. Define provider schedules in Schedule Setup.

Colors: By default, white areas indicate open times, grey indicates closed times. Times are determined by Schedule Setup. These colors can be changed in Definitions: Appointment Colors.

Appointments: Basic appointment details show in an appointment box. Double-click the box to open the Edit Appointment Window or right-click to select more options. Every appointment has a second optional provider for hygiene so that only one appointment has to be made even if a patient is technically seeing two providers.

Moving Appointments:

Right-click options: