Appointments & Scheduling

The Appointment module is the central scheduling engine of Medaius. It coordinates patient visits, manages provider timetables, calculates real-time booking availability, and connects front-desk reception seamlessly to the clinical encounter queue. This guide covers viewing appointment boards, scheduling visits with the 4-step wizard, managing patient check-ins, configuring provider availability, and enabling public online bookings.

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Accessing Appointments

To open the scheduling workspace:

1. Click Appointments in the left sidebar navigation (/appointments?view=board).
2. Use the segmented view toggle in the top bar to switch between:
   • Board View: A Kanban-style staging board optimized for daily clinic flow and front-desk reception.
   • Calendar View: A comprehensive monthly grid showing scheduled density and provider agendas.

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The Appointment Lifecycle & FHIR Statuses

Every appointment in Medaius follows standardized FHIR-compliant lifecycle states:

• proposed / pending: An appointment requested by a patient or submitted via online booking, awaiting clinic staff confirmation.
• booked: A confirmed visit scheduled on the practitioner's calendar.
• arrived: The patient has physically arrived at the clinic. Marking an appointment as arrived alerts nursing staff and places the patient into the triage/consultation queue.
• fulfilled: The clinical visit has been completed and the provider has finalized the encounter documentation.
• cancelled: The visit was cancelled by the patient or clinic (recorded with a status reason code).
• noshow: The patient missed their scheduled appointment without prior notice.

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Board View (Dynamic Kanban Desk)

The Board View is designed for day-to-day front-desk reception. It categorizes appointments into operational columns:

Dynamic Columns & Auto-Confirm Engine

The columns displayed on the board dynamically adapt based on your clinic's Auto-Confirm setting (configured under Admin > Config > Appointment Settings):

Mode A: Auto-Confirm Enabled (Standard Outpatient Flow)

When auto-confirm is enabled, all new bookings are treated as confirmed immediately:

• Booked Column: Displays all scheduled visits (including booked, proposed, and pending). Staff can click → Check in as patients arrive.
• Arrived Column: Displays patients who have arrived and are waiting for triage or doctor consultation.
• Cancelled Column: Shows cancelled visits and no-shows for the day.
• Done Section (Collapsible): Completed encounters (fulfilled).

Mode B: Auto-Confirm Disabled (Triaged / Approval Flow)

When auto-confirm is disabled, reception must review requests before confirming:

• Proposed Column: Displays inbound requests. Staff review details and click → Confirm to accept.
• Booked Column: Displays confirmed appointments. Staff click → Check in on arrival.
• Arrived Column: Displays patients waiting in the clinic.
• Done Section (Collapsible): Completed (fulfilled), cancelled, and no-show records.

Appointment Cards & Quick Actions

Each card on the board surfaces essential information at a glance:

• Time & Date: Scheduled start time and day badge.
• Patient Identifier: Patient display name and shorthand chart ID.
• Practitioner & Clinic: Provider avatar, name, and assigned clinic room/branch.
• Type & Modality: Appointment type badge (e.g., General Consultation, Follow-up) and Telehealth video indicator.
• Chief Complaint: Brief description of the visit's purpose.
• One-Tap Actions:
  • → Confirm: Approves a proposed booking.
  • → Check in: Marks the patient as arrived and queues them for clinical triage.
  • → Complete: Directly marks the visit fulfilled if no documentation is required.
• Status Change Audit Attribution: Shows who modified the appointment status and when (e.g., "Arrived by Dr. San Win • 10:30 AM").

Appointment Detail Drawer

Clicking any appointment card opens the comprehensive slide-over drawer:

From this drawer, reception and clinical staff can:

• Start Encounter: Launches directly into the Encounter Workbench.
• Reschedule: Adjust date, provider, or slot interval.
• Cancel Appointment: Logs cancellation with required reason codes.
• Status History: Audit trail showing the timeline of who changed the appointment status and when.

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The 4-Step Booking Wizard

To book an appointment inside the clinic workspace:

1. Click + New Appointment in the top action bar (or click Book Appointment directly from any patient's chart).
2. The booking wizard guides you through four sequential steps:

Step 1: Select Practitioner or Clinic

• Search Mode:
  • By Doctor: Search and select an individual physician, specialist, or practitioner.
  • By Clinic: Select a physical clinic room, department, or consultation booth.
• Filters: Filter providers by clinical specialty (e.g., Cardiology, Dermatology, Pediatrics) and gender.

Step 2: Choose Date & Time Slot

• Select a date on the calendar.
• The system's Dynamic Slot Engine calculates and displays available time slots in real-time based on the provider's active working timetable, duration rules, and break buffers.
• Booked, conflicting, or approved leave slots are automatically blocked from selection.

Step 3: Select Patient (Auto-Skipped from Patient Profile)

• Search registered patients by name (e.g., Alex Morgan, Sarah Chen), phone number, or chart ID.
• Inline Patient Registration: If the patient is new, click Register New Patient to capture basic demographics without leaving the booking flow.
• Guest Booking: For urgent triage, enter the guest's name and contact number directly.

[!TIP] Smart Patient Context & Auto-Skip: When initiating an appointment directly from a patient's chart (/patients/[id] → Book Appointment), the patient is automatically bound. After completing Step 1 (Practitioner/Clinic) and Step 2 (Time Slot), the wizard automatically skips Step 3 and navigates straight to Step 4 (Details & Confirmation).

Step 4: Appointment Details & Confirmation

• Appointment Type: Select visit category (e.g., Initial Consultation, Follow-up Visit, Routine Checkup, Vaccination).
• Telehealth Toggle: Enable virtual video consultation when required.
• Chief Complaint: Enter the primary visit reason or symptoms (automatically transferred into the clinician's draft SOAP note upon arrival).
• Receptionist Notes: Internal coordination notes for nursing or front-desk staff.
• Click Book Appointment to confirm. The scheduled visit immediately appears on the dynamic Kanban board and calendar.

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Calendar View (Monthly Grid & Daily Agenda)

For broader capacity planning, switch to Calendar View:

• Monthly Overview: View the entire month at a glance with colored dots representing appointment counts per day.
• Daily Agenda Panel: Clicking any date opens the side agenda panel, listing all appointments scheduled for that specific date ordered chronologically by provider.
• Date Navigation: Jump between months, or click Today to return to current clinic operations.

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Managing Practitioner Timetables

To ensure bookable slots appear accurately, practitioners must have active working schedules:

1. Navigate to Practitioners in the sidebar (or go to My Profile > Timetable).
2. Open the practitioner profile and click Timetable.
3. Configure availability:
   • Working Days: Select active days of the week (e.g., Monday through Friday).
   • Shift Hours: Define daily start and end times (e.g., 09:00 to 17:00).
   • Clinic Location: Assign which facility or consultation room the doctor is stationed at for each shift.
   • Time-Off & Leave: Block out specific dates or vacation periods to lock slots from being booked.
4. Click Save Timetable.

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Launching Encounters from Appointments

When a patient is marked as Arrived:

1. The consulting doctor or nurse locates the patient on the Board View under the Arrived column.
2. Click the appointment card to open the appointment detail drawer.
3. Click Start Encounter.
4. Medaius automatically:
   • Creates a new clinical encounter in Draft status.
   • Links the encounter to the patient and practitioner.
   • Imports the appointment's Chief Complaint directly into the clinical note draft.
   • Launches the Encounter Workbench ready for charting.

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Public Online Booking

Clinics can enable self-scheduling for patients:

1. Go to Admin > Config > Appointment Settings.
2. Enable Public Online Booking and copy your clinic's unique booking URL (/?org=<org_id>).
3. Patients visiting the URL can browse doctor timetables, select available slots, and confirm appointments online:

[!TIP] For a complete walkthrough on doctor directories, mobile scheduling, and front-desk triage, see our dedicated Public Online Booking & Timetable Guide.