This article will walk you through how to configure the Hours and Scheduling tab for each of your urgent care locations by allowing you to update your normal business hours, online appointment availability, and temporary or seasonal hours.
Click on the sections below to expand and walk through each tab in detail.
Update Business Hours
Update Business Hours
Your business hours are the normal operating hours that should match what you post on your front door for patients to know when the hours during which they can contact you.
To update your business hours, go to Settings > Locations > Edit > Hours & Scheduling > Business Hours and enter the hours that the clinic opens and closes every day of the week.
Online Hours
Online Hours
In the Online Hours tab, you can set the frequency of Total Visits per Hour and Total Online Visits per Hour as well as opening and closing buffers - all configurable by the day!
Total Visits per Hour: the total number of patients you're able to see per hour. This can be the same all day, or adjusted hourly and includes the total patient count in that hour - both walk in and online.
Total Online Visits per Hour: the total number of online slots available for patients to book a visit ahead of time.
Ex: 12 online visits per hour means a patient can book online at :00, :05, :10, :15, :20, :25, :30, :35, :40, :45, :50, :55
6 online visits per hour means a patient can book online at :00, :10, :20, :30, :40, :50
3 online visits per hour means a patient can book online at :00, :20, :40.
Benefits to updating your Total Visits per Hour
Reflect your true patient velocity in the Solv queue for better workflow management
Increase control over the live waitlist where patients track their spot in line once they arrive to your clinic, helping you manage patient expectations
Add book ahead patients at walk-in intervals from the Solv queue by providing more book ahead slot for your front desk staff, not visible to self scheduling patients
Here's an example to help you decide the settings for clinic
ADJUSTING HOURLY
You have 2 providers from 8:00am until 12:00pm so with 2 provider your total patient throughput is 12 patients per hour, you set the Total Online Visits per Hour at 6 visits per hour so that patients can schedule every 10 minutes, but leave space for walk in patients to be slotted amongst the patients who booked online.
From 12:00pm until 5:00pm, you have 1 provider who sees 6 patients an hour, so the Total Visits per Hour is 6 patients. You may also want to provide walk-in patients with the opportunity to be slotted in amongst book online patients, so you set Total Online Visits per Hour at 3 visits per hour
In this tab, you can set the frequency of total availability and online availability in your settings configurations.
Online hours can be configured so that they're the same all day, or individually by hour. You can set the frequency of online bookings for patients to select and schedule. We offer the ability to set online bookings at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, or 12 per hour.
For example, if you would like patients to be able to schedule a visit every 20 minutes, you would select 3 visits per hour. If you take an hour lunch break from 12:00pm-1:00pm, you can update online hour availability from 12:00pm-1:00pm to be 0.
Buffers
In this tab, you can also add opening and closing buffers.
What is an opening and a closing buffer?
Think of buffers as a blocker from the time that the clinic opens or closes. Adding a buffer means that patients to schedule a visit within the buffer time.
For example, if in the business hours tab you indicate that on Mondays, the clinic opens at 8:00am and closes at 8:00pm, and in the Special Hours tab you set 4 appointments per hour on Mondays, then the patients have the option to select a visit time every 15 minutes: at 8:00am, 8:15am, 8:30am, and 8:45am.
When a 30 minute Opening buffer is set, then patients have the option to select a visit at either 8:30am or 8:45am as the first two slots of the day are blocked by the buffer.
Scheduling
Scheduling
In the Scheduling tab, you can have the option to enable a few configurations
Booking buffer
Select a time between the patient's current time and when they can book a visit
For example: at 2:00pm a patient is looking at your online booking page, but you have a 20 minute booking buffer so the first available visit a patient can schedule is at 2:30pm even though you have visits available every 15 minutes. At 2:00pm, the patient can select either 2:30pm, 2:45pm, or 3:00pm and onward to schedule a visit.
Concurrent visits
If you would like to enable multiple patients to schedule at the same time slot, you can do so by selecting the number of concurrent visits you'd like to surface for each appointment time.
Selecting "3 visits" from the dropdown menu will allow 3 patients to schedule for every appointment slot (Ex: you configured 4 appointment slots per hour in the Online Hours tab, and now 12 patients can schedule per hour - 3 at each slot at the :00, :15, :30, and :45)
Allow beyond next day availability
Toggle "on" to make the dropdown visible for you to select the number of days in advance that you would like patients to be able to schedule a visit
This setting is especially helpful to the locations are are usually booked up for same day and next day visits.
If you're usually booked up, allowing beyond next day availability will help you to attract patients so that they can sign up for a visit time and not go elsewhere for care.
Update Special Hours
Update Special Hours
If there is a day that you have an issue, like a power outage, or holiday, and need to update your business hours temporarily, then you can update special hours to reflect your new abridged hours, or mark the clinic as "Closed" so that patients cannot schedule an online visit.
Select the date from the calendar dropdown
Select the special hours or check off "Closed"
Indicate the reason for the change
Click "Add Special Hours"
Disable Reservations
Disable Reservations
In an instance where the ability for patients to book online needs to be disabled temporarily or for the rest of the day, toggle on Disable bookings and then select the duration of time online bookings need to be unavailable in the dropdown. Click Save.
