Question
Why are same-day appointments available in my PMS but not visible on our HotDoc Bookings Page?
Solution
If same-day appointments are available in your practice management system (PMS) but aren't appearing as bookable on your HotDoc Bookings Page, there are several settings that may be preventing patients from seeing or booking appointments for today.
This article covers the most common cause of same-day appointments not appearing online: the practitioner's minimum booking notice setting.
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If the practitioner is showing as completely unavailable, or if the issue persists after following the steps below, there is likely to be a different configuration issue. For additional causes and troubleshooting steps, please see: Why is the practitioner "Not available" on my bookings page? |
How does the minimum booking notice setting work?
The minimum booking notice setting controls how much notice a patient must give before booking an appointment online. This setting is configured for each practitioner.
For example:
| Minimum booking notice | What patients can book |
|---|---|
| 0 minutes/hours/days | All available appointments, including same-day appointments |
| 2 hours | Appointments more than 2 hours from now |
| 24 hours | Appointments from tomorrow onwards |
| 7 days | Appointments from next week onwards |
If this setting is too high, available appointments may still appear in your PMS but won't be visible to patients online.
How to check the practitioner's minimum booking notice setting
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Log into your HotDoc Dashboard.
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Navigate to Bookings > Practitioner Setup:
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Select Edit next to the affected practitioner:
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Scroll to Online Bookings Settings
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Under Patients can book an appointment online up until, check what value is listed, and whether it is appropriate for your practice.
In this example, patients would not be able to book same-day appointments. -
If needed, change the value to what is appropriate for your practice.
In this example, patients would be able to book appointments until 2 hours before the start time -
Click Save, and the settings will take effect immediately.
- Repeat these steps for your other practitioners, if necessary.