The HotDoc Online Bookings and Appointment Calendar allows you to:

• Add or edit a practitioner on your online bookings page
• Set up the available sessions you want to be visible online
• Customise a practitioner's profile
• Adjust their individual online booking settings
• Select and edit the appointment types that they perform.

Filling in each profile with this information will assist your patients in booking an online appointment with the practitioner that best meets their needs.

Once created, each practitioner profile will have an Edit section that is divided into three parts:

• Practitioner Profile 
  
• Online Bookings Settings
• Appointment Types

How to add a new practitioner profile

1. Log in to your HotDoc Dashboard.
   
   
2. Select Bookings from the left hand side, Practitioner Setup then New Practitioner from the top right hand side. 
   
   
   
   
3. Enter the practitioner's name in the field and select Create. Please note: This is what will show on your booking page:
   
   
   
   

4. From here, you can edit the Display Name and upload other custom options to the following fields. Please click the links for step by step instructions on how to edit these:

   • Image
   • Professional Statement
   • Gender
   • Profession/Qualifications/Education
   • Languages
   • Special Interests
     
     
   
   
   
5. Tick the Visible for Online Bookings box to make the practitioner available for online bookings and press Save:
   
   

From here you can:

• Set availability to show online using online bookings and availability settings
• Customise the appointment type settings for this practitioner
  

How to edit an existing practitioner profile 

1. Log in to your HotDoc Dashboard.
   
   

2. Select Bookings in the left menu then select Practitioner Setup. To edit an existing practitioner, you can toggle between the All, Visible, Non Visible or Archived filter, then select Edit the edit practitioner of your choice. 
   
   
   
   
3. You can then edit any of the following fields below. Please click the links below for step by step instructions on how to edit these:
   
   
   • Image
   • Link to clinical software
   • Professional Statement
   • Gender
   • Profession/Qualifications/Education
   • Languages
   • Special Interests

From here you can:

• Set availability to show online using online bookings and availability settings
• Customise the appointment type settings for this practitioner

Online bookings settings and Availability

The Online bookings section is important for making the practitioner visible for online bookings, as well as setting their schedules and sessions via Availability.

Online Bookings Settings



To enable or disable any of the following online booking settings, simply select or deselect the check box for any of the following options and press Save:

• Visible for online bookings. 
  
  
• Tell all patients to call the clinic. Selecting this renders the practitioner 'call the clinic to book' only. This allows for you to advertise a practitioner that does not want to accept online bookings.
  
  
• Accept Online Bookings for new patients: Selecting this allows new patients to book with this practitioner. Deselecting this will prompt another checkbox that allows you to confirm if you would like new patients to call the clinic or not (see below):
  
  
  • Tell new patients to call the clinic: Select this if you want new patients to call. Deselect this if the practitioner does not take on new patients at all. See How can I prevent new patients from calling the practice? to see what this looks like.
    
    
• Allow patients to book with the practitioner on the same day as other practitioners: Selecting this will allow patients to book appointments with other practitioners on the same day as this practitioner. For example, this would allow a patient to book for a dental check-up with Practitioner X, and a cosmetic whitening appointment with Practitioner Y on the same day. 
  
  
• Set how close to an appointment time a patient can make a booking. To do this, enter the time in the box next to Patients can book an appointment online no less than.
  
  
• Set how close to an appointment time a patient can cancel for this practitioner. To do this, enter the time in the box next to Patients can cancel an appointment online if it is no more.
  
  

How to add sessions (availability) 

A practitioner's online availability is set by filling in their working schedules in this section. To enter or edit availability, follow the steps below:

1. If you are setting availability for the first time, you must select Make Visible Online > Set Availability:
   
   
   
   Alternatively if you are editing a practitioner that has already been setup for available sessions, select Edit:
   
   
   
   
2. The Edit Availability window will appear.
   • If you have existing sessions, you can select the pencil icon to Edit or the bin icon to Delete.
   • To add a new session, select Add Session:
     
     
     
     
3. From here you must configure:
   • The day of the session
   • The start and end time of the session
   • The date this session is due to start (you can optionally choose an end date)
   • Whether it's a once off session or repeats weekly or fortnightly
     

     Note: To account for lunch breaks it can be best to create two individual sessions. Eg: If working from 9am-5pm with lunch at 12pm-1pm, create two individual sessions being 9am-12pm and 1pm-5pm.

     
     
     
     
4. Once you're happy with the session, select Confirm and either Add Session again to add another, or Save to save your changes.
   
   
5. To see an overview of all your practitioner's sessions, select the Calendar option in the Dashboard. See How to use the HotDoc Appointment Calendar for more information.

How to select or edit appointment types 

This section will display all appointment types that have been created. To ensure a patient is able to request an appointment with a practitioner, you will need to enable appointment types on their individual profile. Please see how to add, edit or remove these appointment types to learn more.

1. To enable or disable an appointment type, select or deselect the checkbox next to the appointment type and press Save: 
   
   
   
   
2. To edit the appointment duration or terms and conditions click Edit next to the appointment type. You can then select a duration from the drop down menu and type in your terms and conditions then press Save. 
   
   
   
   
3. Lastly, if you wish to limit or restrict the practitioner's appointments to specific dates or times, please see How to customise your practitioner's sessions