How to manage patient bookings online
A calendar per doctor, consultation types as services and confirmation done by your reception.
Guides by business type
A medical clinic or practice can cut some of the phone traffic at reception with an online booking page: patients ask for a time at any hour, and each doctor keeps an orderly schedule. 4appointments handles scheduling only. It isn’t a medical records system, and it sends nothing to patients, so your team confirms and informs them directly.
Add each doctor as a provider with their own weekly schedule. Create the consultation types as services, each with its own duration and price, for example a first visit and a follow-up. Every service is shown for every provider, so tell patients when a doctor doesn’t offer a certain type.
Share the clinic’s public link, or the separate link of a particular doctor. Patients choose a service, a doctor or “Any available person”, and a free time, without an account. The page offers only free times, and the notice rules decide how close to the appointment someone can still book.
Each request arrives as pending and holds the time. Reception confirms or rejects it in the bookings section and then rings or texts the patient, because the tool sends no confirmation or reminder. That’s also the moment to give preparation instructions, such as fasting or documents to bring.
Reception can create bookings for emergencies and for patients without internet access, and block time for admin using days off and blocks. Permissions are set per team member, so reception can manage bookings while others only view them, and the team calendar can be kept private. Keep the data minimal: the form collects a name, an optional email address and a free note, so ask patients not to write medical details there.
What to remember
- ✓A calendar and weekly schedule for each doctor
- ✓Consultation types set up as services with their own durations
- ✓Reception confirms by hand and tells the patient directly
Common questions
How do I protect patient data?+
Collect as little as possible: the form needs only a name and an optional email address. Don’t use the free note for medical information, and keep clinical records in a dedicated system. Set permissions so each team member sees only what they need.
Is it possible to connect to a medical records system?+
No. 4appointments has no integrations or API. You can export the list of bookings as CSV, XML or PDF if you need the data elsewhere.
More guides to read
Running a medical clinic?
Give each doctor a calendar and let patients request a time online, while your reception keeps control of every confirmation. The first 12 months are free, with no card.
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