Getting Started with Priority Scheduling
Priority Scheduling is a powerful E-appointment tool designed to help you manage high-demand appointments, ensuring your clinic can prioritize certain clients or patients based on specific criteria, such as income level, breed, location, or other custom fields. With this feature, you can create tailored booking rules that reserve appointment slots for priority clients while maintaining a streamlined scheduling process for the rest.
Watch a video on how this works from Clinic HQ University.
Build the Priority Setup
To get started, you’ll need to configure the Priority Appointment settings within your clinic’s E-appointments settings. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set up Priority Scheduling:
- Access Priority Settings:
- Click Settings > E-appointments.
- Next, click Edit Appointment Type and choose the appointment type you want to apply the priority tool to (e.g., Spay/Neuter, Vaccine Clinic).
- Add New and Name the Priority.
- Select the “Priority” tab: Here, click Add Priority.
- Name Your Priority: Give your priority a descriptive name (e.g., Priority #1: Low Income + ZIP or Priority #2: Pitbulls).
- Assign a Code: Create a short, unique code (e.g., P1, P2, P3) for easy identification on your calendar. This should only be two or three characters long and will display on the calendar tiles.
- Set Capacity Reservation
- Assign Percentage of Daily Capacity: Decide what percentage of your daily capacity should be reserved for priority appointments. Once the reserved slots are filled, the remaining appointments will be available for non-priority clients.
Important: This priority percentage is fixed and cannot be adjusted day to day on the calendar.
- Define Matching Criteria.
- Match Questions: This is the total number of criteria a client must meet to qualify for a priority appointment. For example, you could require answers to multiple questions about breed, income, and medical assistance to determine if a client qualifies. Example: Does the client live in a specific ZIP code? Is the pet a Pitbull? Does the client have a medical assistance card?
- Apply Subsidies/Discounts (Optional).
- If your priority appointment comes with a subsidy or discount, choose the appropriate option here. The subsidy will automatically adjust the price and deposit shown on the client’s booking form and be applied to the service These pending subsidy funds will be included in the subsidy history report.
- Note: Only one subsidy can be selected at the priority setup stage. Additional subsidies (if applicable) will need to be added after the appointment is confirmed.
- Adjust Future Appointment Search Range.
- Search Window: The appointment type you are creating the priority for has a default setting for the number of days./weeks/months in the future that available appointments are offered. The Priority setup provides an additional date range to search the future for, beyond the default range
- Set Appointment Restrictions.
- Choose Appointment Restrictions: You can apply various restrictions to ensure that only specific clients meet the criteria for a priority appointment. This includes:
o Species (e.g., dog, cat)
o Breed (e.g., Pitbull)
o Sex
o ZIP Code or County
o Custom Fields (for more specific parameters like financial status)
For example, if you want to prioritize Pitbulls in a specific geographic area, you can set this restriction by choosing Pitbull under breed and selecting the relevant ZIP code or county.
8. Configure Deposit Requirement.
- Set Deposit for Priority Clients: Decide if you want clients who qualify for priority scheduling to pay a deposit when booking their appointment. If a subsidy is applied, the deposit amount and overall price will be adjusted accordingly.
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Create Custom Fields for Additional Targeting
If you need to define priority based on criteria that go beyond the standard options like breed, species, or location, you can create Custom Fields to target specific client populations (e.g., low-income clients, pet health status).
Create a Custom Field Group
1. Go to: Settings > Custom Fields.
2. Create a New Group:
- Click on the second tab, Custom Field Groups.
- Click Create New Group, name it (e.g., Screening Questions).
- Do Not check the box that says “This group is for medical use” unless it’s relevant for your clinic.
Checking this box will move the field from the details tab to the treatment sheet. It will also establish that custom field as part of the official medical record and should only be used if medically relevant.
3. Save your group.
Create Custom Field Questions
To capture the data needed to qualify clients for priority, create custom field questions. These could include:
Income-related Questions: e.g., “What is your household income?” or “Do you receive financial assistance?”
Pet-Related Questions: e.g., “Do you suspect your pet is pregnant?” or “Has your pet been diagnosed with a specific health condition?”
To create custom field questions:
- Go to Settings > Custom Fields.
- Click Create New Field under your created Custom Field Group (e.g., Screening Questions).
- Define the Field: Add the question, select the type of response (e.g., dropdown, text input), and define the answers that will qualify a client for the priority appointment.
Apply Custom Fields to Priority Setup.
Once the custom fields are created, you can use them to define the specific restrictions for each priority setup. Select the relevant Custom Field and define the responses that will grant a client access to priority scheduling.
