Overview
Waiting List Auto Book automatically books the longest-waiting patient into a Group Appointment when a space becomes available, based on their position on the Waiting List and their priority. A confirmation is sent to the patient immediately, so no action is required from staff.
Auto Book works on any patient on the Waiting List for a group appointment, whether they were added manually by staff or joined online themselves. If your practice doesn't allow patients to join the group Waiting List online, you can still use Auto Book, staff just add patients to the Waiting List manually from the group on the appointment book.
You can view and manage the Waiting List for a specific Group Appointment directly from the appointment book, adding or removing patients from the Waiting List for that specific Group Appointment. See Using the Waiting List for Group Appointments for how.
How Auto Book Works
When a patient is removed from a full Group Appointment that has patients waiting, and Auto Book is enabled for that Appointment Type, PracSuite checks the Waiting List for that appointment.
If a patient is waiting and the Timing Restrictions allow it (see below), PracSuite automatically books the longest-waiting patient, ranked by priority, into the vacant space. A confirmation SMS or email is sent to the patient straight away using the templates configured for Auto Book.
If your practice uses passes, you also have the option to enable Pass Redemption, so a patient's pass is redeemed automatically when they're auto booked.
Setting Up Auto Book
Auto Book is configured per Group Appointment Type from Settings > Appointment Book > Waiting List.
Select Add and the Group Appointment Type you want to configure.
Choose the Type to set how patients are notified when they're auto-booked. This applies when a patient has confirmations enabled for both SMS and email on their patient file, and controls whether the confirmation goes out on one channel or both:
Email – sends by email only.
SMS – sends by SMS only.
Prefer SMS – sends by SMS only, in preference to email.
Prefer Email – sends by email only, in preference to SMS.
Both SMS and Email – sends by both SMS and email.
Under Template Settings, choose whether the confirmation should use your existing System Confirmation Settings or a Custom Template for SMS and email.
We recommend including the Appointment Manager link in your auto book confirmation template. This lets a patient who's been auto booked into a class cancel that appointment without needing to log in to their online booking account. If the online booking login portal is enabled with cancellations allowed, they can also cancel from there instead. Note that the Appointment Manager link only cancels an appointment the patient has already been booked into, it can't be used to remove someone from the Waiting List before they're booked. The only way for a patient to remove themselves from the Waiting List is by logging into the online booking login portal, otherwise they'll need to contact the clinic directly.
Under Pass Redemption, turn on Automatically redeem pass if available once appointment is booked if you'd like a patient's pass used automatically when they're booked in. This is off by default.
Set your Timing Restrictions (see below).
Select Save to finalise your changes.
Timing Restrictions
Timing Restrictions control how close to the appointment start time Auto Book is allowed to fill a vacant space. There are two options:
No restriction, auto book any time a vacancy occurs (not recommended) – a vacancy is filled as soon as it occurs, at any time. This isn't recommended: last-minute cancellations give patients no real notice, and overnight cancellations for early classes can auto book someone who's asleep.
Do not auto book within X hours/minutes of appointment start – vacancies that open up within this window before the appointment starts won't be auto booked, giving patients enough notice to attend.
You can also turn on Apply a stricter rule for early morning appointments to set a longer lead time for classes that start early in the day, when patients are less likely to see a same-day confirmation in time. For example, a class starting before 7:00am with an 11 hour rule won't auto book a vacancy that opens any time after 8:00pm the previous night.
Allowing Patients to Join the Waiting List Online
Patients only enter the Auto Book process once they're on the Waiting List, whether added by staff or joined online. See Allowing Patients to Join the Waiting List for Group Appointments Online for how to enable this and what patients experience once they've joined.