# Appointments (/docs/en/guides/appointments)



An appointment reserves time in the calendar for a patient and the people who see them. It is not a clinical entry: the contact itself is recorded as a [visit](/docs/en/guides/visits).

Clinicians can book on the calendars of members of their teams. Front desk, admins and owners can book on everyone's calendar. Calendar times show in your browser's time zone.

## Book an appointment [#book]

1. In the patient's record, choose **New → Appointment**. The calendar opens with a new appointment already set up for that patient. To book without starting from a patient, choose **New appointment** in the calendar, **Book appointment** on [Home](/docs/en/guides/home#my-day), or **New appointment** in search, and choose the patient in the editor.
2. Check **Patient**. Choose **Type** if your practice has appointment types.
3. Under **With**, choose the clinician or clinicians who attend. Select a name to make that person the lead.
4. Under **When**, pick one of the suggested times or set the date, time and duration yourself.
5. Under **Where**, choose the site or room. This row appears once a patient is chosen.
6. Choose **Book**. Ctrl or ⌘ with Enter does the same.

<AppScreenshot id="appointment" alt="Appointment editor showing the patient, appointment type, clinician, time and location" />

The form tells you when someone is busy or outside their working hours. If you still choose **Book**, a **Scheduling warning** lists each clash and you can choose **Go back** or **Schedule anyway**. A suggested time is only a suggestion: the booking exists when **Appointment booked** appears and the appointment shows in the calendar.

Without a patient, the appointment is an internal block and you give it a **Title**.

## Email to the patient [#patient-email]

Booking a patient appointment emails the patient, so check the address before you choose **Book**. When a confirmation will be sent, a line under **Patient** names the address it goes to. When no email will be sent, there is no line.

* **Confirmation.** Sent when the patient has an email address on file and has not declined email.
* **Update.** Sent when the time, place or other patient-visible details change.
* **Cancellation.** Sent when you cancel an appointment the patient was already told about.
* **Reminder.** Sent the day before, only for appointments booked more than eight days ahead.

If the patient has no address or has declined email, no email is sent. In a visit note, the appointment block shows **Booked · emailed** or &#x2A;*Booked (not emailed)**. The text patients receive, including the appointment note and whether the clinician is named, is set under [practice settings](/docs/en/guides/practice-settings).

## Repeat an appointment [#repeat]

Open **More** in the editor and use **Repeat**. Choose **Every weekday** or **Custom**, then set how often it repeats. Under **Ends**, choose **Never**, **On date** or **After** a number of **occurrences**. The first appointment counts toward that number.

A summary line below the field reads the rule back in words, for example every 2 weeks on Tuesday. Check it before you choose **Book**.

For monthly rules, you can follow the day of the month or the weekday. A rule for day 31 skips months without that date.

<Callout type="warn">
  The repeat rule is fixed when you book. It shows read-only afterwards. To change the pattern, cancel the future appointments and book a new series.
</Callout>

## Change an appointment [#change]

Click the appointment in the calendar to open the editor. Change the fields and choose **Save**. In views that allow it, you can also drag an appointment to a new time or resize it, then check the result.

For a repeating appointment, **Edit recurring event** asks which ones to change:

* **This event** changes one date.
* **This and following events** changes this date and later ones.
* **All events** changes every upcoming one. Past dates stay as they are.

Internal notes in **More** are for staff. The patient does not see them, and they do not replace the clinical note.

## Cancel an appointment [#cancel]

Open the appointment and choose **Cancel appointment**. For a repeating series, pick **This appointment**, **This and following appointments** or **All appointments**, then choose **Cancel appointments**.

<Callout type="warn">
  Cancelled appointments cannot be restored, and the people involved are notified. Book a new appointment if you cancelled the wrong one.
</Callout>

Cancelling an appointment does not remove a visit note or anything recorded in it.

## Related [#related]

* [Calendar settings](/docs/en/guides/calendar-settings): appointment types, locations and working hours.
* [Visits and notes](/docs/en/guides/visits)
* [Patient messages](/docs/en/guides/patient-messages)