You book an appointment in the New Appointment dialog. There are three ways to get there, but the dialog is always the same — the only difference is whether the date and time are already filled in.
How to do it
Open the New Appointment dialog
- Click an empty spot in the calendar grid. The date and time fill themselves in — this is the fastest route. You pick the practitioner from the list; an account with the practitioner role always books for itself and cannot change that field.
- Click New Appointment on the reception dashboard or in the Quick Actions card on the dashboard. The dialog opens with today's date and the next full hour (between 8:00 and 18:00) — correct the slot before saving.
- Press the N key in the calendar grid view. The shortcut does not work in the list view, while the cursor sits in a form field, or while another dialog is open.
Under 1 is the header with the name New Appointment and the date taken from the spot you clicked in the grid. Under 3 — the fields filled in over the next steps: Patient, Practitioner, Service type, Date, Start time, Duration, Notes. Under 4 — the Create Appointment button; until you click it, the busy-slot warnings block nothing.
Pick the patient
The Patient field searches by surname and by phone — the hint reads Name or phone…. When there is no such person you will see No patients found. and a + New patient button.
You create a new patient without leaving the dialog: the New patient details section has First name, Last name, Phone and Email. First and last name are required, contact details are not — but without a phone number and without an email address that person will get no appointment reminder. The More details (PESEL, date of birth, address) button expands the remaining fields. Heltio checks the PESEL checksum and fills in the date of birth and sex from it; if a patient with that PESEL is already in the practice, the save is refused with A patient with this PESEL is already on file — pick them from the list.
Choose the practitioner and the service
Practitioner is the list of people seeing patients at this practice. Service comes from the service catalog and fills in the duration and the price. Below it you see the Price for this appointment, and when that person has their own rate — the Practitioner rate label.
Set the slot
Date, Start time and Duration. The list of hours flags the awkward ones itself: (outside hours) — outside that person's schedule, (slot busy) — they already have another appointment then.
Choosing such an hour does not block the form straight away; Heltio shows a warning and only the save decides whether it goes through. When you book someone from the waiting list, the Suggested free slots section offers other free windows; in an ordinary booking that section is not there. In the browser Heltio does not block a past date — a slot that has already passed is saved too, so check the date before saving.
Add a note and save
Notes take whatever the person seeing the patient should know — the reason for the visit, a patient request. This is not medical documentation; that is written in the active session.
The Create Appointment button closes the matter, and Heltio confirms with Appointment booked.
When something goes wrong
This time slot overlaps with another appointment
What this means: The chosen person already has an appointment in those hours, and the practice does not allow appointments to overlap.
The practitioner already has an appointment at this time — overlapping bookings are allowed by clinic policy.
What this means: The slot is doubled up, but the practice deliberately allows it.
Outside working hours — you'll be asked to confirm a reason when booking.
What this means: The hour lies outside that person's schedule.
No rooms available — appointment created without a room assignment
What this means: The practice assigns rooms automatically, but at that hour they are all taken.
Who has access
Clinic Admin Receptionist PractitionerAn administrator, reception and a practitioner can all book. Anyone who can book (reception included) can book or move an appointment outside the schedule: Heltio shows the Outside working hours dialog, asks for a Reason for override and records it in the audit log.
Related
- Recurring appointments — when you need a series, not a single appointment.
- Waitlist — when there is nothing to book.
- Service catalog — where the duration and price come from.
Related features
Calendar — week grid and list view
The main working screen of the practice: a full 24-hour grid across the week, a switch to the appointment list, filters, drag-and-drop rescheduling and time blocking.
Recurring appointments
How to book a series of regular visits in one save, how to change or cancel one of them without touching the rest, and what happens when a slot in the cycle is taken.
Booking rules
The rules on which a patient reschedules and cancels online by themselves: required notice, a limit on changes, the no-show fee and your own message shown to the patient.
Waitlist
A queue of people who want an appointment when there is no slot for them. When someone cancels, Heltio reaches out to three matching people from that queue.
Service catalog
The list of what the practice sells: name, duration, price and VAT rate — with the option of a different price or a different duration for a specific person.