Reception is the screen that stays open for the whole shift. The header gives the day of the week, the time and the number of appointments in the clinic today; below it you see the waiting room, the team schedule, new online bookings and the money taken since morning. The data refreshes itself, with no page reload.
This is not the calendar. The calendar is for arranging future slots — Reception shows only today, and only what needs a response in the next few minutes.
How to do it
Open Reception
In the side menu choose Reception. On the right of the header are two buttons: New appointment and Walk-in visit. Both take you to the calendar — the first opens the new-appointment form straight away.
Under 1 stand New appointment and Walk-in visit — both lead to the calendar. Under 2 — the Waiting room: the Arriving soon column and the people already checked in, the panel you keep open for the whole shift. Under 4 — the right-hand column with Online bookings, Payments today and the To settle card.
Check an arrival in
In the Waiting room panel the Arriving soon column lists the nearest appointments nobody has arrived for yet. Each one has a Check in button. Once clicked, Heltio confirms with Patient checked in, and the person moves into the waiting room labeled Checked in with a time and a waiting N min counter.
Call them in
The card of a waiting person has a Call in button. Once used it turns into the label Called in with a time and stops working — one call per appointment. Heltio acknowledges with Patient called in.
Record a no-show
The no-show icon appears in an Arriving soon row only once the appointment time has passed — earlier, such a mark would be refused. The Mark as a no-show? dialog opens with a warning that the slot will be freed for the waitlist and that the practice rules may charge a fee. You confirm with Mark as no-show.
Take money at the desk
The Payment button — on the card of a waiting person and as an icon in an Arriving soon row — opens the Visit settlement panel with the price, the Amount due and a list of what already covers the visit: Prepayment, Deposit, Package, Membership, Wallet, Insurance, Voucher. From here you record a Manual payment or send a link.
Next to the name in the waiting room sits a small coverage icon: Prepaid, Deposit or Insurance. That is a hint from the moment of booking, not the settlement state after the visit.
Watch the schedule and the waitlist
Team schedule · today shows a column for every person seeing patients today, with the room and the number of appointments. Empty windows are labeled free N min. If one of them suits somebody on the waitlist, a bar with the suggestion appears under the schedule together with a Propose a slot button — it opens the calendar with the booking ready for that person.
The Waitlist card lists the first few entries. The All button takes you to the calendar; you open the full list there from the toolbar.
Handle online bookings and arrears
Online bookings counts new requests. Accept opens the calendar with that request, Other time lets you decline it with an optional reason — Heltio confirms with Booking declined.
Payments today gives the total taken since morning and warns about arrears; Remind sends a request for payment. The To settle card gathers completed visits nobody has taken money for yet. The Cash desk link leads to the full daily settlement.
When something goes wrong
Reception is not available for your role
What this means: The reception dashboard is for practice staff. Patient roles and hospital-only roles do not open it.
Could not check the patient in
What this means: The arrival has already been recorded elsewhere (kiosk, portal, a second desk), or the appointment changed state in the meantime — it was cancelled or completed.
Could not call the patient in
What this means: Calling in works only after the arrival has been checked in, and only once per appointment.
Could not mark the appointment as a no-show
What this means: The appointment is not in a state that allows this change — it is already cancelled, completed, or has not started yet.
No e-mail or phone on file — cannot send a reminder
What this means: The record has neither an email address nor a phone number, so there is nothing to send the payment request with.
Could not decline the booking
What this means: The request has already been handled elsewhere — accepted, declined or withdrawn by the patient.
Empty panels are not a fault. The waiting room is empty, No upcoming arrivals, No one is seeing patients today, No new bookings, The waitlist is empty, No payments today and No visits to settle. mean exactly what they say.
Who has access
Clinic Admin Receptionist PractitionerReception is a staff screen. A practitioner opens it too — in a small practice the same person runs the visits and works the desk. Patient roles and hospital-only roles do not see this entry in the menu and cannot reach it by address.
The To settle card is visible only when the practice settles visits at reception. The setting exists on the data side but does not yet have its own screen in the application — by default the settlement is visible both to the practitioner and at reception.
Related
- Cash desk — the full settlement of a shift.
- Walk-in patient — intake and payment on the spot.
- Kiosk and self check-in — the tablet in the waiting room.
- Waitlist — where the slot suggestions come from.
Related features
Kiosk mode — patients check themselves in
A tablet in the waiting room where the patient types the last five digits of their PESEL number and checks in. Reception sees them in the waiting room straight away.
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.
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.
Cash desk — closing the shift
The Payments screen under Billing: how much has come in since morning, who still has to be charged, who is in arrears and how much cash is left in the drawer at the end of the shift.
Walk-in patient — intake and payment on the spot
Someone turns up without a booking. How to create an appointment for them, take the money by QR code or on the reception device, and where to see the confirmation.