How to schedule a series of visits
Ten weekly treatments in one save — with a list of dates to check before you save, and three cancellation scopes.
The patient comes ten times, weekly, at the same hour. Instead of ten separate bookings you set up a series — a run of appointments created in one save. This guide covers setting the series up and the three situations that come later: changing one date, shifting the tail of the series, and cancelling.
How to do it
Fill in the first appointment of the series
A series is created in the same New Appointment dialog as an ordinary appointment. Fill in the patient, the practitioner, the service type and the first slot — Heltio counts the rest of the series from that date.
Expand Recurring and tick Set up recurring sessions
The Recurring section is collapsed by default. Ticking Set up recurring sessions brings out the rhythm fields.
Set the rhythm
The frequency has four values: Daily, Weekly, Every 2 weeks, Monthly. With the weekly and fortnightly rhythms you also pick the Days — Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun. Without at least one day named, the series will not save.
Say when the series ends
Two options, and you pick one: End after … sessions or End on …. A series with no end does not exist. The upper limit is 52 sessions in one series; above that you will see Maximum 52 sessions per series.
Read the Scheduled dates list — this is the moment
Before you save, the Scheduled dates section lists every date as Session 1 of 10, Session 2 of 10 and so on. This is where you catch public holidays, leave, and dates you know the patient cannot make.
If any slot is taken, below the list appears … dates have scheduling conflicts and will be skipped. The save creates the rest — the conflicting ones simply will not exist, and the series will be shorter than you ordered. Heltio does not move them to another day and does not ask about it.
Save, and count how many appointments actually appeared
After saving, open the calendar and count the appointments in the series. If there are fewer than you ordered, the missing ones are those skipped for conflicts — add them by hand in free slots.
Change a single appointment, or the tail of the series
- Dragging one appointment to another time raises the question Move only this appointment? This will detach it from the recurring series. After confirming, that appointment lives its own life and the rest stays as it was.
- Edit from this session onwards changes the time and duration from the named date forwards. Heltio cancels the remaining appointments of the old series and creates a new one running to the end. Earlier appointments are untouched.
Cancel in one of three scopes
The Cancel appointment dialog offers a choice: This session only, This and all future sessions, Entire series. The series panel then shows the state: Active series, Modified, Partially cancelled, Completed or Cancelled.
When something does not work
3 dates have scheduling conflicts and will be skipped.
What this means: In the computed rhythm some dates land on appointments already in the calendar.
Maximum 52 sessions per series.
What this means: The session count or the end date you gave produces more than 52 dates.
This time slot overlaps with another appointment
What this means: A conflict on the first date of the series — every other date is counted from it.
Who has access
Clinic Admin Receptionist PractitionerSetting up a series needs the same permission as an ordinary appointment. Cancelling the Entire series removes dozens of slots at once and leaves an entry in the audit log — reception should use it with care.
Related
- Recurring appointments — the full description of every field and series state.
- How to settle a pass — when the patient pays for the series up front.
- Treatment plans — when therapy has phases, not just a rhythm.