Introduction
Online Scheduling allows new and existing patients to book appointments 24/7 without calling or texting your office. It reduces front desk workload, automatically creates new patient records in your EHR when new patients book, and gives you full control over which appointment types, providers, and time slots are available.
This article explains how to configure all Online Scheduling settings so patients see only the options you want them to book.
Important notes before you begin:
TrackStat uses one shared link for all new patient appointment types and one shared link for all existing patient appointment types.
You must explicitly define provider availability and visit purpose settings. If you do not, patients may book times you did not intend to offer.
Appointment types (Visit Purposes) must already exist and have been used at least once in your EHR before they appear in Online Scheduling Settings.
Extras (3 dots icon) → Scheduling → Online Appointments is a list of all patients that have scheduled an appointment online through the web based online scheduling application, Scheduler Pro mobile app for patients or through Jaz AI assistant.
Audience Office managers, administrators, and staff members with permission to manage Online Scheduling settings.
Navigation Go to Extras (3 dots icon) → Scheduling → Settings
You will see four tabs: Visit Purpose, Referral Sources, Provider Availability, and Site and Settings.
Step 1: Configure Visit Purposes (Appointment Types)
To make an appointment type available for online booking, follow these steps:
In the Visit Purpose tab, click Add Visit Purpose (upper right).
Select the Visit Purpose from the dropdown.
Enter a Display Name (this is what patients see). If left blank, the original EHR name is shown.
(Optional) Add a Description (max 200 characters). Use this field to guide patients - for example: "If you have not been seen in more than 6 months, please select Re-Exam or call the office." The system cannot automatically block a patient from scheduling a standard visit based on how long it has been since their last appointment.
Set the Duration in minutes. This must match the default duration set in your EHR.
Set Prep Time (in minutes) if you want patients to arrive early for paperwork or setup. Most practices use 0 minutes. The system will still show availability correctly. Example: A 45-minute New Patient appointment with 15 minutes of Prep Time means the system will show availability at 1:00 PM even if another short appointment exists from 1:00–1:15 PM. The patient arrives at 1:00 PM, but the provider’s hands-on time begins at 1:15 PM.
Select Intervals (optional) to control allowed start times (e.g., only on the hour and half-hour). Some options include 0:00 on the hour, 0:05, 0:10, 0:15 on the quarter hour, 0:30 on the half hour, 0:45 on the three-quarters hour. For example, if you only want to allow a New Patient appointment type to schedule at 9:00AM and 9:30AM, then check the boxes for 0:00 on the hour and 0:30 on the half hour. Times can also be controlled in the Provider Availability Settings as well.
Choose Available For: New Patients, Existing Patients, or All.
Select the Case Type(s) allowed to book this appointment type.
New patient types (e.g., New Patient) usually use one default case type (such as "TBD" - to be determined).
Existing patient types can have multiple case types selected. Select shift on the keyboard to select all case types at the same time. Select Ctrl on the keyboard to select specific case types from the list.
(Optional) Select a Room
Enter a Price (requires Fortis or CashPractice merchant processor integration to charge patients).
Check the box Available for online scheduling.
(Optional) Check Show Price and/or Show Duration so patients see this information.
Click Save.
Tip: Visit Purposes must be used at least once in your EHR (create and check in an appointment for a patient) before they appear in TrackStat Settings.
Step 2: Set Referral Sources (New Patients Only)
Go to the Referral Sources tab.
Check the boxes next to the referral sources you want new patients to see.
Click the edit icon on any row to change the Display Name patients will see.
Click Save.
Step 3: Configure Provider Availability
To add a provider to online scheduling and set their hours, follow these steps:
Go to the Provider Availability tab and click Add Provider.
Select the provider from the dropdown. Note: The provider must be assigned as the primary provider to at least one patient in your EHR to appear in the list.
Enter a Display Name (what patients see) and optional Description. Tip: The Description field has a 200-character limit. If your changes do not save, try shortening the text.
Set Max Appointment per Time Block if needed. Use "--" for none. Note that the Max Appointment per Time Block setting for the provider overrides the individual settings for Visit Purposes (appointment types). This setting may not be necessary if using Visit Purpose groups and the Weight Strategy.
Choose the Appointment Interval (common choices: 5, 10 or 15 minutes). Options include 5, 10, 15 all the way to 120 in intervals of 5. The Appointment Interval is the time between appointment start times. In order to use the selected appointment interval, uncheck all intervals and override them in the selected Visit Purpose settings.
Check Available for online scheduling box.
(Optional) Check Opt-in to Weight Strategy if you plan to use Appointment Grouping. This allows more flexible mixing of different appointment types in the same time block.
Drag and drop Visit Purposes into Purpose Groups to control how many of each type can be booked per time block. (Detailed grouping strategies and the Standalone feature are covered in a separate article.)
Select or click each Visit Purpose to highlight them (turn them yellow) to make them visible to the patients.
Set the provider’s regular availability hours for each day of the week. You can set broad blocks (e.g., 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM) or very specific slots. Keep in mind that the end time of the appointment cannot exceed the end time stated in the availability section. For example if a new patient appointment type is 30 minutes in duration and the last availability block ends at 5:00PM, then the last new patient appointment that could be scheduled would be at 4:30PM.
Use the Set exceptions for specific days calendar to block holidays, time off, or conferences (click a date and choose “All day” or specific times).
For appointment types that need different hours than the provider’s regular schedule, click the gear icon next to that Visit Purpose, set the hours, and check Override provider availability hours box. This is commonly used for new patient appointment types.
Click Save.
Best Practice: Always define explicit time slots. Leaving broad availability can result in patients booking times you did not intend to offer.
Step 4: Configure Site and Settings
This tab controls the patient experience, links, notifications, and behavior.
Go to the Site and Settings tab.
Online Scheduling Links
New Patient Online Scheduling Link - Copy this link and add it to your website (as a button or redirect) and to your Google Business Profile. It creates a new patient record and appointment in your EHR. Sample new patient link: https://clinic.patienthealthcenters.org/book?clinic=PRACTICEID
Existing Patient Online Scheduling Link - Copy this link for existing patients and add it to your website (as a button or redirect). It allows them to schedule, view, reschedule, and cancel appointments (based on your settings). Both links are also available in Account Settings (click the triangle icon in the upper right). Sample existing patient link: https://clinic.patienthealthcenters.org/schedule?code=PRACTICEID
Note: The New Patient and Existing Patient Online Scheduling Links, along with the Scheduler Pro mobile app Link, are system-generated and cannot be edited. We do not have an integration with Google's "Reserve with Google" feature.
Embed Scheduling on Your Website Copy the <iframe> embed code and paste it into your website. You can also add the prefill script (starts with <script> function configure()) before the </body> tag to pre-populate first name, last name, email, phone, or birth date.
Scheduling Preferences
Choose Capture Information First or Show Appointments First (most clinics and marketing agencies prefer Show Appointments First).
Check the boxes to allow patients to cancel and/or reschedule appointments online.
Set How far can patients reschedule appointments? (up to 60 days).
Set How far in advance can patients book? (up to 90 days).
Set How much advanced notice time do you require? (from 1 hour to 3 days).
Check Receive an email notification when patients book an appointment online and add additional email addresses if needed by clicking the plus button and entering the email address.
Create appointment when online payment fails (Charge for Visit) - when enabled, failed payments still create the appointment in the EHR with a "payment failed" appointment note. When disabled (unchecked), the clinic is only notified of the failed payment. Requires merchant processor integration.
Make Patient cell phone required and Mobile opt-in required (recommended/required by law).
Select which statuses trigger patient notifications (commonly “cancelled” and “rescheduled”).
Choose your primary and accent colors for the scheduling pages.
Request Appointment Mode (Optional) Check the boxes for New patients can only request appointments and/or Existing patients can only request appointments. When enabled, appointments go into a queue (Extras → Scheduling → Online Appointments) for staff to manually accept or reject instead of being added directly to the schedule.
When a patient submits a request, staff will receive a notification in the TrackStat Inbox indicating that the patient requested an appointment.
On the final confirmation page after submitting the appointment request, the patient will see a message indicating that their appointment request has been received and that they will receive an email shortly confirming whether the appointment was accepted.
If the appointment request is accepted:
The appointment will be added to the schedule
The patient will receive a confirmation notification
If the appointment request is rejected:
The appointment will not be added to the schedule
The patient will receive a notification that the appointment request was rejected
Provider Display Options Choose whether to:
Always show the provider
Enable “First available provider” and show providers
Enable “First available provider” and mask (hide) providers
Thank You Page
Customize the confirmation message, or
Redirect patients to a custom thank-you page on your website. To remove the default mention of forms, delete the form merge field from the Instructions (Confirmation Page) section and save.
Tracking Scripts Add Google, Facebook, or other conversion tracking scripts in the Tracking Scripts section. These fire on the scheduling and thank-you pages.
QR Code Download your custom QR code (for existing patients) and display it in your office or on materials.
Best Practices & Important Warnings
Always save after making changes (the Save button is sometimes at the top or bottom of the page - scroll up or down as needed).
Explicitly define availability windows and use the Override provider availability hours feature when needed.
Combination appointments (multiple purposes selected on one appointment in your EHR) can break availability calculations. Create dedicated single-purpose appointment types instead.
Tags (including “not qualified”) only affect whether patients receive automated drip campaign invitations. They do not prevent a patient from booking if they have the direct scheduling link.
For ChiroTouch Classic (server) users: Your server computer must be powered on and connected to the internet for Online Scheduling to work.
Appointment Notes are retained when an appointment is rescheduled online.
Completion Criteria
You have successfully configured Online Scheduling when:
The correct Visit Purposes appear for patients
Providers show the intended availability
Patients can successfully book (or request) appointments
The confirmation message or redirect page displays as expected
Notifications are received when appointments are booked
Make sure to test it using your own patient record or test patient after updating the settings!
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