Introduction
Once you have added providers and visit purposes to Online Scheduling, the next step is to control exactly when and how many of each appointment type can be booked. Proper configuration of provider hours, exceptions, and appointment grouping helps prevent overbooking, balances provider workload, and gives you precise control over your schedule.
This article explains how to manage provider availability, set up appointment groups, use the Weight Strategy, create Standalone groups, and apply advanced rules such as Prep Time and per-purpose hour overrides.
Audience Office managers and administrators responsible for scheduling configuration.
Key Concepts
Before making changes, it is helpful to understand how TrackStat calculates availability:
Provider Availability Hours: The general days and times a provider is available.
Purpose Groups: Rules that limit how many appointments of certain types can be booked in the same time block.
Group Strategy (Default): More restrictive. Appointments from different groups generally cannot share the same time block.
Weighted Strategy: More flexible. It uses “weights” so different appointment types can share time blocks based on their relative resource usage.
Standalone Group: Ignores all appointment types outside the group when calculating availability. Useful for specific rooms, shared columns, or when you want one group to operate independently.
Prep Time: Extra time added before an appointment for setup or patient arrival. The system still shows realistic availability.
Max Appointment per Time Block: Controls capacity at the provider level (overrides individual visit purpose settings when set).
Step 1: Edit Provider Availability Hours
To adjust a provider’s regular online scheduling hours, follow these steps:
Go to Extras (3 dots icon) → Scheduling → Settings → Provider Availability tab.
Click Edit next to the provider.
In the Provider availability hours section, click each day of the week and set the desired time blocks.
To remove availability for a specific day or time period:
Click the time dropdown and select Blank, or
Adjust the “From” and “To” fields to reflect the corrected times.
Click Save.
Note: There is no “Delete” button for provider hours. Use the Blank option or adjust the times instead.
Step 2: Block Time Off or Specific Days (Exceptions)
To prevent online bookings on specific days or times, follow these steps:
While editing the provider, scroll to the Set exceptions for specific days section.
Click the date on the calendar.
Choose All day or enter specific Block From and Block To times.
Click Save.
This is useful for holidays, conferences, or provider time off. You can also create event blocks directly in your EHR (recommended for ChiroTouch Classic server users).
Tip: After removing a block, availability may take a few minutes to several hours to update due to background syncing (especially with server-based ChiroTouch). Refresh your browser and check again.
Step 3: Set Different Hours for Specific Visit Purposes
To give certain appointment types different availability than the provider’s regular hours, follow these steps:
While editing the provider, locate the Visit Purpose in the list.
Click the gear icon next to that Visit Purpose.
Set the desired Purpose availability hours for each day.
Check the box Override provider availability hours.
Click Save.
This is commonly used for New Patient appointments that need longer or more limited windows than regular adjustments.
Step 4: Create and Manage Appointment Groups
To control how many of each appointment type can be booked in the same time block, follow these steps:
While editing the provider, scroll to the Purpose Groups section.
Click Create Group (or edit an existing group).
Give the group a clear name (e.g., “New Patients” or “Existing Patients”).
Select Appointment per Time Block from the dropdown and enter the maximum number allowed.
(Optional) Check the Standalone box if you want this group to ignore all appointment types outside the group when calculating availability. Keep in mind this setting can lead to overbooking.
Drag and drop the relevant Visit Purposes into the group.
Click or select the Visit Purpose to highlight it (turn it yellow) to make it visible to patients.
Click Save.
Examples of effective grouping:
New Patients Group - Limit to 1 per time block (includes New Patient, Re-Exam, ROF/Day 2).
Existing Patients Group - Allow 2–3 per time block (includes Adjustment, Wellness, Maintenance).
You can also add internal-only appointment types (not available for online booking) to a group so the system still accounts for them when calculating open slots.
Step 5: Enable and Use the Weight Strategy
The Weight Strategy allows more flexible mixing of appointment types within the same time block.
To enable the Weight Strategy, follow these steps:
While editing the provider, check the box Opt-in to Weight Strategy.
Create your Purpose Groups as usual and set the number of appointments allowed per time block for each group.
Save your changes.
How it works (example):
Group A (New Patients) = 2 visits per block
Group B (Existing Patients) = 4 visits per block
If 1 visit from Group A are already booked in a time block, the system treats them as equivalent to 2 Group B visits, allowing 2 visits from Group B to still fit.
Important: When the Weight Strategy is not enabled (default Group Strategy), appointments from different groups generally cannot share the same time block.
Best Practices & Common Use Cases
Use Standalone Groups when you have multiple providers in one column or specific resources that should only consider certain appointment types.
Add non-online appointment types (such as ROF/Day 2) to the same group as New Patients to act as natural blockers and prevent double-booking.
For multi-provider clinics, consider creating slightly different provider display names or location-specific visit purposes to improve clarity for patients.
Avoid very broad availability windows. Explicit, limited hours usually produce better patient experiences and fewer scheduling conflicts.
Combination appointments (using multiple visit purposes for one appointment in your EHR) can interfere with accurate availability calculations. Use dedicated single-purpose types instead.
Troubleshooting Availability Issues
Provider still shows as unavailable after removing an Event block This is usually caused by background sync delays (especially with server-based ChiroTouch). Wait a few minutes to an hour, refresh the browser, and try again.
Availability not updating correctly
Confirm that Override provider availability hours is checked when using per-purpose hours.
Verify that Visit Purposes are highlighted in yellow (selected) in the provider’s settings.
Check that the appointment duration and time interval in TrackStat match your EHR settings.
Too many or too few slots showing Review your group limits, Weight Strategy setting, and whether any internal (not visible to patients) appointment types should be added to groups for accurate calculations.
Keywords: provider availability, appointment grouping, weight strategy online scheduling, standalone group, prep time scheduling, manage provider hours, prevent overbooking