Keywords: schedule templates, appointment class, appointment type, templating, close time, open time, reserve, chairs, create template, permissions, edit schedule templates
Summary
This article walks through how to create a schedule template in Cloud 9. It covers permissions required, navigating the template builder, reserving appointment classes and types, closing time blocks, and saving a completed template.
Overview
Using Schedule Templates in Cloud 9 allows your practice to manage the workflow of appointments more efficiently. If multiple appointments are booked that require the doctor’s presence at the same time, a bottleneck will occur where patients are sitting in chairs and assistants are waiting unproductively with them. Templating your schedule leads to maximum efficiency of your staff and their time and creates an excellent patient experience.
Prerequisite Reading: Before setting up Schedule Templates, review the Cloud 9: Appointment Types and Appointment Classes article here to make sure both are configured correctly.
Permissions Required
To create and manage schedule templates, the following permission must be applied by someone at the practice who has the Edit Employees permission under Edit > Setup > Employees:
- Edit Schedule Templates: Required to create and manage schedule templates.
Additional scheduling permissions are covered later in this article where they become relevant.
Template Basics
Navigate to Edit > Schedule Templates to create or edit a Schedule Template. You will see buttons up top, the list of schedule templates on the left where you can scroll to see them all, the tabs of each location and a calendar view of each on this screen.
The following buttons, (screenshots below each one's name, definition, and description), are available on the Schedule Templates screen in the upper left:
Add: Blue Plus Button
Creates a new template.Edit: White Pencil & Clipboard Button
Opens an existing template for changes once the template is selects on the left hand side.Delete: Red X Button
Removes an existing template. See the Deleting a Template section below for an important note before deleting.Restore: Clock with Arrow in a Counter Clockwise Circle Button
Restores a previously deleted template. Click Restore to see a list of deleted templates, select the one you want to bring back, and click the green Restore button at the bottom.Copy: Two Sheets of Paper Button
Copies a template from one location to another. See the Cloud 9: Applying, Copying, and Troubleshooting Schedule Templates article for full instructions.Apply: The Word Apply with a Check Marked Calendar Icon
Applies a finalized template to a specific day or group of days on the schedule calendar.Un-Apply: The Word Un-Apply with a Minus in a Calendar Icon
Removes a template that has been applied to a specific day.Close the Day: The Words Close Days with an X marked Calendar Icon
Marks a day on the calendar as closed. When a day is closed, the quick-select navigation buttons on the schedule will skip over it automatically. For example, if today is Friday and you click the one day ahead button, it will move to the next open day rather than Saturday.
On the left side of the screen you will see a list of Schedule Views available to you. Each Schedule View will have a list of saved Schedule Templates down the left side. To the right of that list is the large calendar where days are closed and completed templates are applied.
Note: Each schedule view has its own tab, and it has its own Schedule Templates. You can copy one over from location to location. This process is outline in the next article HERE.
Creating a Template
To begin creating a template, click the blue + Add button.
The template header will appear at the top of the screen with the following buttons off to the left:
Print:
Opens the print options screen where you can set start and stop times and adjust row height for readability. Options include Fit to Page, Show Reservations, Show Manual Overrides, Landscape Mode, and HIPAA mode. The HIPAA option displays only patient ID numbers on the printed schedule rather than patient names.
Copy
Copies the current template under a different name. This is useful when you want to create a variation of an existing template. For example, if you have a completed full day template and want to create a half day version, copy the template, rename it, and remove the afternoon appointments. This saves time by not having to rebuild a template from scratch.
Save, Close, and Cancel
Located in the upper right. The green Close button saves your work and returns you to the previous screen.
Step 1: Add a name to the Schedule Template.
Step 2: Select a background color for the template header from the dropdown menu on the upper right side of the page.
Step 3: Begin building out the template. The number of chairs on your template will match the chairs in your Schedule View location. If they do not match, you will need to update the Schedule View first under Edit > Setup > Schedule View.
To add appointments to the template, left click and hold on the template grid, drag the mouse downward and to the right to select a block of time, then release. The following options will appear:
Reserve Appointment Class
This button opens a screen where you select the Appointment Class you want to place in the selected time block. If you selected two hours on the same chair and the Appointment Class is 30 minutes, selecting Reserve As Many As Will Fit will populate four appointments in that time block. There is a GIF below showing this process.
Here is an example of how a practice might organize their Appointment Classes and Types:
-
EXAM-30Min (Appointment Class)
- New Patient Exam: Adult (Appointment Type)
- New Patient Exam: Child (Appointment Type)
- Exam: Transfer (Appointment Type)
- Exam: Second Opinion (Appointment Type)
-
30Min (Appointment Class)
- Adjustment (Appointment Type)
- Impress Appliance (Appointment Type)
- IPR 1 Arch (Appointment Type)
- Seat 1 Appliance (Appointment Type)
-
Records-30Min (Appointment Class)
- Records Final (Appointment Type)
-
Consult-30Min (Appointment Class)
- Consultation (Appointment Type)
In this example, reserving the EXAM-30Min class on the template allows any of the four exam types to be scheduled in that block. Keep in mind that if you have more than 15 classes it may become difficult to place them all on a single day without constricting the schedule.
Reserve Appointment Type
Functions the same way as Reserve Appointment Class but reserves a specific Appointment Type instead of a class. You pick the specific appointment types you want added to the schedule. There is a GIF below showing this process that reviews picking 'Reserve as many as will fit' and 'Reserve only one.'
Close Time
Closes a block of time on the template so that nothing can be scheduled there. Use this for time before the office opens, standardized lunch breaks, and after the office closes if the Schedule View still shows available time. You can also use Close Time to block out time for admin work, staff meetings, or any other time the chair should be unavailable for patient appointments. See the GIF below.
Open Time
Opens a block of time that is currently closed.
Note: By default, staff will only be able to schedule appointments within the templated types and times. If certain employees need additional flexibility, the following permissions can be applied by someone with the Edit Employees permission under Edit > Setup > Employees:
- Can Override Schedule: Allows the employee to schedule patients in a different templated appointment type and to schedule in closed time.
- Can Schedule a Different Type: Allows the employee to schedule a different appointment type than what was templated.
- Can Schedule in Closed Time: Allows the employee to schedule an appointment in a time that has been closed on the schedule.
Step 4: After closing any time that will not be in use, begin reserving Appointment Classes across the template. If all of your appointments at a given time are the same across all chairs, drag from left to right across all chairs and select Reserve Appointment Class with Reserve as Many as Will Fit selected.
If all of the appointments you want to reserve are in the same chair, drag down within that chair instead.
Step 5: Continue reserving Appointment Classes or Appointment Types until the full day is covered.
Step 6: When finished, click the green Save, then click Close or click the green Close button to save and return to the Schedule Templates screen.
Deleting a Template
If you have unused templates you may choose to remove them from the list so that no one accidentally applies one that is no longer in use.
Important: If a template was applied to a future day and is then deleted, that day will no longer have a template applied. You will need to go back and apply a different template to any affected days. Check future days carefully before deleting a template.
To delete a template:
- Navigate to Edit > Schedule Templates.
- Select the correct schedule view if applicable.
- Highlight the name of the template you want to remove and click Delete.
- Click OK to confirm the action.
If you need to restore a deleted template at any point, use the Restore button to bring it back.
Ready to Apply Your Template?
Once your template is built and saved, the next step is applying it to the calendar. See the Cloud 9: Applying, Copying, and Troubleshooting Schedule Templates article here to continue.
As always, if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to reach out to Cloud 9 Support by emailing us at cloud9support@planetdds.com, or chatting us online using the chat bubble on the lower right at https://cloud9support.planetdds.com/hc/en-us, or giving us a call during our business hours of 8:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST at the 1.800.394.6050 option 2.