Summary
This article will answer - why can't I schedule an appointment in this seemingly open time slot? When you get an error that states a time slot is not available, even though it looks open, sometimes the reason is that a previous appointment is scheduled outside of it's visual time slot.
Say your office's schedule template is broken down into 15-minute intervals. A patient wants to schedule a 30 min appointment at 11:10am; this appointment would then fall outside of the assigned 15-minute window (11:00-11:15 or 11:15-11:30) on the schedule, making the appointment go from 11:10-11:40. The appointment would automatically be moved up to the 11:00am block visually, as the nearest fitting block - so that it will sit correctly on the schedule; even though the actual time of the appointment start is at 11:10.
This creates the illusion that the 11:30 time slot is open.
When you then try to schedule something at 11:30, because that previous appointment runs till 11:40 you will get an error.
What this looks like:
- You can manually changing the time of an appointment (in this example, from 11 to 11:10am):
- The appointment automatically gets entered at the 11:00am block on the schedule, though it still shows the scheduled appointment time of 11:10. This leaves the 11:30 block looking as if it were open.
- When you try to schedule an appointment at 11:30am you will get a message that the 11:30am time slot is no longer available.
- You can click on Edit Appointment and select the History tab to see who scheduled this appointment.
Conclusion
If you are trying to schedule an appointment and keep getting the "time slot is no longer available" error, check the timing of the appointments before that specific time block. It may be that there is overlap like in this example, which can be corrected. Or it may be that the schedule needs to be changed to a 10 minute or 5 minute interval to allow for more precise scheduling.
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.