With our planner restrictions feature, you can easily set limitations on specific treatment categories and appointment types, ensuring that certain appointments can only be scheduled during designated time frames.
Whether you need to reserve part of the day for specific treatments or restrict video appointments to specific hours, this feature provides the flexibility and convenience you need.
In this article, we will guide you through the process of setting up and using restrictions for working hours.
Setting up Restrictions:
To begin using restrictions for working times, follow these steps:
Go to the menu > Planning
Choose the applicable date and times for which you want to set restrictions. You are also able to set repetitions in the planner.
Select the applicable practitioner and location.
Toggle the switch of the "Only allow specific appointments" section and specify the treatment categories that are allowed to get scheduled.
Next, select the appointment type(s) that are allowed to get scheduled. You can choose from the available appointment types for more precise control.
Add notes or finalise and click "Save"
Manual Bookings and Restricted Times:
For manual bookings made by your staff, restricted times will be clearly indicated in the calendar. Here's how your staff can identify and work with these restricted time slots:
• Restricted times will be displayed as yellow fields in the calendar, contrasting with the usual white fields.
• When your staff selects a time that falls within a restricted period, a pop-up will appear displaying the restrictions in a yellow field.
• If your staff attempts to schedule an appointment for a different appointment type or treatment category during a restricted time, a pop-up will appear indicating that the selected period does not allow the selected appointment types or treatments. However, users can overrule this restriction if needed:
Online Bookings and restrictions:
When it comes to online bookings, restrictions for working times are automatically applied to the available times. The online scheduler will display the available times based on the set-up restrictions. The scheduler will only present the assigned times that are within the allowed periods for each appointment type and treatment category.
Troubleshooting: an appointment type is still booked despite a restriction
If patients or staff members are still able to book an appointment type or treatment category that you expected to be restricted, check the following before assuming something isn't working correctly:
Is the "Only allow specific appointments" toggle actually switched on, with treatments and appointment types selected? This setting lives inside a Work entry in the planner, and can be opened from two places: the Planning screen, or directly from the calendar via the icon next to the practitioner's name. Both lead to the same entry and the same toggle. The most common cause of a restriction "not working" is that the toggle was left off, or switched on without selecting anything underneath it.
Is the working time part of a repeating pattern? When a repetition is set on the working time, the restriction is carried along automatically into every occurrence. If the restriction was added or changed after the repetition already existed, check that it appears correctly on the specific day in question.
Was the appointment booked before the restriction was added? Restrictions only affect new bookings made after they are set up. An appointment that already existed in the calendar will remain, even if it would no longer be allowed under a restriction added afterwards.
Was this a manual booking made by staff? For manual bookings, staff members can choose to overrule a restriction when scheduling an appointment type outside the allowed selection (see "Manual Bookings and Restricted Times" above). This is expected behaviour and only applies to manual scheduling, never to online bookings.
Was the restriction expected from a Block instead of a Work entry? Blocks (used for breaks, holidays, meetings, etc.) close the entire time slot to every appointment type by design, and do not have a treatment or appointment type selector. This level of control is only available on Work entries.
Is the restriction set for the correct location and practitioner? If a practitioner works across multiple locations, confirm the restriction was added to the working time for the specific location in question.