Overview

Scheduling an appointment is defined as the process by which the Patient chooses the most convenient date/time for their appointment. There are several ways this can be achieved.

You can try out the different scheduling methods using test mode.

Appointment types

Type	Notes
Standard	Standard appointments are created into the existing time that is available on the Heim platform. Typically an appointment is created from today, to three weeks out depending on the Practitioner's availability in the area where the Appointment must happen.
Scheduled	Scheduled appointments are planned into the future, where the appointment includes a "Plan From" and "Plan To" date. This ensures the Appointment happens in a particular period of time, for example before a scheduled operation. The Heim system automatically contacts the Patient shortly before the time period starts to choose a time that is convenient for them. Scheduled appointments must be enabled for your specific Task by the Heim Operations team, and is not enabled by default.

Type

Notes

Standard

Standard appointments are created into the existing time that is available on the Heim platform. Typically an appointment is created from today, to three weeks out depending on the Practitioner's availability in the area where the Appointment must happen.

Scheduled

Scheduled appointments are planned into the future, where the appointment includes a "Plan From" and "Plan To" date. This ensures the Appointment happens in a particular period of time, for example before a scheduled operation. The Heim system automatically contacts the Patient shortly before the time period starts to choose a time that is convenient for them.

Scheduled appointments must be enabled for your specific Task by the Heim Operations team, and is not enabled by default.

Scheduling modes

Mode	Notes
Choose a time	In this mode the Organisation chooses the time for the Appointment, either using the Heim dashboard, or programatically via the Heim APIs. This option is most suited to scenarios where either your operations team are already in contact with the Patient, or when you are able to integrate the Heim service into your website or system.
Patient-led	In this mode the Heim system will automatically contact the patient by Email and SMS using the details provided when the appointment is created. This enables the Patient to easily choose a date that is convenient for them while minimising operational load. The flow is as follows: Appointment created without a window date, and status set to "scheduling" Heim system sends a link to a mobile optimised microsite to the Patient via SMS and Email Patient chooses a date/time using a date picker similar to that in the dashboard Appointment status set to "scheduled"

Mode

Notes

Choose a time

In this mode the Organisation chooses the time for the Appointment, either using the Heim dashboard, or programatically via the Heim APIs. This option is most suited to scenarios where either your operations team are already in contact with the Patient, or when you are able to integrate the Heim service into your website or system.

Patient-led

In this mode the Heim system will automatically contact the patient by Email and SMS using the details provided when the appointment is created. This enables the Patient to easily choose a date that is convenient for them while minimising operational load. The flow is as follows:

Appointment created without a window date, and status set to "scheduling"
Heim system sends a link to a mobile optimised microsite to the Patient via SMS and Email
Patient chooses a date/time using a date picker similar to that in the dashboard
Appointment status set to "scheduled"

For Organisations using the Heim dashboard to manage appointments

Appointments that are created using the dashboard use the create appointment stepper flow as detailed here.

In the "scheduling" step there are two choices:

Ask the patient (aka "Patient-led scheduling")
1. Choosing this option means that the Heim platform will send an Email and SMS to the Patient to ask them to select a convenient date and time using a mobile first micro website
2. If the patient has not chosen a date and time they will receive a reminder the next day (ie. appointment creation date + 1) and on appointment creation date + 3, and on date + 7.
3. These reminder messages can be seen on the appointment timeline in the dashboard
4. If the Patient has not selected a date and time after the three reminders were sent, then Heim Operations will proactively contact the Patient
5. The Patient is able to directly contact Heim support through the micro website to correct issues with their address or contact information
Choose a time
1. Your internal operations team can choose the date and time for the appointment. This is useful if the patient is already on the phone or in contact with you, and you are re-scheduling their appointment with them.

Scheduling and Appointment using the Heim API

This guide explains the step by step process for creating an appointment via the API. If you wish to integrate the Heim API do take time to familiarise yourself with our integration overview, and do reach out through your account manager to setup a direct channel to our integration support team.

Using patient-led scheduling

The simplest method is to utilise "patient-led scheduling" service via the API . Do this by creating an appointment (via a POST to /v1/appointments) without a windowId specified. This will cause the Heim system to trigger the patient led scheduling workflow (see above). Some tips:

This appointment can be seen in the scheduling tab of the appointment list view
The API returns the link that is sent to the Patient in the response. This can be used if you wish to send your own message to the Patient, rather than utilise the Heim SMS and Email notifications

Integrating a date picker & webhooks

The best method to enable scheduling through the Heim API is to present your user with a date/time picker to select the appointment time directly in your system or interface. The guide explains how our Availability API returns windows that may be selected by your user, and then subsequently used to create an appointment.

If you wish to store the date/time of the scheduled appointment in your system, and use it for a time driven process such as to send your Patient additional instructions or reminders, then you must listen and process any update to the date of the Window object sent to your system by the webhooks service. This is so that the systems remain in sync in the event of a reschedule.