Appointments

The Appointments module gives facilities a structured way to manage scheduled patient visits. Instead of relying on paper appointment books or separate scheduling tools, clinical staff and records officers book, reschedule, and track appointments within the same system they use for clinical care.

Scheduling an appointment

An appointment links a patient, a provider or service point, a date, and a time slot. Records officers or clinical staff can create appointments from the patient's record, no need to look up the patient again in a separate system.

When an appointment is created, it appears in the relevant provider's calendar. The patient can be notified if the facility uses SMS or communication tools.

Calendar view

The appointments module provides daily, weekly, and monthly calendar views. Providers can review their schedule for the day before their clinic starts, and administrators can see overall appointment volume across service points to identify capacity issues.

Walk-ins and scheduled patients

The system distinguishes between walk-in patients and those with scheduled appointments. Both appear on the relevant waiting list, giving clinical staff a clear view of how many patients are expected versus how many have arrived unscheduled.

Provider availability

Facility administrators configure each provider's working hours and the duration of appointment slots. This prevents overbooking and ensures the calendar reflects realistic capacity.

Appointment history

A patient's complete appointment history is visible from their record, which appointments were kept, which were rescheduled, and which were missed. This is useful context for clinical staff managing patients with chronic conditions or those on structured programme follow-up schedules.