From next generation diary management to video consultations, Scheduler capability gives you everything you need to run a fast-paced busy practice.
Looking for help? You’ll find everything here – read through it all, or use the index below to jump straight to what you need.
Getting started
Diary management
Navigation and overview
Log into ePractice and click on the Diaries icon in the main menu on the left-hand side.
There are navigation aids running across the top of the page – these are (in order from left to right):
- Click on the date to open a calendar – clicking on the year or month helps you jump a larger time-span
- The < and > buttons will scroll to the previous and next month/week/day depending on which diary view you’re looking at
- Today – will take you directly back to today, within the current diary view
- Time scale – the time intervals you can see in your diary when in day view
- 5 minutes – gives you the most amount of space, useful if you have shorter appointment types
- 10 minutes
- 15 minutes
- 30 minutes – this is the default
- 60 minutes – the least amount of space, useful if you only have hour long appointments
- My diaries – opens up a side menu for you to see your available diaries and add registered resources , if applicable
- Diary settings – take you directly to your general and appointment settings page
- Month – your diary, a month at a time
- Week – your diary, a week at a time (includes weekends)
- Work week – your diary, a week at a time without weekends
- Agenda – your weekly diary, only showing booked events (a dot underneath the date shows activity)
When you hover over an appointment in any of the diary views you can see the details:
Clicking on it will open the details on the right-hand side and allow you to:
- View the full patient details
- Reschedule the appointment
- Update the appointment status
Initial set up
If you haven’t used the diary yet, there’s a few things you’ll need to do before you start.
- A splash screen will appear asking you to add the relevant practitioner diaries
- If you’re a practice with multiple practitioners you’ll be able to see all the practitioners linked to your site – choose your practitioners and click Add
- Review the list – you can remove a practitioner by clicking the cross against the name or search for more to add by clicking on the Search bar
- Click Add when you’ve finished – this is the only step required for a single practitioner site
You can now set up your diary preferences by clicking Set up or click Skip to do this later. Read the next section on General settings to find out how.
General settings
You can access General settings in one of four ways:
- If you’re accessing Appointments for the first time a splash screen will appear – follow the above instructions for Initial set up and then click Set up
- Click the Diary Settings button at the top of the diary screen
- Click Diary Settings from the three dots Manage menu on the right of the screen (visible on all screens except for Month and Agenda views)
- Press Alt+Shift+S
Practice hours
This is where you set when you’re available to see patients. You won’t be adding locations at this stage, simply the days of the week and your working times.
- Click on the days of the week that want set – as you do this, the start and finish times for that day will appear
- Add a start and finish time for each by either clicking on the hour and minute sections, or the clock icons in the start and end boxes. You can add multiple start and finish times by clicking + Add More e.g. a morning session from 08:30 to 11:00, an afternoon session from 14:00 to 16:00 and an evening session from 18:30 to 20:00
These values will become your Working week.
Holidays
This setting is so you can automatically block out the bank holidays in your diary. Choose from the following options:
- England & Wales
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
Click Save Settings on the top right.
Default diary view
Choose the way you want to see your diary from the choice of:
- Day
- Week
- Month
- Work week
- Agenda
Keyboard shortcuts
This is a list of the shortcuts you can use when viewing your diary to quickly get to what you need to see:
- Alt+Shift+S = General diary settings
- Alt+Shift+D = Diary view | Day
- Alt+Shift+W = Diary view | Week
- Alt+Shift+M = Diary view | Month
- Alt+Shift+T = Today (only available in Day view)
Once you’ve finished click Save Settings on the top right of the screen.
To add all your appointment types you’ll now need to add your Appointment settings, which is covered in the next section.
Appointment settings
This is where you set up your default appointment types and can also add handy instructions that can easily be sent with your appointment confirmations, saving you time.
- Click the Diary Settings button at the top of the screen or use the shortcut Alt+Shift+S
- Click Appointment in the left-hand menu – the page is split into two sections – Appointment types at the top and Appointment instructions at the bottom
Appointment types
Here’s where you create and manage the different types of appointments used when booking patients into your diary. These are based on the Industry Standard Codes (ISCs) that are used in the background to identify what type of appointment is being invoiced to insurers. You can call your appointments whatever you want and have multiple versions of the same thing, although remember the name must be something that’ll be understood by anyone.
The list is in alphabetical order but to help you find the right one quickly, simply type part of the Appointment name in the search box.
To give you a head start, we’ve included 18 commonly used appointment types, with suggested durations – we’ve kept the name the same as the ISC. These are:
- Anaesthesia For Surgery – 360 mins
- Consultation with Minor Treatment – 60 mins
- Consultation, Follow up – 60 mins
- Consultation, Initial – 60 mins
- Consultation, Outpatient – 60 mins
- Initial telephone consultation with MSK Specialist – 60 mins
- Inpatient Consultation – 60 mins
- Physio O/P Consultation per 15 Minutes – 15 mins
- Physiotherapy Follow-up Remote Consultation – 60 mins
- Physiotherapy Initial Consultation – 60 mins
- Physiotherapy Initial Remote Consultation – 60 mins
- Physiotherapy, Follow Up Consultation – 60 mins
- Remote Consultation – 60 mins
- Surgeons Fee for Surgery – 360 mins
- Telephone Consultation over 15 Minutes – 15 mins
- Telephone Consultation up to 15 Minutes – 15 mins
- Video Consultation over 15 Minutes – 30 mins
- Video Consultation up to 15 Minutes – 15 mins
You can easily delete those you don’t want and edit the ones that you’ll use by following these simple steps. NOTE: You mustn’t use an appointment type that’s aligned to a specific professional ISC for another e.g. don’t use Physiotherapy Initial Consultation if you’re not a physiotherapist.
Editing or deleting an appointment type
At the top of the page underneath Appointment types you’ll see the pre-loaded list. To delete an appointment type simply click the three dots at the end of the relevant row, click Delete and then click Yes. Once deleted it can’t be reinstated and will need to be added again.
To edit an appointment type click the three dots and then Edit.
- You can change the name in the Appointment type name (alias) box to anything you want
- Change the colour by clicking in the box and choosing an alternative
- Change the duration by highlighting the number and overwriting with the new value or use the up and down arrows that appear in the right-hand side of the box when you hover over it
- Click the Treatment setting box to choose the correct setting
- If you think you may want to use this appointment type in the future but want to remove it from your list for now, tick the inactive box – to include your inactive appointment types when you’re looking at your list just tick the Include inactive box and the top of the screen. Untick the box if you want to re-activate it
- Click Save
Adding a new appointment type
- Click Add
- Click the Appointment type box and type in the type of appointment you’re looking for e.g. consultation, physio or therapy and choose the relevant one from the list – you can try and narrow down the search by typing in more specific words
- The same name will show in the Appointment type name (alias) box but you can overwrite this to your own e.g. Consultation, Initial(E0000610) can be renamed Initial appointment (45 mins)
- You can choose a colour – an initial colour will be shown but you can change this by clicking in the box and choosing from the available options
- The Duration defaults to 30 minutes – you can change this by either highlighting 30 and overwriting with the new value or click in the box and use the mouse wheel to scroll up or down
- When you click the Treatment setting box you’ll be given a list to choose from – you can only have one setting per appointment type, so add another one for a different setting as required
- Click Save to add to your list
- You can make changes to this appointment type at any time by clicking the three dots, Edit and following the instructions for Editing or deleting an appointment type
- If you’ve never used an appointment type you can delete it by clicking the dustbin icon
Appointment instructions
This is found at the bottom of the page and is where you can write simple commonly-used instructions that can easily be included with your appointment confirmations – this’ll save you time as you won’t need to remember to add them to your main messages. You can also create instructions to give patients location directions.
- Click Add
- Give your instruction a Name e.g. Admission for operation or Initial consultation instructions
- Type the instruction in the Text box
- If it’s a Location direction make sure you toggle the button underneath the text box
- Click Save and it will be added to your list
- You can make changes to an instruction at any time by clicking the pencil icon or click the dustbin icon to delete it
Sessions
Whether you need to add an ad-hoc session to your diary or have it recurring on a regular basis, it’s easy to add fixed time when you’re available to see patients at a particular location. You can view the sessions you’ve added in a list or in scheduler view, which shows how they fit into your working week.
You’ll need to make sure you’ve completed your set up first – jump to General settings and Appointment settings to find out how.
Adding
- Click the + symbol on the top right of the screen
- Click Session
- If you’re a practice with multiple practitioners, choose from the drop-down options – the name of a single practitioner will already be populated
- Give your session a name that you’ll understand
- Choose the Specialty and Subspecialty from the options available (taken from your PPR profile if you’ve got one)
- Choose the relevant Location – if you want to publish your session to ICE you can only use a location that’s listed on your PPR profile, so we’ve added a handy indicator
- Click Next
- Choose the types of appointments you want to make available in the session – for multiple choice just keep ticking your options and click outside the drop-down box to move on to the next step. If you only choose one you’ll see the default duration time which you can amend
- Add the start and end times using the pickers or typing in directly by clicking in the box again or pressing the Esc key on your keyboard
- Add a start date either by typing in the date or by clicking on the diary icon and picking it
- Choose the recurrence:
- Don’t Repeat – this is for a single ad-hoc session
- Daily
- You can choose the interval between each recurrence e.g. 1 for every day, 2 for alternate days etc
- You can apply the session to your work week – which you should have already set up in your General settings
- Weekly
- Choose the day(s) of the week and the interval between each recurrence e.g. 1 for every week, 2 for every fortnight etc
- For speed you can apply the session to your work week and adjust the day(s) it relates to
- Monthly
- Choose the interval between each recurrence e.g. 1 for every month, 2 for every two months etc
- Choose if you want it on the same date each month e.g. the 1st, or pick a set day and week e.g. the third Monday
- Choose when you want the recurrence to end:
- By clicking the End by radio button and typing a date into the box or clicking the calendar icon – you can quickly change the year and month by clicking the current month at the top of the calendar
- By clicking the End after radio button and typing in how many times you want the session to appear in your diary
- Click Next
- Add any notes
- Review the details on the right-hand side of the page – click Back if you need to make any changes
- Click Save
Managing
Click the three dotted Manage menu on the top right of the screen (visible on all screens except for Month and Agenda views) and click Sessions.
This will open in Scheduler view on the current week but by moving the toggle at the top right you can view a simple list. If you have multiple diaries, you’ll need to select the relevant Resource (the practitioner) from the drop-down menu.
You can also add a session from this screen by clicking Add Sessions.
Scheduler view
Use the backward (<) and forward (>) arrows next to the date to move backwards and forwards to see the sessions available for the selected week. Simply click on the date to navigate to the month you want to look at and then click on the required week in the calendar.
- The details will appear on the left in the Sessions column – if you’ve got more than one session with multiple appointment types you may need to scroll down to see all the details of each session:
- Icons for info or action
- Name of session
- Active dates
- Time
- Location
- Type of appointments
- Icons:
- Circular arrows = Only shows if your session is recurring
- Pencil = Edit – you can make changes to the location, start and end times, start and end dates, recurrence etc
- No entry = Make the session Inactive – please note that you won’t be able to activate this again
- Dustbin = Delete
List view
This gives you a complete list of all the sessions in a grid layout, with the same information (apart from the type of appointments). Use the icons in the Action column:
- Pencil = Edit – you can make changes to the location, start and end times, start and end dates, recurrence etc
- No entry = Make the session Iinactive – please note that you won’t be able to activate this again
- Dustbin = Delete
Appointment creation
You can easily add an appointment by using the menus or directly in the diary.
Adding an appointment directly in the diary
An appointment can be added wherever you want by simply double clicking into the diary. Follow the same steps as below, depending on whether the appointment is in- or outside a session. The only difference will be that the date, start and end times will already be populated. The end time will change depending on the type of appointment required.
Adding an appointment from the menus
You can access this functionality in two ways:
- From the Add menu by clicking the + symbol at the top right of the screen and then clicking Appointment
- From the three dots Manage menu next to the + symbol on the top right of the screen (visible on all screens except for Month and Agenda views) then:
- Click Appointment
- Click Add Appointment
You can now find an available slot and add an appointment either within a session or anywhere in the diary. If you haven’t already done it, find out how you set up your sessions.
Find a slot outside a session
- Toggle Find a session to the off position (this is the default) – the right-hand side of the pane will change to show your diary for the next week including sessions and any other appointments already booked outside a session
- Type in part of the patient’s first or last name – this searches your patient list and will return all matching results. If the patient isn’t in your database you’ll need to add them into your patient list first and then make the appointment
- Choose the type of appointment – you’ll need to make sure you’ve set these up first. Check out the steps for Appointment settings
- Choose the relevant Location – if you’re looking for a specific session, toggle on Find a session at the top of the pane (see below)
- Use the forward (>) and backward (<) buttons at the top right of the pane to scroll through the coming weeks until you find a suitable time or click on the date and choose a week from the calendar. Click Today to quickly get back to this week
- Click the time required – even if this is outside your normal working hours
- Alternatively, you can enter the start date and time by clicking in the box and typing or by clicking the calendar icon – the end date and time will automatically be updated
- Click Next
- Type in the Reason for visit if you know it – the diagnosis or symptom the patient is suffering from
- Add any notes
- You can also add one or more instruction that you’ve already set up – this is detailed in our guide on Appointment settings or you can add a new one at this stage
- Click Add Instruction
- If you’ve already written some, toggle Search existing templates to the on position, choose from the drop-down options and click Add
- If you’d like to add a new instruction now, simply give it a name and add the text – if these are directions to your location toggle Add as a location direction to the on position – click Add
- You can repeat this step as many times as you need to
- If a translator is required, toggle Translator needed to the on position and choose the language required
- Review the appointment details on the right-hand side of the pane – you can click Back if you need to make any changes
- Once everything is correct click Save
Find a slot within a session
- Toggle Find a session to the on position – the right-hand side of the pane will change to show you the the current week
- Type in part of the patient’s first or last name – this searches your patient list and will return all matching results. If the patient isn’t in your database you’ll need to add them into your patient list first and then make the appointment
- Select the session from the drop-down options – the available slots for that session will show on the right-hand side of the pane
- Choose the type of appointment – you’ll need to make sure you’ve set these up first and have added them to the session. Check out how you change the Appointment settings and how to create and manage Sessions
- Use the forward (>) and backward (<) buttons at the top right of the pane to scroll through the coming weeks until you find a suitable time within the required session – or click on the date and choose a week from the calendar. Click Today to quickly get back to this week
- Click the time required which will turn green
- Click Next
- Type in the Reason for visit if you know it – the diagnosis or symptoms the patient is suffering from
- Add any notes
- You can also add one or more instruction – how to set these up is detailed in our guide on Appointment settings or you can add a new one
- Click Add Instruction
- If you’ve already written some, toggle Search existing templates to the on position, choose from the drop-down options and click Add
- If you’d like to add a new instruction now, simply give it a name and add the text – if these are directions to your location toggle Add as a location direction to the on position – click Add
- You can repeat this step as many times as you need to
- If a translator is required, toggle Translator needed to the on position and choose the language required
- Review the appointment details on the right-hand side of the pane – you can click Back if you need to make any changes
- Once everything is correct click Save
Appointment management
After you’ve added an appointment, it’s simple to move, edit or cancel it – you can choose the method that works best for you and the situation, either through the menu or directly within your diary.
Amending an appointment from the menu
- Click the three dots next to the + symbol on the top right of the screen to access the Manage menu (visible on all screens except for Month and Agenda views) and then click Appointments
- You’ll see a list of all the appointments that have been made and can search for a specific patient by clicking in the search filter and typing in part of their name
- You can also filter your list by:
- Resource = the practitioner seeing the patient
- Using the Appointment start date and Appointment end date fields to narrow the window of search
- Status – choose from:
- Arrived
- Cancelled
- Complete
- Confirmed
- DNA
- In progress
- Use the icons in the Action column:
- Pencil = Edit – you can make changes to the appointment type, location, date and start times
- Calendar with pencil = Update status – you can change the appointment status
- Dustbin = Delete
Amending an appointment from the diary
- Navigate to the required appointment using your diary view of choice (Month, Week, Work Week or Day)
- You now have some options:
- Click the appointment and the details will appear on the right-hand side of the screen – from here you can:
- Delete the appointment
- Update the status e.g. show the patient has arrived or was a DNA
- Reschedule – make the necessary changes
- Reassign – change the practitioner still keeping all relevant appointment info
- You can drag and drop the appointment to another space in your diary when using the Week, Work Week or Day views.
- Click and hold the appointment and drag it to where you want it e.g. move from 8.30 am on Wednesday to 4.30 pm on Friday
- Let go of the mouse button to complete the move
- You can also quickly extend or contract an appointment by left clicking the top or bottom edge and dragging it up or down depending on whether you need to lengthen or shorten it
- Click the appointment and the details will appear on the right-hand side of the screen – from here you can:
Amending an appointment from the patient record
- Find the relevant appointment and click the three dots at the end of the line – from here you can:
- Update the status e.g. show the patient has arrived or was a DNA
- Edit the appointment, including rescheduling
- Reassign – change the practitioner still keeping all relevant appointment info
- Delete the appointment
- Resend communication
Unavailability
You’ll always need to block out time in the diary – that could be for catching up on admin, going to a meeting or having time off on holiday. We’ve made it much easier to add times when you’re not going to be available to see patients.
Adding
There are two ways to add a new unavailability:
- From the Add menu by clicking the + symbol at the top right of the screen and then clicking Unavailability
- From the the three dots Manage menu next to the + symbol on the top right of the screen (visible on all screens except for Month and Agenda views) then:
- Click Unavailability
- Click Add Unavailability
However you access it you can then add the details.
- If you’re a practice with multiple practitioners, choose from the drop-down options – the name of a single practitioner will already be populated
- Choose the relevant Location
- Choose the start and end dates and times – there are two options:
- Click in the boxes and type
- Click the icon and pick the date and add the time – click OK
- Choose a reason from the drop-down list:
- Admin
- Holiday
- Meeting
- Other
- Add any notes e.g. address of where your meeting is or flight details etc
- Click Add
Managing
- Click the three dotted Manage menu on the top right of the screen (visible on all screens except for Month and Agenda views)
- Click Unavailability to view any times you’ve already blocked out
- To help find a specific unavailable session you can type the reason e.g. holiday, admin or the location name in the Search box – if you’re a practice you’ll first need to filter by practitioner
- Using the icons in the Action column you can make changes to an unavailable session at any time by clicking the pencil icon or click the dustbin icon to delete it
Arranging a video consultation
It’s easy to book a video consultation – just a few tweaks are all that are needed to your normal flow:
- Add an appointment
- Select the patient
- Choose the appropriate appointment type from the drop-down menu
- Select Remote / Online Consultations as the location
- Choose the date and time and click OK
- Toggle on Video consultation and click Next
- Add the reason for the visit and any notes if required
- Select Add communications and choose Email, SMS or both, depending on how you’d like to send the appointment confirmation to your patient – this will also include the link to join
- Click Save to send
Starting the call
On the day of the consultation just follow these steps when you want to begin:
- Open the appointment in your diary
- Click on the video icon
- The video consultation screen opens
- Click Join when you’re ready to start
- You can start and stop your camera or mute your microphone using the icons
- End the call by clicking the red hang-up button
FAQs
What’s a video consultation?
It’s a virtual appointment between you and a patient that takes place through a secure video call. It allows you to discuss health concerns, give advice and follow up on treatment plans without the patient needing to visit the clinic in person.
Is special equipment needed?
You’ll both need an electronic device with a camera and microphone (a computer, tablet or smartphone). For the best experience, make sure you have a stable internet connection.
How does the patient know to attend?
When you make the booking, the patient is automatically emailed and/or texted (depending on your preferences) the appointment info and a joining link.
Is my video consultation private and secure?
We use encrypted video platforms to ensure your consultation is confidential and secure. You should choose a quiet, private space for the appointment to maintain privacy.
What if I have technical difficulties during my consultation?
If you experience any issues with either the video or audio, you can speak to our Customer Services team on 0330 900 4900.
If you need more help with Scheduler, you can sign up for a free 1-2-1 Healthcode Academy training session or get in touch with one of our friendly team.
