OutSmart Online Booking is one of the most versatile cloud-based online booking systems available. Setting up your Online Booking Page requires setting up your Hours of Operation, your Event Types, your Office Profile and Personal Profile, and your Online Booking Options.  All these different systems work together to create your Online Booking Page exactly the way you want it.

Hours Of Operation

Your Hours of Operation are set in the Calendar, and are a type of event called a Background Event.  This is because they lie in the background of your Calendar, and cannot be modified direclty in the normal course of using your Calendar.  To learn how to create your Hours of Operation, see this article.

Event Types

After creating your office hours, you will then need to create all the various Event Types for use in your calendar.  Every event you schedule in your Calendar must be based on a pre-defined Event Type.  This is because there are many things that you can do with your Events, like send Reminders, SmartForm Questionnaires, Document attachments, etc. whenever that event is booked in your Calendar. To learn how to create or edit Event Types, see this article.

Office Profile

Next, you will need to check your Office Profile for completeness.  This includes uploading an Office Logo, and setting your contact information, website address, and office e-mail address.  To learn how to setup your Office Profile, see this article.

Practitioner Profile

After updating your Office Profile, you will need to ensure that your own Practitioner Profile is up to date.  This includes uploading a Profile Picture, and completing your professional bio.  To learn how to setup your Practitioner Profile, see this article.

Online Booking Options

Once all the above is compelted, the final step is to configure your Online Booking Options.  This is where you can set your Magnetic Booking preference, select which Event Types you want to list on your Online Booking Page, and define a Global Confirmation Message, among other things.  This will be discussed further down in this article.

Final Steps

Once all the above systems have been setup, then your Online Booking Page is complete.  You can use the Online Booking URLs provided in your Online Booking Options to install a Book Nowbutton on your website to direct your patients to book their appointments online.  Keep in mind that you will have a different Online Booking URL for every office, and that the above steps have to be followed for every office you have created in OutSmart.  Although most of the information, like your Practitioner Profile or Event Types will carry over from one office to the next, things like your Hours of Operation or Office Profile must be set for every office.

When one of your existing patients uses you online booking page, we attempt to identify who they are in order to prevent duplicate patient records from being created in your account.  Here is what we look at to find an existing patient:

1. First Name
2. Last Name
3. Date of Birth

If your patient already has a Patient Portal account, then we do not need to rely on the above information – we already know who they are, and can connect the new booking to their patient record.

However, if they are using online booking for the first time, then we have to try to match the above information with a patient record that exists in your list of patients.  So it is important that you try to maintain the accuracy of your records as much as possible.  Ensure that you always verify the proper spelling for the patient’s name, as well as record the accurate date of birth and postal code.  If we cannot find a match, then a new patient record will be created.

In order to allow your clients to cancel appointments online, you must activate that feature in your Online Booking preferences.

Access your online booking options by clicking on the “gear” icon at the top right of the Calendar and then selecting “Online Booking Options”.  Once there, you will see options to allow your patients to cancel their appointments online, as well as the option to specify the minimum notice for these cancellations.

Allow your patients to cancel online by turning on the options in your Online Booking Preferences.

Which events can be cancelled online?

When you turn on online cancellations, all events booked by your clients can be cancelled online.  But it is important to note that unless you provide your patient with a Medical Records Access Code, they will only be able to see and cancel appointments that they have booked themselves through your Online Booking page.  This is a restriction for security reasons.  We do not provide patients any view of private information, even their bookings, until their account is properly identified and authorized by way of the Medical Records Access Code.  Until they are identified in this way, all they have access to is information that they have submitted themselves.  This will include any online bookings they have made themselves, any SmartForms (Intake Forms) they have completed themselves, and any files they have uploaded themselves.

When your patient logs into their Portal, the event cancellation button will appear directly beside their bookings.

Your patients can cancel their appointments online from the Patient Portal.