Clinic Scheduling
Executive Summary
Clinic Scheduling is the calendar used to manage appointments in a clinic. Coordinators choose one or more clinics and a date range, and the screen loads the booked visits from AlayaCare onto a calendar. In the Chairs view each chair (a child facility of the selected clinic) is a column, so staff can see who is booked in which chair and when. In the Employees view the visits of the selected clinic are shown by employee. Time the clinic is not available (outside opening hours, or a closure) is shown as a blocked period on the calendar. From the calendar, staff can add a booking, move it, cancel it, change the employee, clock a visit in or out, or open the client in AlayaCare, and all changes are made in AlayaCare.
Key Features
- Load visits for one or more clinics and a from/to date range, with clinic opening hours and closures shown as blocked time
- Switch between the Chairs and Employees views
- Right-click a booking to edit its employee, cancel it, move it, clock it in or out, or view the client in AlayaCare
- Right-click an empty time slot on a chair to add a booking (Chairs view only)
- Drag a booking to a new time or chair, with a confirmation prompt
- Clock in using the employee assigned to the visit, an employee scheduled at the clinic that day, or any employee chosen by name
- Colour bookings by visit status or by the service code's colour
- Set the calendar time scale, calendar height, vacant visits, visit-update overrides, and clock in/out rules in the page settings
Typical Workflow
- Select one or more Facilities and a From/To Date range, then click Apply.
- The calendar opens on the first day of the range. Use the Chairs and Employees tabs to change the view.
- Right-click a booking or an empty slot to add, move, cancel, edit the employee on, or clock in or out a booking. You can also drag a booking to a new time or chair.
- Click Refresh to reload the calendar from AlayaCare after changes made elsewhere.
- Click Clear Dates or Clear All to start a new selection.
Configurable Settings
Open View Settings or Edit Settings from this screen (when permitted) to change these options.
| Group | Setting | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| General | Interval (in Minutes) Day | Dropdown | Length of each time interval on the day calendar. |
| General | Cells per Interval Day | Dropdown | Number of cells each interval is divided into on the day calendar. |
| General | Interval (in Minutes) Timeline | Dropdown | Length of each time interval on the timeline calendar. |
| General | Cells per Interval Timeline | Dropdown | Number of cells each interval is divided into on the timeline calendar. |
| General | Scheduler Height in Pixels | Dropdown | Height of the calendar. 650 pixels is used when nothing is set. |
| General | Allow Vacant Visits | Yes/No | Allows an Add Booking to be saved with no employee, creating a vacant visit. |
| Update Visit Overrides | Overlapping Visits | Yes/No | Allows moving a booking even if it overlaps another visit. |
| Update Visit Overrides | Service Instructions | Yes/No | Bypasses the AlayaCare service-instructions validation when a booking is moved. |
| Update Visit Overrides | Reason Code | Yes/No | Bypasses the AlayaCare reason-code validation when a booking is moved. |
| Update Visit Overrides | Locked Visit | Yes/No | Allows moving a visit that is locked in AlayaCare. |
| Update Visit Overrides | Blocked Employee | Yes/No | Allows moving a visit even if the assigned employee is blocked for the client or service. |
| Update Visit Overrides | Unavailable Employee | Yes/No | Allows moving a visit even if the assigned employee is unavailable at the new time. |
| Update Visit Overrides | Blocked Facility | Yes/No | Allows moving a visit even if the facility is blocked for scheduling. |
| Update Visit Overrides | Authorization | Yes/No | Bypasses AlayaCare authorization checks when a booking is moved. |
| Update Visit Overrides | Clock In/Out Current Date Only | Yes/No | When on, Clock In is allowed only for visits on the current day (in the clinic's time zone). |
| Update Visit Overrides | Clock In/Out Time To Use | Dropdown | Whether clock in and clock out use the scheduled visit time (Visit Time) or the actual time of the action (Actual). Visit Time is used when nothing is set. |
| Update Visit Overrides | Visit Colour Determined By | Dropdown | Whether bookings are coloured by Visit Status or by Service Code Settings. |
The labels of the dropdown and Allow Vacant Visits settings come from the configuration table, not from the screen itself, so they are listed as they appear in the existing documentation.
Available Permissions
The following permissions are available to be assigned to AlayaCare Roles:
| Attribute | What It Controls |
|---|---|
| View | Open the page |
| Settings View | Open View Settings to see the page configuration |
| Settings Edit | Open Edit Settings and change the page configuration |
Actions
The top of the page has these selection controls:
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Facilities | Multi-select list of clinics (with Select All). At least one must be selected. |
| From/To Date | Date range to load. Required. |
After the calendar loads, these controls appear above it:
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Interval (in Minutes) Day / Cells per Interval Day | Change the time scale of the day calendar. |
| Interval (in Minutes) Timeline / Cells per Interval Timeline | Change the time scale of the timeline calendar. |
| Timezone | Read-only. Time zone of the selected clinics, in which all times are shown. |
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
| Apply | Loads the calendar for the selected facilities and dates. A warning is shown if no facility or no date range is selected, or if the facilities are in different time zones. The selection is locked once the calendar is loaded. |
| Clear All | Hides the calendar and clears the facilities and dates. |
| Clear Dates | Hides the calendar and clears the dates only. |
| Refresh | Reloads the visits from AlayaCare for the current selection. |
| View Settings | Opens the page settings in read-only mode (when settings view is permitted). |
| Edit Settings | Opens the page settings for editing (when settings edit is permitted). |
| Edit Employee (right-click a booking) | Opens the Edit Employee dialog. |
| Cancel (right-click a booking) | Opens the Cancel Booking dialog. |
| Move (right-click a booking) | Opens the Move Booking dialog. |
| Clock In (right-click a booking) | Opens the Clock In dialog. Shown only when the visit is not already clocked in. |
| Clock Out (right-click a booking) | Asks "Are you sure you want to clock out" and clocks the visit out. Shown only when the visit is clocked in. |
| View In Alayacare (right-click a booking) | Opens the client's scheduling page in AlayaCare in a new browser tab. |
| Add (right-click an empty slot) | Opens the Add Booking dialog for that chair and time. Available on the Chairs tab only. |
Blocked periods (outside opening hours or closed) cannot be edited and have no right-click menu. Hover over a booking to see its client, employee, service code, and start and end times. Bookings show the client and employee, the service code and service name, and the start and end time, and are coloured according to the Visit Colour Determined By setting.
You can also drag a booking to another time or chair. If the new time overlaps blocked time on that chair, a warning says the resource is unavailable and nothing changes. Otherwise a prompt asks "Are you sure you want to move this booking to date and time". If you confirm, the visit is updated in AlayaCare with the new time and chair; if AlayaCare rejects the change, a warning "Update Visit Failed" is shown.
Dialog Components
Add Booking
Opens from Add on an empty slot. Shows the chair, then:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Resource | Read-only. The chair the booking is for. |
| Client | Search for the client. Choosing a client loads that client's active services. |
| Service | List of the client's active services (name and funder, with status, start date, projected end date and skills). Select one with Choose; if the client has only one it may be chosen automatically. |
| Instructions | Service instructions for the visit. Pre-filled from the service. Shown once a service is chosen. |
| Primary Employee | Read-only. Shown when the service has a primary employee. |
| Use Primary Employee From Service | Shown when the service has a primary employee. When checked, the primary employee is used. |
| Employee | Search for the employee. Shown when the primary-employee box is not checked. |
| From Date/Time | Start of the booking. |
| End Time | End time on the same day. Pre-filled from the service code's duration when it has one. |
Click Save to create the visit. A client, a service, and an employee are required (Please select a valid client, Please select a valid client service, Please select a valid employee); if Allow Vacant Visits is on, leaving the employee empty creates a vacant visit. The end time must be after the start time. If AlayaCare reports a conflict, its message is shown. Cancel closes the dialog without creating a visit.
Move Booking
Opens from Move. Shows the client and service code (read-only). Pick a Move To New Date/Time; the booking keeps its current length. Click Save to update the visit in AlayaCare using the Update Visit Overrides from the settings, then the calendar reloads. A warning "Update Visit Failed" is shown if AlayaCare rejects the change. Cancel closes the dialog.
Cancel Booking
Opens from Cancel. Shows the client, service code, and from and to times (read-only). Select a cancel code in Select A Cancel Code and click Save. A cancel code is required. The visit is cancelled in AlayaCare, the action is recorded in the action log, and the calendar reloads. If AlayaCare rejects it, "Error Cancelling Alaya Booking" is shown with AlayaCare's reason. Cancel closes the dialog.
Edit Employee
Opens from Edit Employee. Shows the current employee, service code, and start and end times (read-only). Search for the New Employee and click Save to assign that employee to the visit in AlayaCare. A warning "Please select a valid employee" is shown if none is chosen. Cancel closes the dialog.
Clock In
Opens from Clock In. If the settings limit clock in to the current day and the visit is on another day, "Clock In only allowed on current day" is shown instead and the dialog does not open.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Employee Selection | Chooses where the clock-in employee comes from: Select Employee By Name (always offered), Select Employee By Facililty (offered when the chair belongs to a clinic that has employees scheduled that day), or Use Employee From Visit (offered when the visit has an assigned employee). The visit's employee is preselected when there is one, otherwise the facility option, otherwise by name. |
| Employee To Use For Clock In | For By Name, a search box. For By Facililty, a list of the employees scheduled at the clinic that day (Name column) with a Choose button, which becomes Chosen on the selected row. For Use Employee From Visit, a read-only box showing the assigned employee. |
| Service Instructions | Service instructions for the visit. |
| Open Client in Alayacare | When checked, opens the client in AlayaCare after clocking in. |
Click Save to clock the visit in. Cancel closes the dialog.
Dependencies
The following tables must be configured for lookups on this view to work:
| Table | Description |
|---|---|
| CancelCodes | Cancel codes offered in Select A Cancel Code (codes set up for Clinic Scheduling). |
| ClosureGroups | Clinic closure dates shown as blocked time on the calendar. |
| Facilities | Clinics offered in Facilities, their chairs, and their time zones. Also covers its facility availabilities: opening hours of the clinic and its chairs, used to show unavailable time as blocked periods and to set the visible hours of the calendar. |
| ServiceCodes | Service codes used to colour bookings when colour is set to Service Code Settings. |
Processing Overviews
This section describes what happens after you confirm a processing action.
Apply (and Refresh)
- Requires at least one facility and a date range, and requires all the chairs of the selected clinics to be in the same time zone. The filter being applied is recorded in the action log.
- Signs in to AlayaCare. If this fails, "Login to Alaya failed" is shown.
- For each chair (or, on the Employees tab, each selected clinic), builds the blocked periods for every day in the range from the clinic's availability and closures.
- Loads the visits from AlayaCare for the date range. Cancelled visits, availability entries, and visits with no client are skipped.
- Looks up each visit's work sessions to know whether it is clocked in, and colours it by visit status or service code.
- Sets the visible hours of the calendar from one hour before the earliest available time to one hour after the latest, and opens the calendar on the first day of the range at about 7:00 AM.
Switching between the Chairs and Employees tabs reloads the calendar in the same way.
Clock In
- Opens the dialog (see above), then on Save signs in to AlayaCare.
- Updates the visit with the chosen employee and the service instructions entered. If AlayaCare rejects this, "Visit Update Failed in Alayacare" is shown and clock in stops.
- Checks whether the chosen employee already has an open work session for the same client and service. If so, a warning names the other visit and the time it was clocked in.
- Assigns the employee to the visit, then clocks the visit in at the scheduled visit start, or at the current time when the setting is Actual. Errors from AlayaCare are shown as warnings.
- Adds a note to the visit saying it was clocked in by ACIntegration with the signed-in user and the date and time.
- When the setting is Visit Time, corrects the work-session start time to the visit start.
- Reloads the visit on the calendar, and opens the client in AlayaCare if requested.
Clock Out
- After you confirm, loads the visit and signs in to AlayaCare.
- Finds the visit's open work session. If there is none, "Visit has no work session to clock out" is shown and nothing changes.
- Clocks the session out at the scheduled visit end, or at the current time when the setting is Actual.
- Adds a note to the visit saying it was clocked out by ACIntegration with the signed-in user and the date and time.
- Reloads the visit on the calendar.