Hearing aid fitting and follow-ups: plan the whole series

Plan the fitting and its follow-ups as one series: when the patient books or confirms the fitting, book the follow-up visits yourself from your calendar at the intervals you use, each in its own service with the right slot length. The patient leaves with every date in writing, you see the whole series in your agenda, and nobody has to remember to call back after the first weeks of wearing new aids.

The steps and lengths above are examples. Use the ones that match your protocol. On Book, each visit type is a service with its own name, optional description and price, and each slot belongs to one service. That's how a 90-minute fitting never ends up in a 30-minute follow-up slot.

The simplest moment to book the follow-ups is at the end of the fitting, when the patient is in front of you. Open your calendar, choose a slot of the follow-up service at the interval you want, and create the booking. Repeat for each visit. First and last name are required; email, phone, a note and the number of persons are optional.

If you enter the patient's email, they receive a confirmation for each visit with a calendar file they can add to their phone. Book doesn't send reminders, so a set of written dates is what keeps the series going. You can also print or write the dates for patients who don't use email.

A series only works if your follow-up slots exist weeks ahead. Create them once and repeat them on the weekdays you choose until an end date that covers your longest series. Keep in mind that booked slots with one place disappear from your public page, so the follow-ups you book yourself don't block anything else.

When you book a follow-up yourself, add a short note about what it's for: "follow-up 1, check comfort in noise" or "end of trial review". The note is in the booking, in your new booking email and in the calendar file the patient receives, so keep it to planning information. Clinical details belong in your patient records.

Put the essentials in the description of each service, so patients see them when they book or read their confirmation:

A fitting is long and needs your full attention, the fitting equipment and a quiet room. Give fittings fixed places in your week, for example two late mornings, and keep follow-ups and routine checks around them. Don't open another service in the same room at the same time: Book lets slots of different services overlap, so it's up to you to keep them apart.

If a patient's first follow-up must happen within a set number of days after the fitting, place fitting days so that follow-up slots exist at the right distance, and book both at once.

Between planned visits, patients sometimes need a small fix: a whistle, a dome to change, a setting that doesn't suit a new situation. A short "Quick adjustment" service with 15 to 20 minute slots lets them book online without taking a full follow-up. Describe it clearly, for example "for existing hearing aid wearers, small adjustments and parts", so new patients don't book it by mistake.

Patients can't move their bookings online. If one of the series needs to change, reschedule it from your bookings list and tell the patient yourself, by phone or email: Book doesn't email patients about changes. If several visits move, check the gaps between them still make sense.

Calendar sync with Google, iPhone or Mac shows every visit in your own agenda. Book costs €5/month, everything included, with unlimited bookings and services, no commission and no contract. It doesn't handle payments or device records; keep those in your practice software.