What a health practice's booking page should tell patients

A health practice's booking page should let a patient choose the right consultation and arrive prepared, without calling. That means clear consultation types with who each one is for, the length and price (or a note when the fee is regulated), where the consultation takes place and how to get there, what to bring, how to cancel, and a line saying the page is not for emergencies. It should also say what not to write in the booking form, since medical details belong in the consultation, not in a booking note.

In a hair salon, a wrong booking is an inconvenience. In a health practice, it can mean a patient waiting weeks for the wrong type of appointment, a first consultation squeezed into a follow-up slot, or someone booking online when they should be calling an emergency number. Patients also read health booking pages more carefully: they want to be sure they're in the right place before sharing their name and phone number.

Everything below fits in the service names and descriptions of your booking page. On Book, each consultation type is a service with its own price and optional description, shown on your page, and you open slots for each at the length it takes.

Patients don't know your internal vocabulary. "Initial assessment" and "consultation" may mean the same thing to them. Use names that answer the question they're asking: "First consultation (new patients)", "Follow-up consultation", "Consultation for children under 12", "Home visit". If a first visit is longer than a follow-up, make it its own service with its own slots; otherwise new patients end up in slots that are too short.

Slots of different services can overlap, and a booking on one doesn't block another service's slot at the same time, so decide where each type sits in your week.

Show the price when you set it yourself. When the fee is regulated or depends on the patient's cover, say so in plain words rather than showing a number that may not apply to everyone. Book doesn't take payments, deposits or insurance details, so also say how patients pay at the practice.

An address isn't always enough. Say which floor, whether there's a lift, where to park, and whether the entrance is accessible. If you work in two places, create a service per place and open each on the days you're there, with the address in the description. For video consultations, say that you'll send the link after booking.

List what to bring. A patient who arrives with their reports and the right clothes saves you time at the start of the consultation, and you won't need to rebook because a document is missing.

A booking page is for planned appointments. Say clearly that it isn't for emergencies and which number to call instead. It's a short sentence, and it matters.

The booking form asks for first name, last name, email and phone, with an optional free-text note. The note is useful for practical details (a child's age, a preferred language, access needs), but it's not the place for symptoms or diagnoses. Say so in your descriptions, and keep clinical information in your practice software. Book doesn't keep patient records.

The patient receives a confirmation email, and you receive an email for each new booking. Book doesn't send reminders, so if you want patients to have one, send it yourself. When you reschedule or cancel from your bookings list, Book doesn't email the patient either: tell them directly.

Patients who still phone can be booked from your calendar during the call; the slot is then no longer offered online. Your page stays the single place where your week is visible.

Book gives one booking page per practice, without separate calendars per practitioner. If you share a practice, one way to handle it today is a service per practitioner, named with their name, each with its own slots. Patients then choose the person as well as the consultation.