Phlebotomists: booking early-morning fasting blood draws

Open a block of early-morning slots for fasting blood tests that patients book online, as a service of its own: short slots from first thing, grouped by area, finishing in time to reach the lab. Say in the description which areas you cover, that patients should follow the fasting instructions on their request form, and what to have ready. Fasting patients get a slot before breakfast, your round fits the lab's opening hours, and you don't spend the morning on the phone arranging times.

A fasting test needs an early slot, while a routine draw can happen at any time of day. On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page, and each slot belongs to one service, sits within one day and has its own capacity. Give each blood draw slot one place, so one patient books each visit.

Durations are examples: set your own, and state your fees and any travel charge in the description of each service.

Create one fasting service per area, open on set mornings, so each round stays within one part of town. Make each slot long enough for the draw and travel to the next address, and say in the description that the time includes travel. Slots repeat each week on the weekdays you choose until an end date, so a regular Monday-to-Friday round takes a few minutes to set up.

Samples need to reach the lab within the time it sets. Plan the last fasting slot so you can drive to the lab and hand in the samples before its deadline, and keep later slots for routine draws that you drop off on a second run.

If you also take blood at a practice or a pharmacy room, open short fasting slots there on the mornings you're not on the road, as a separate service with that address in the description. Patients who can travel then choose the practice, and your home rounds stay free for those who can't leave home.

The booking form takes first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note that reaches you in the new booking email and appears in the patient's calendar file. Ask in the description for:

Since the note appears in the calendar file, ask patients not to write which tests are requested or any health details there; you'll see them on the request form.

A son or daughter may book for an older parent. Ask them to enter the patient's name in the booking and their own phone number in the note if they want to be called, and to make sure someone can open the door.

Some patients need a test every week or month. After the first visit, book the next ones yourself from your calendar; first and last name are required, email and phone optional, and the patient receives a confirmation with a calendar file if you enter their email. Book doesn't send reminders, so a short message the evening before can help a fasting patient remember not to eat.

Give your booking link to the GP practices, pharmacies and labs that refer patients to you, and print it on a card you leave after each visit. A patient handed a request form can then book the next free morning straight away.

Patients can't move or cancel bookings online: they call you, and you move the visit from your bookings list. Rescheduling works across services, so a fasting visit can move to another area's round if the patient is staying with family. If you're ill or delayed, tell each patient yourself, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. Your bookings sync with Google, iPhone or Mac calendars. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.