Specialist doctors: scheduling results follow-up appointments

Patients who wait for test results without a date call the practice to ask when they'll know. Book the results appointment at the same time as you order the tests: a short results service in your booking calendar, placed after the time the results take to arrive. The patient leaves with a date, your secretary takes fewer "any news?" calls, and results appointments sit in their own short slots instead of crowding first consultations.

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. A results appointment needs less time than a first consultation, so give it its own service and slot length.

Durations are examples: set your own, and state your fees in each description.

At the end of the consultation, book the results appointment from your bookings list, after the time the lab or imaging centre needs. First and last name are enough; if you enter the patient's email, they get a confirmation with a calendar file, so the date is in their own calendar.

Short results slots fit well at the end of a clinic session or on one afternoon a week. Slots repeat each week on the weekdays you choose until an end date. Keep them separate from first consultations, so new patients don't book a 15-minute slot by mistake: say clearly in the description that results appointments are booked by the practice.

Some results can be discussed at a distance. Create teleconsultation or phone results services; Book doesn't create video links, so send yours by email. For results that need an examination or a longer talk, keep an in-person slot.

If results haven't arrived, move the appointment from your list before the patient makes the trip. Rescheduling works across services, so a short results slot can become a longer follow-up if the results need more discussion. Book doesn't email clients about changes, so tell the patient yourself.

The booking note appears in the patient's calendar file, so keep test names and diagnoses out of it. Name services neutrally, such as "Results appointment", since your public page lists every open service.

Patients can't move or cancel online: they call the practice and you move the appointment. Book doesn't send reminders or take payments. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.