Specialist chiropractors: booking care plans and re-exams

Book a care plan in blocks rather than all at once: the first block of sessions at the end of the assessment, and a re-examination booked at the end of each block as an appointment of its own. At each re-exam you measure progress, decide the next block and book it before the patient leaves. The plan stays tied to the patient's actual progress, your calendar holds the review points from the start, and nobody drifts away from a plan because the next date was never set.

Booking twelve sessions up front looks tidy, but plans change: a patient improves faster, an athlete's competition moves, a pregnancy reaches a new stage. Booking one block at a time keeps the calendar honest. You add sessions to the current block when needed, instead of cancelling a series of dates further down the line, and the patient sees a clear next step rather than a long list.

Durations and prices are examples: set your own. 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 with one place. A re-examination service of its own makes review points visible in your bookings list, so you see at a glance which appointments need a longer look.

At the end of the assessment, agree the first block with the patient and book it yourself from your calendar in the treatment service, followed by a re-examination at the end of the block. First and last name are required, email and phone optional; enter the patient's email so they receive a confirmation with a calendar file for each date. Book doesn't send reminders, so dates already in the patient's calendar are what keep the plan on track.

Patients keep a plan more easily when sessions fall on the same weekday and time. Open your treatment slots on fixed days, repeated weekly on the weekdays you choose until an end date, and book each patient's block into the same slot each week where you can. Once a slot is booked with one place, it no longer appears on your public page, so the patient keeps that time.

A specialist practice doesn't run every plan at the same pace. An athlete preparing for a competition may need sessions close together for a few weeks, then nothing until the next event. A pregnancy plan follows the stages of the pregnancy and stops at the birth, with a postnatal check booked afterwards. A child's plan fits around school hours and the parent's availability. Use the description of each service to say who it is for, and book each block with those constraints in mind rather than applying one rhythm to everyone.

Use the re-exam to compare with the assessment and decide together what comes next: another block at the same rhythm, a lighter rhythm, a move to maintenance, or the end of the plan. Book the next step before the patient leaves, in the matching service. If progress raises a question that needs another professional, note it and refer before booking further sessions.

When a patient misses a session early in a block, try to rebook it in the same week so the rhythm holds. Patients can't move bookings online: they contact you, and you reschedule from your bookings list and tell them yourself, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. Say your cancellation rule in the treatment service description so patients know how much notice you need.

If every slot goes to patients in a plan, new patients find nothing on your page. Keep some assessment slots free each week, on the days you choose, and don't fill them with plan sessions. When plans fill your week, open an extra half-day of treatment slots rather than giving away the assessment times.

Some patients want occasional maintenance once the plan ends. Offer it as its own service and book the next visit at the end of each one if the patient wishes, at the interval you agree. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract. Your bookings sync with Google, iPhone or Mac calendars.