The consultation before treatment: what patients should book

Make the consultation the one service patients can book online on their own, split it by kind if you need to, and say clearly in each description what to bring: the referral letter, recent X-rays, the list of medications. The consultation is where you examine, explain options and plan the treatment; everything after it is booked by you. A well-described consultation means patients arrive with the right documents, you don't lose the first ten minutes looking for an X-ray, and the treatment can be planned at the end of the visit.

These are examples: use the ones that match your specialty. On Book, each service has a name, an optional description shown on your page, and a price, and each slot belongs to one service with its own start and end. If you only do one kind of consultation, one service is enough.

The booking form asks for first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note. Ask patients to write who referred them, if anyone, in the note. You receive an email for each new booking with the note, so you can ask the referring dentist for records before the visit if needed. Ask patients not to write detailed medical information in the note, as it also appears in their calendar file.

Some patients come on referral, others on their own. Both can book the same consultation; the note tells you which. For second opinions, a separate service helps: the patient arrives with another practice's plan, and you need time to read it and examine. Say in its description to bring that plan and any images, and be clear that it's a consultation, not the start of treatment.

For orthodontic consultations, parents book. Ask them in the description to book in their own name, to write the child's first name and age in the note, and to come with the child. Open some consultation slots after school hours and on Wednesday or Saturday mornings where you work those days. One booking covers the visit; the parent needs no extra place.

Consultations are shorter than treatment visits and need less set-up, so they fit well around long procedures. Two possible layouts: a block of consultations on one fixed morning or afternoon each week, or one or two consultation slots at the start or end of each treatment day. Create them once and repeat them on the chosen weekdays until an end date. Don't open a consultation at the same time as a treatment slot in the same chair: Book doesn't stop slots of different services from overlapping, so you plan the chair time yourself.

If your waiting list for consultations grows, open more consultation slots for a few weeks rather than squeezing them between treatments.

At the end, you explain the options and, if the patient agrees, plan the treatment. Treatment plans and quotes stay in your practice software. Then book the first treatment step yourself from your calendar, in the service that matches its length, and enter the patient's email so they get a confirmation with a calendar file. If the patient wants time to think, tell them to call back when ready: the treatment steps aren't open online, so you'll book them together.

If a consultation has to move, reschedule it from your bookings list and call the patient; Book doesn't email patients about changes. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited bookings and services, no commission, no contract.