Speech therapists: scheduling assessment appointments

Schedule assessments as their own service, with a fixed number of slots per week, and plan the work around them, not just the appointment. An assessment takes longer than a therapy session, may need to be split over two appointments for a young child, and is followed by scoring and a written report. Block time for that work in your week, plan a feedback appointment to go through the results, and tell families in advance what the assessment involves and what to bring.

An assessment isn't a longer session. It's a block of testing and observation, then time on your own scoring results, writing the report and deciding on a plan. If you only plan the appointment, the report ends up written in the evening, or late, and the next assessment piles on top.

Assessments also start every new therapy. How many you do each week decides how quickly new patients can begin, and how much of your time goes to paperwork instead of sessions.

Decide how many assessments you can take each week, including the report time, without cutting into your regular sessions. On Book, each type of appointment is a service with its own price and optional description, and you open slots for each at the length it takes. Make the assessment a separate service and open exactly that number of assessment slots per week, repeated by weekday until an end date. When they're booked, the next free assessment slot shows on your page, and families see how far ahead it is.

Testing needs concentration. For a school-age child, a slot at the end of a long school day isn't ideal, and those hours are already the most in demand for weekly sessions. If families can arrange it, offer assessments in the morning, early afternoon or on a free half-day. Say in the description when assessments take place, so families can plan a time off school or work if needed.

For adults, daytime assessments can fit well, especially for retired patients or people in rehabilitation.

A young child may not manage all the tests in one go. If you often split assessments, say so in the description, and when the first part is booked, book the second part yourself from your calendar, soon after, so the results stay comparable. Each slot you book is removed from your page.

Report writing is part of the assessment, even if the patient isn't there. Leave periods in your week with no slots at all for scoring and writing, for example a half-day or two shorter blocks. You set the start and end of every slot, so nothing can be booked in that time. If you have more assessments one week, you'll need more writing time the week after.

Families want to understand the results and what happens next. A separate feedback appointment gives that conversation proper time, rather than squeezing it into the end of the first therapy session. Create it as its own service, shorter than the assessment, and book it yourself with the family once the report is ready. If therapy is needed, this is also the moment to agree on the weekly slot.

Put this in the assessment service description, which families read before booking. The booking form includes an optional note where they can add the child's age or the reason for the assessment. Families book without an account and receive a confirmation email; you receive an email for each new booking. If you need to move an assessment, reschedule it from your bookings list and tell the family yourself, since Book doesn't email them when you change a booking.