Control how patients book online and how your calendar behaves behind the scenes. This is where you configure self-scheduling rules, set provider capacity, manage bookable resources like rooms and equipment, and customize how appointments look on the calendar.
Scheduling settings control how patients book appointments through your self-scheduling page, how providers manage their capacity, and how appointments appear on the calendar.
Configure Self-Scheduling
Self-scheduling settings determine how patients interact with your online booking page.Adjust Settings
The Self-Scheduling section contains the following options:
- Redirect URL After Booking: An optional URL to redirect patients to after they successfully book an appointment. Leave empty to show the default Decoda confirmation page.
- Days Until Patient Becomes New: The number of days to look back when determining if a patient has prior appointments. If all of a patient’s appointments are older than this value, they will be classified as a new patient during self-scheduling. Leave empty to count all appointments regardless of age.
- Allow Multiple Bookings: When enabled, patients can book additional appointments even if they already have an existing appointment scheduled. When off, patients with an upcoming appointment cannot book another.
- Max Self-Schedule Services: The maximum number of services a patient can add to a single self-scheduled appointment. Defaults to 1.
- Convert Booking Fee to Credit: When enabled, booking fees paid by patients are automatically converted into a patient credit that can be applied toward their balance at checkout.
- Service Display Mode: Choose how services appear on the self-scheduling page. Select Grid View for a card-based layout or Menu View for a list-based layout with descriptions.
What your patients see: On your booking page, patients browse available services, pick a location and time, and confirm their appointment. They only see time slots where a provider has an active shift and isn’t already booked. Short-notice blocks and capacity limits are enforced automatically — patients never see unavailable slots.
Set Provider Capacity
Provider capacity controls how many patients a provider can see during the same time slot, which helps prevent overbooking.Set Capacity per Provider
A table lists all providers with an editable Capacity field. Enter the maximum number of patients each provider can see during the same 15-minute time slot. For example, setting a provider’s capacity to 2 means they can have up to 2 overlapping appointments.
Manage the Patient Blacklist
The patient blacklist prevents specific patients from booking appointments through self-scheduling.Add a Patient
Click Add Patient. Search for the patient by name, date of birth, or phone number and select them from the results.
Manage Bookable Resources
Bookable resources are rooms, equipment, or other physical assets that need to be reserved when an appointment is scheduled — like a laser machine or treatment room. Assigning bookables to services prevents double-booking of shared resources.Create a Bookable
Click the Create Bookable button. In the popover form, enter:
- Name (required): A descriptive label for the resource (e.g., “Treatment Room A”, “Laser Machine”).
- Description (optional): Additional details about the resource.
- Locations: Select which clinic locations this bookable is available at. By default all locations are selected.
Edit a Bookable
Click on a bookable’s name or description cell in the table to edit it inline. Click on the Locations column to add or remove location assignments.Delete a Bookable
Click the delete icon on the bookable’s row. Confirm when prompted. Deleting a bookable removes it from all service assignments.Bookable resources are assigned to services in the Scheduling & Booking tab of the service editor. See Services for details.
Customize Calendar Appearance
Calendar appearance settings control how appointments look on the provider calendar based on their status.Appointment Status Styles
Each appointment status can be displayed with one of three visual styles:- White: A white bar with a colored left border.
- Translucent: A semi-transparent fill using the service’s color.
- Opaque: A solid fill using the service’s color.
Set Styles per Status
For each appointment status, select a visual variant. The available statuses are:
- Reserved — The time slot has been held, but the patient has not paid the booking fee.
- Pending — The appointment is scheduled but not yet confirmed by the patient.
- Confirmed — The patient has confirmed the appointment.
- Completed — The appointment has been completed.
- No-show — The patient did not attend the appointment.
- Cancelled — The appointment has been cancelled.
Appointment Icons
Appointment icons are small indicators displayed on calendar events to convey additional context at a glance. Each icon type represents a specific condition:| Icon Type | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Booking Fee Paid | Patient has paid the booking fee |
| New Patient | First appointment for this patient |
| Scheduled by AI | Appointment was booked by the AI assistant |
| Form Completed | Patient has completed required forms |
| Form Not Completed | Patient has not completed required forms |
| Checked In | Patient has checked in for the appointment |
| Online Booking | Patient self-scheduled online |
Add an Icon
In the Appointment Icons section, click Add Icon. Select the icon type, choose an emoji or color, and save.
Understanding Capacity, Double Booking, and Multiple Bookings
These three settings sound similar but control completely different things. Here’s how they differ:| Setting | Where It Lives | What It Controls | Who It Affects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provider Capacity | Settings > Scheduling | Max concurrent patients a provider can see in the same time slot | The provider’s calendar |
| Allow Double Booking | Settings > Services > Scheduling & Booking tab | Whether a specific service can overlap with other appointments on the same provider | A single service type |
| Allow Multiple Bookings | Settings > Scheduling > Self-Scheduling | Whether a patient can book a new appointment when they already have one scheduled | The patient booking online |
Provider Capacity
This is a per-provider limit. If Dr. Smith’s capacity is set to 3, she can have up to 3 patients scheduled in the same time slot. This applies regardless of which services are booked. Think of it as: “How many chairs does this provider have in their room?” The default capacity for each provider is set in Settings > Scheduling > Provider Capacity, but you can also override it on individual shifts. When editing or creating a shift in Shift Management, there is an optional Capacity field. If you set a capacity on a shift, it completely overrides the provider’s default for the duration of that shift. If you leave it empty, the provider’s default capacity applies. This is useful when a provider’s capacity varies depending on the type of work. For example, Dr. Smith might handle 3 patients at a time during a general consultation shift but only 1 during a surgical shift.Allow Double Booking (Service-Level)
This is a per-service toggle. When enabled on a service, that service can be scheduled at the same time as another appointment on the same provider. When off, the system treats the service as exclusive — no other appointments can overlap it on that provider’s calendar. Think of it as: “Can this service share a time slot with something else?” How it interacts with Provider Capacity: A provider with capacity set to 1 can never have overlapping appointments, even if every service has double booking enabled. Capacity is the hard ceiling. Double booking is a per-service permission that works within the capacity limit.Allow Multiple Bookings (Self-Scheduling)
This has nothing to do with overlapping time slots. It controls whether a patient can book a second appointment when they already have an upcoming one. When off, a patient who already has an appointment scheduled will be blocked from booking another one through self-scheduling. Staff can still book additional appointments for the patient manually from the calendar.Quick Examples
I want Dr. Smith to see 2 patients at a time
I want Dr. Smith to see 2 patients at a time
Set Dr. Smith’s Provider Capacity to 2 in Settings > Scheduling.
Botox can overlap with other appointments, but Laser cannot
Botox can overlap with other appointments, but Laser cannot
Enable Allow Double Booking on the Botox service. Leave it off on Laser.
Patients shouldn't book a second appointment if they already have one
Patients shouldn't book a second appointment if they already have one
Disable Allow Multiple Bookings in the self-scheduling settings.
Dr. Smith has capacity 2, but Laser should take the full slot
Dr. Smith has capacity 2, but Laser should take the full slot
Keep capacity at 2, but disable Allow Double Booking on Laser. The Laser appointment fills the slot even though the provider could technically see 2 patients.
Advanced Configuration
Blacklist vs. Archiving a Patient
Blacklist vs. Archiving a Patient
Blacklisting a patient only blocks them from self-scheduling. Staff can still book appointments for blacklisted patients manually through the calendar. To fully prevent all interactions with a patient record, use the Archive function on the patient’s profile instead.
Permissions
Permissions
- Settings Scheduling Read — Required to view the Scheduling Configuration page, including self-scheduling settings, provider capacity, blacklist, bookables, and calendar appearance.
- Settings Scheduling Write — Required to modify self-scheduling rules, update provider capacity, manage the patient blacklist, create/edit/delete bookable resources, and change calendar appearance settings.
Bookable Conflicts
Bookable Conflicts
When a bookable resource is assigned to multiple services, the system automatically checks for conflicts during scheduling. If a room or piece of equipment is already reserved for an appointment during a given time slot, that resource will not be available for other appointments. This check applies to both self-scheduling and manual booking from the calendar.