This article shows a new patient's point of view when using Smart Scheduling to book an appointment online. Screens may differ from article images depending on the device a patient is using. 

Table of Contents

• Scheduling an Appointment
  
  • Welcome Screen
  • Select a Reason for the Visit
  • Fill in Patient Information
    • Fill In Guardian Information (Minor Patients Only)
  • Select Payment Method
    • Insurance Company
    • Insurance Type
    • Additional Pop-Ups Based on Your Insurance Settings
    • Review Your Information
  • Set Appointment Details (Date, Time & Provider)
  • Confirm Insurance Information
  • Confirm Appointment Selection
  • Appointment Booked
    • Email Confirmation
    • Add to Calendar
• Related Articles

 

Scheduling an Appointment

Welcome Screen

The first screen a patient sees when clicking on a Smart Scheduling link is a welcome message, asking them whether they are a new or existing patient:

If they select "I'm a New Patient," they're taken to the next screen: Select Reason for Visit.

Note: If the patient is a returning patient, refer to Smart Scheduling - Existing Patient Walkthrough to see an example of what their experience will look like. 

Select a Reason for the Visit

Next, the patient is asked What brings you to our practice? to determine what treatment they need to schedule.  This lists all the treatments you've set up for new patients in your Smart Scheduling settings.

Fill Out Patient Information

This page gathers patient details like contact information and date of birth.

If your practice has email verification turned on in your Smart Scheduling General Settings, the system will verify the email that the patient entered to make sure it's a complete, legitimate email address. If the email doesn’t exist, the page will display an error message:

If the system determines the patient is a child (based on their date of birth and the Child Age Limit you've set in Smart Scheduling), they'll see an additional page to Fill Out Guardian Information. Otherwise, they'll go straight to the Select Payment Method page.

Fill Out Guardian Information (Minor Patients Only)

This page collects guardian information if a patient is a child (based on the Child Age Limit in your Smart Scheduling settings).  As with the previous page, the system will verify the entered email if your practice has email verification turned on. 

Select Payment Method

Next, the Payment Method screen asks patients to select a payment method for their visit: either Insurance or Other.  If the patient selects Insurance, they'll see additional fields to select their Insurance Company and Insurance Type. If you've made insurance required in your Smart Scheduling Settings, the Name of Insurance Company question will have a red asterisk next to it, indicating the question is required to be able to continue.

Insurance Company

If a patient selects Insurance as their payment method, once they tap on Name of Insurance Company dropdown menu, they'll see the list of insurances your practice has enabled in your Smart Scheduling settings:

 

This list separates insurances under two headings:

• Top Insurances: These are the insurances that you've marked as "popular" in your Smart Scheduling settings. This allows patients to select their insurance faster if it's a popular one.
• All Insurances: This list includes all insurances you accept at your practice including the ones marked as popular. (Popular insurances show up twice in this list; once under Top Insurances and once under All Insurances.)

Government-Issued Insurances: If the insurance a patient selects is one you've indicated is government-issued, the patient will see a pop-up indicating they need to bring a valid form of ID and an active insurance card to their appointment.

Insurances Not Listed: If you've indicated in your Smart Scheduling settings that your practice accepts all PPOs, a patient can select My insurance is not listed.  They'll see a pop-up explaining that your practice accepts PPO plans but not HMO plans for insurances that aren't listed.  If they select "My insurance is a PPO": The pop-up will close and a new field will appear to fill in the insurance name.  If they select "I do not have a PPO": They'll be take to a Contact Us screen that directs them to reach out to your practice.

Insurance Type

Once a patient has selected their insurance, they much choose an Insurance Type.  The dropdown list shows the types of insurance your practice accepts from their selected insurance company (HMO, DHMO, PPO, and/or EPO).

Note: If the Insurance they've selected is government-issued, they don't need to choose an Insurance Type and won't see this field.

Tip: If patients are unsure what type of insurance they have, they can click on the question mark icon next to this field.  A pop-up will show them where they can find this information on their insurance card:

Additional Pop-Ups Based on Your Insurance Settings

HMOs & DHMOs: If a patient selects HMO or DHMO as an insurance type, they'll see a pop-up asking them to confirm that they've been assigned to your practice within their HMO or DHMO. If the patient checks the box to confirm they've read the message and clicks I understand, the pop-up closes and the patient can continue forward. If the patient clicks I'm Not Sure they'll be prompted to contact your practice.

PPOs: If a patient selects a PPO insurance that you've set as Out-of-Network in your Smart Scheduling Settings, patients will see an Out of Network Insurance message indicating that you take their insurance but their fees may differ from an in-network provider.

Fill Out Insurance Details

In your Smart Scheduling Settings, you practice can select whether you want to require insurance information and whether you want to require that they type in their insurance details, provide a photo of the patient's insurance card, or both.  

Once a patient has confirmed their payment method, if they've chosen Insurance and you've required that patients type in their insurance details, they'll see fields to enter their Group ID and Subscriber ID:

If you've added the requirement that patients upload a photo of their insurance card, the patient must submit pictures showing the front and back:

Patients also have the option of adding an additional, supplementary insurance at the bottom of the page:

Review Your Information

Clicking on the Submit Insurance Information button takes the patient to a Review Your Information page to confirm their insurance information:

Set Appointment Details (Date, Time, & Provider)

Now the patient can select a date and time for their appointment and, if they want, a provider they want to see.  If a patient chooses a specific provider, they'll see available appointments for that provider only.  If you've added bios for your providers in Smart Scheduling, patients can click View Bio next to each provider name to read a short summary about them.

Confirm Appointment Selection

To officially book their appointment, patients must review the appointment details they've selected and click Confirm Selection a the bottom of the screen.  When reviewing the appointment details, patients can also leave a message for your office by typing into the Anything you'd like us to know? field. This message then shows in the Appointment Note in Dentrix, Open Dental, or Eaglesoft and will display in POP under the Activity tab for Smart Scheduling.

Before confirming their selection, the patient can also select Notify me if an earlier appointment time becomes available. This automatically adds the appointment to your ASAP list in YAPI and sets the appointment as ASAP in Dentrix or Open Dental, or Sooner if Possible in Eaglesoft.  If they select this, they can also set preferences for the days and times they have available so you know if you can offer them a spot that opens:

When the patient clicks the Confirm Selection button, a pop-up window appears asking for a verification code that the patient will receive via text.  The patient has 3 attempts to enter the verification code correctly.  If they aren't able to do this after 3 tries, they'll see a message to contact your office and will forfeit their appointment reservation.  The patient can also choose to resend a new code and they'll be asked if they want to change their mobile phone number before sending the new verification text.

Once they've correctly entered the verification code, the system will attempt to book the appointment. If the booking is successful, the patient is taken to the Appointment Booked page.

Note: If the patient’s selected time and date have been booked before they were able to complete their booking, the system will display an error and send them back to the appointment selection screen to select a new date and time.

Appointment Booked

Once an appointment has been successfully booked in Dentrix, Open Dental, or Eaglesoft, the patient will see a "You're All Set" message along with their appointment details.

Email Confirmation

If you've set up an email confirmation in your Smart Scheduling settings, patients are automatically sent an email that has their appointment information, along with their new patient paperwork if you've included links to it in your Smart Scheduling Settings:

Note: Once YAPI runs housekeeping overnight, patients will receive a second email with their new patient paperwork to complete online before their visit.

Add to Calendar

At the bottom of the confirmation page, patients also have the option of clicking Add to Calendar to add the appointment to their calendar on Google, Apple, Yahoo, or Outlook:

 

Related Articles

• Smart Scheduling - Existing Patient Walkthrough
• Smart Scheduling - Recall Patient Walkthrough
• Smart Scheduling - Article Directory