Introduction to Patient Timers in the Dashboard
Table of Contents
- What Are Patient Timers?
- Why Use Patient Timers?
- What Patient Timers Look Like on the Desktop
- What Patient Timers Looks Like on an iPad
- Related Articles
What Are Patient Timers?
Within the Dashboard, YAPI keeps track of:
- How long each patient patient has waited in the Check-In and Check-Out Areas
- How long each patient has spent in an operatory
- How much time has passed since an Operatory Alert was sent
Why Use Patient Timers?
Your team can prioritize patients and providers who are waiting - Patient timers help each member of your staff see who needs immediate assistance. By default, avatars for patients in the Check-In and Check-Out Areas start flashing 10 minutes after they've been checked in, alerting you so you know they've been waiting and can address their needs.
Also, whenever a providers send out Operatory Alerts, the amount of time they've been waiting for help flashes on their operatory, so everyone can see who's been waiting longest and who needs help the fastest.
Tip: Need to change the length of time before patient avatars start flashing in Check-In and Check-Out? Just follow the steps in our article Changing Timeout Settings for the Check-In and Check-Out Areas.
You can better assess the overall effectiveness of your workflow - The timing of each patient's appointment is recorded on your practice's Daily Activity Report so you can easily see trends and areas for improvement. For example, if you see that several hygiene appointments ran long and that this trend has been occurring over several days, it might be time to reassess the amount of time you're allotting for hygiene or discuss what might be slowing things down.
What Patient Timers Look Like on the Desktop Dashboard
Check-In Timers
While YAPI keeps track of how long all patients have been waiting in the Check-In and Check-Out Areas, the timer displays only when that wait has surpassed a set amount of minutes (10 by default). The patient's avatar then flashes, showing the amount of minutes they've been waiting:
If you want to change the set amount of minutes before the timer displays, check out Changing Timeout Settings for the Check-In and Check-Out Areas.
Check-Out Timers
Just like with the Check-In Area, YAPI keeps track of how long all patients have been waiting in the Check-Out Area, but a numbered timer never displays. Instead, a patient's avatar simply flashes when their wait has surpassed the set amount of minutes (10 by default).
If you want to change the set amount of minutes before the timer displays, check out Changing Timeout Settings for the Check-In and Check-Out Areas.
Operatory Timer
Once a patient is moved into an operatory and has been there for one minute, their timer will display and continue to show the amount of minutes they've been in treatment until they're moved to the Check-Out Area.
Operatory Alert Timer
If a provider sends out an Operatory Alert, the operatory flashes back and forth between the Operatory Timer (in tan) and the Operatory Alert Timer (on a white background). This timer counts the number of minutes and seconds that have passed since the alert went out and stops once a member of your team clicks the Operatory Alert button 
to dismiss it.
What Patient Timers Look Like on an iPad
Check-In & Check-Out Timers
On an iPad, a blue timer displays for all patients in the Check-In and Check-Out Areas, showing the amount of time they've been waiting. The timer turns red and the patient's avatar flashes when that wait has surpassed a set amount of minutes (10 by default).
Operatory Timer
For patients in operatories, a timer displays in blue, showing the number of minutes they've been in that operatory:
Operatory Alert Timer
As shown below, Operatory Alerts on an iPad don't have a timer attached. Always refer to your desktop Dashboard for the amount of time that's passed since an Operatory Alert was sent.
Related Articles
- Appointment Timers (Video)
- Introduction to the Practice Dashboard
- Changing Timeout Settings for the Check-In and Check-Out Areas
- Using Operatory Alerts to Get Help from Your Team