How Scheduling Works

DPC Pro scheduling connects provider availability, visit types, and patient bookings into a single calendar system your whole team can use.

Scheduling in DPC Pro starts with provider calendars that define when each clinician is available. Visit types determine how long each visit takes and what kind of care is being delivered. Staff and patients book into available time slots, and the system sends confirmations and reminders automatically.

This page gives you a high-level view of how the scheduling system fits together. It covers the key concepts (calendars, visit types, booking rules, and notifications) so you understand the foundation before diving into specific configuration tasks.

The scheduling system scales from ten patients a day to fifty.

Key Concepts

The scheduling system is built on four core components that work together:

Provider Calendars

Each provider in your practice has a calendar that defines their weekly availability. Calendars are built from schedule templates: reusable patterns of working hours that repeat weekly. A provider might have one template for their primary office and another for a satellite location. Templates include open time blocks (when patients can be scheduled) and blocked time (for lunch, admin work, or meetings).

For more details, see Set Up Provider Calendars.

Visit Types

DPC Pro supports the following visit types:

Visit Type	Typical Use
New Patient	First visit with your practice
Follow Up	Continuing care for an existing concern
Annual Physical	Yearly wellness exam
Sick Visit	Acute illness or symptom evaluation
Procedure	In-office procedures
Consultation	Focused discussion, second opinion
Telehealth	Video-based remote visit
Phone Call	Phone-based visit

Each visit type has a configurable duration. When staff or patients book a visit, the selected visit type determines how much time is reserved on the provider’s calendar.

For more details, see Visit Types and Duration.

Available Time Slots

Time slots are the bookable windows on a provider’s calendar. DPC Pro generates available time slots from the provider’s schedule template, then subtracts any blocked time, days off, or existing visits. When someone books a visit, the system checks for conflicts in real time, preventing double-booking.

Each time slot has a booking mode that controls how patients can interact with it:

• Self-schedule: patients book directly through the portal without staff approval
• Request and approval: patients submit a visit request that staff review before confirming

Schedule Exceptions

Providers do not work the same hours every week. Schedule exceptions let you override the regular template for specific dates:

• Day off: provider is unavailable for the full day (vacation, holiday, personal day)
• Reduced hours: provider starts later or ends earlier than usual
• Extended hours: provider works beyond their normal template
• Special event: one-time schedule override for a specific purpose

Exceptions take priority over the weekly template. If a provider marks a day off, any open time slots for that date are removed automatically.

Booking Flow

There are two ways to schedule a visit in DPC Pro: staff booking and patient self-scheduling.

Staff Booking

This is the most common path. A staff member:

1. Searches for and selects the patient from their patient record.
2. Chooses a visit type (which sets the duration).
3. Selects a provider and picks an available time slot.
4. Optionally adds a reason for visit, chief complaint, or internal notes.
5. Confirms the booking.

DPC Pro validates the time slot against the provider’s schedule to prevent conflicts. If the selected time overlaps with an existing visit or blocked period, the system shows a warning. Staff can override the conflict warning if needed (for example, to allow an intentional double-book).

For step-by-step instructions, see Schedule a Visit.

Patient Self-Scheduling

When self-scheduling is enabled, patients can browse available time slots and book visits directly from the patient portal. Depending on the booking mode configured for each time slot, the visit is either confirmed immediately or placed in a pending queue for staff review.

For setup and configuration details, see Patient Self-Scheduling.

Notifications and Reminders

DPC Pro sends automatic email notifications at key points in the scheduling lifecycle:

Booking Confirmation

When a visit is booked (by staff or by the patient), the patient receives a confirmation email that includes:

• Visit date and time
• Visit type
• Provider name
• Practice location and address
• Practice phone number

Visit Reminders

DPC Pro sends email reminders for upcoming visits. Reminders are sent 24 hours before the scheduled start time to patients with confirmed or scheduled visits. Each visit receives one reminder. The reminder includes the same details as the confirmation (date, time, provider, and location) so the patient has everything they need.

Reminder Timing

Reminders are sent to visits that are 24 hours away and have a status of Scheduled or Confirmed. Cancelled or rescheduled visits do not receive reminders.

Cancellation and Reschedule Notifications

When a visit is cancelled or rescheduled, the patient is notified of the change. For rescheduled visits, the notification includes the new date and time. For details on managing changes, see Reschedule or Cancel Visits.

Waitlist Notifications

When a visit is cancelled and other patients are on the waitlist for a similar time, DPC Pro notifies waitlisted patients that a slot has opened. The notification approach depends on how far away the time slot is:

• More than 3 days away: patients are notified one at a time, in priority order, each with a 4-hour window to claim the slot
• 3 days or fewer: all waitlisted patients are notified at once, and the first patient to respond claims the slot

Schedule Visibility

Who Can See the Schedule

Schedule access follows your practice’s role-based permissions. Providers can always view their own calendar. Staff members with scheduling permissions can view and manage visits across all providers in their assigned practice. Practice managers have full access to schedules, templates, and exceptions.

Visit Status Tracking

Each visit moves through a status lifecycle that your team can track from the schedule view:

1. Scheduled: visit is booked and upcoming
2. Confirmed: patient or staff has confirmed attendance
3. Checked In: patient has arrived at the practice
4. In Room: patient has been brought to the exam room
5. In Progress: provider is with the patient
6. Completed: visit is finished and ready for visit documentation

Visits can also be marked as Cancelled, Rescheduled, or No Show. These are terminal statuses. Once applied, the visit cannot return to an active state. Rescheduling creates a new visit linked to the original.

Multi-Practice Visibility

If your organization has multiple practices, the schedule view defaults to the practice you are currently working in. Organization-level users can switch between practices or view visits across all locations.

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Related Pages

• Set Up Provider Calendars
• Visit Types and Duration
• Schedule a Visit
• Patient Self-Scheduling
• Calendar Sync
• Reschedule or Cancel Visits
• Daily and Weekly Schedule Views

Need Help?

If you run into scheduling issues, reach out to the DPC Pro support team at [email protected] or visit the scheduling troubleshooting guide.