Set Up Provider Calendars

Each provider in your practice has their own calendar that defines when they are available to see patients.

Provider calendars are the foundation of scheduling in DPC Pro. Before patients can book visits, each provider needs a calendar with defined working hours, break times, and any recurring unavailability. Calendars can be configured differently for each day of the week and updated as schedules change.

This page walks you through setting up a provider’s calendar, including daily availability windows, lunch breaks, and time-off blocks. Managers typically handle initial setup after adding providers and staff, and providers can adjust their own calendars afterward.

A well-configured calendar prevents double-booking and shows patients accurate availability when self-scheduling.

Set Working Hours

Working hours define when a provider is available to see patients each day of the week. You configure these through schedule templates: reusable weekly patterns that generate available time slots automatically.

To set working hours for a provider:

1. Navigate to Schedule → Schedule Templates.
2. Select Create Template.
3. Choose the provider from the staff list.
4. Enter a Name for the template (for example, Standard Week or Monday-Thursday).
5. Select the Practice this template applies to.
6. Optionally select a Location if the provider works at a specific office.
7. Select Save to create the template.

After creating the template, add time slots for each working day:

1. On the template detail page, select Add Slot.
2. Choose the Day of Week (Monday through Sunday).
3. Set the Start Time and End Time for the availability window.
4. Leave Slot Type set to Open for booking.
5. Select Save.
6. Repeat for each day and time block the provider works.

Multiple Blocks Per Day

You can add multiple time slots for the same day. For example, add a morning block from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM and an afternoon block from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM to create a lunch gap.

Time Increments

All schedule times use 5-minute increments. When setting start and end times, the time picker snaps to the nearest 5-minute mark.

Effective Dates

Schedule templates can have optional start and end dates. Use this to set up seasonal schedules or plan future changes:

• Effective Start: the first date this template applies (leave blank for immediate)
• Effective End: the last date this template applies (leave blank for ongoing)

If multiple templates overlap for the same provider and practice, DPC Pro uses the most specific one (with defined effective dates) over the default.

Add Breaks and Blocked Time

Blocked time prevents visits from being scheduled during specific hours. Use blocks for lunch breaks, administrative time, meetings, or any period when the provider is unavailable.

Block Time from the Schedule

To block a specific time period:

1. Navigate to Schedule → Block Time.
2. Select the Provider.
3. Choose the Practice.
4. Set the Date, Start Time, and End Time.
5. Optionally add a Reason (for example, Lunch, Staff Meeting, Admin Time).
6. Select Save.

The blocked period appears on the provider’s calendar and prevents visits from being scheduled during that window.

Recurring Blocks in Templates

For recurring blocks (like a daily lunch break), use schedule template slots with the type set to Blocked:

1. Open the provider’s schedule template.
2. Select Add Slot.
3. Choose the Day of Week.
4. Set the Start Time and End Time for the blocked period.
5. Set Slot Type to Blocked (no appointments).
6. Select Save.

This creates a recurring block every week on that day during the specified time.

Time Off and Holidays

Schedule exceptions let you override the regular template for specific dates. Use exceptions for vacation days, holidays, sick days, or any one-off schedule change.

Add a Day Off

1. Navigate to Schedule → Add Exception.
2. Select the Provider.
3. Choose the Practice.
4. Set Exception Type to Day Off.
5. Select the Date.
6. Optionally add a Reason (for example, Vacation, Holiday, Personal Day).
7. Select Save.

When a day off is added, DPC Pro removes all available time slots for that provider on the specified date. Any visits already scheduled for that day remain visible so your team can reschedule them.

Existing Visits

Adding a day off does not automatically cancel visits already scheduled for that date. Review the provider’s calendar and reschedule any affected visits before the day off takes effect.

Reduced or Extended Hours

For days when a provider works different hours than their regular template:

1. Navigate to Schedule → Add Exception.
2. Select the Provider and Practice.
3. Set Exception Type to Reduced Hours or Extended Hours.
4. Select the Date.
5. Enter the Start Time and End Time for the modified hours.
6. Select Save.

• Reduced Hours narrows the availability window. If the provider’s template says 8:00 AM–5:00 PM but the exception says 10:00 AM–3:00 PM, only the reduced window is available for booking.
• Extended Hours widens the availability window. If the template says 8:00 AM–5:00 PM but the exception says 7:00 AM–7:00 PM, the full extended range becomes available.

Practice-Wide Holidays

To block all providers for a holiday, add a day-off exception for each provider individually. Select the same date and enter the holiday name as the reason so your team can identify it on the calendar.

Calendar Templates

Schedule templates are reusable and can be shared across time periods. Each provider can have multiple templates, for example, a standard template for most weeks and a seasonal template for summer Fridays.

Set a Default Template

When creating or editing a template, check the Default option to make it the provider’s standard schedule. If a date has no specific template assigned, DPC Pro falls back to the default.

Only one template can be the default per provider per practice. Setting a new default automatically removes the default flag from the previous template.

Managing Templates

To view and manage all schedule templates:

1. Navigate to Schedule → Schedule Templates.
2. The list shows all templates for your practice, grouped by provider.
3. Select a template name to view its details and time slots.

Each template displays:

• Provider name
• Practice and location
• Active/inactive status
• Default flag
• Number of time slots configured

Deactivating Templates

To stop a template from generating availability without deleting it, set it to inactive. Inactive templates remain in the list for reference but do not affect scheduling.

Multi-Location Availability

Providers who work at multiple locations need separate schedule templates for each location. Each template is tied to a specific practice and optionally a specific location within that practice.

Setting Up Multi-Location Schedules

1. Create a template for the provider at Location A with the appropriate working hours.
2. Create a second template for the same provider at Location B with different hours.
3. Set effective dates on each template if the provider alternates locations by week or season.

DPC Pro respects location assignments when showing available time slots. When a patient or staff member selects a location, only time slots for providers working at that location appear.

Provider Assignment Settings

Each provider’s assignment to a practice includes scheduling-related settings:

• Default visit duration: the standard length of visits for this provider at this practice (defaults to 30 minutes)
• Maximum patients per day: an optional cap on daily bookings
• Accepting new patients: whether the provider appears as available for new patient visits

These settings apply across all of the provider’s templates at a given practice.

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Related Pages

• How Scheduling Works
• 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 issues setting up calendars, reach out to the DPC Pro support team at [email protected] or visit the scheduling troubleshooting guide.