- Patients can receive a confirmation email of their appointment booked online by providing their email address during the online booking process. This confirmation email includes a button that allows the patient to cancel the appointment (prior to the appointment date and time).
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When the patient cancels their appointment, it will be removed from the EMR schedule immediately. In the Ocean Portal, the cancellation is denoted by a red strikethrough.
The default cancellation window is 0 hours. To adjust the cancellation window for appointments booked online, you can update the special formula item value in your Pre-Booking Form. This formula item sets the cancellation window for the Booking Schedule(s) that the form is used in.
Adjust the 'ax_minHoursNoticeForCancellation' Formula value in your Pre-Booking Form:
- In the Ocean Portal, open the 'Menu' and select 'Online Booking'.
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- Click the 'Settings' button in the top right corner.
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- Locate the relevant Booking Schedule and click 'Edit'.
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- Scroll to the bottom of the Booking Schedule and click 'Edit Advanced Settings'. This will reveal your Pre-Booking Form and Post-Booking Form.
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- Click 'Edit' on your Pre-Booking Form to open it in the eForm editor.
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- Locate and select the eForm item titled 'ax_minHoursNoticeForCancellation'.
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- Open the 'Scripting and More' tab and update the 'Formula' value to the desired number of hours for your cancellation window (e.g. entering "24" will allow patients to cancel their appointments up to 24 hours prior to their scheduled appointment via their cancellation email).
- Click 'Save Changes' in the bottom right corner.
Warnings
- If you switch to a different Pre-Booking Form in the future, you will need to perform the same adjustment to retain your desired cancellation window.
- When editing your Pre-Booking Form, do not edit the items referenced "appointmentType", "appointmentDuration" or "reasonForVisit". These are special item types that set the appointment details in your EMR scheduler during the booking process.