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Find Open Slots lets you rapidly find availability for a patient. Powerful filters instantly surface openings that match specific criteria, such as location, appointment type, day of the week, and time of day. Use it when a patient needs the earliest available time, when they can only come on certain days or at certain times, or when you do not know which provider or location to start with.
Premium Scheduling is a product for Premium EHR customers only. If you are interested in upgrading to the Premium EHR subscription to use this feature, click the I need help button to notify Elation and a member of the Elation Team will reach out to assist you. If you have Premium EHR and Find Open Slots does not appear on the Calendar, click I need help > Contact Elation Support.
Premium Scheduling is currently in early access and is only available to a select number of practices.

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Setup

Find Open Slots only shows times from provider availability. A slot appears in the results only if the provider has availability configured for it. Before you search, confirm that:
  • Each provider has availability configured under Settings > Calendar & Booking > Availability.
  • The appointment types you want to book are enabled in that availability.
See Specifying Provider availability by Practice Location & Appointment Type.

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Search for open slots

1

Open Find Open Slots

Go to the Calendar and click Find Open Slots in the toolbar, next to + Appointment.
2

Choose the patient

In Patient, enter the patient’s name and select them from the list. Select View patient’s appointments › to review the patient’s existing appointments before you book.
3

Check the patient timezone

Elation shows Patient timezone and marks it auto-detected when it can set it from the patient’s information. If Elation cannot detect the patient’s timezone, the field shows Practice default and Elation uses your practice’s timezone. You can override it at any time by choosing a different timezone from the list.Result times display in this timezone, so you can offer times that make sense to the patient and avoid confusion or missed appointments.
4

Set your filters

On the Single encounter tab, narrow the search with any of these filters. Leave a filter empty to include everything.
  • Appointment type
  • Provider
  • Location
  • Date range: The end date must be on or after the start date, and the range can be up to 90 days. If you leave the range empty, Elation searches the next 30 days.
  • Time range: Enter a From time, a To time, or both to limit results to part of the day. You can enter just one. For example, entering a To time of 12:00 PM shows all availability before 12:00 PM.
  • Day of week: Select one or more days. Select Clear to return to Any day.
5

Search

Click Search. To start over, click Clear filters.
The Find Open Slots dialog shows the patient, timezone, and filters on the left and the matching slots on the right. Find Open Slots dialog showing the Patient field, Patient timezone, and the Single encounter filters on the left, with a list of open slots on the right

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Review the results

Elation lists the matching slots with a count, such as 12 slots found. Each row shows:
  • Date
  • Patient time: The start time in the patient’s timezone.
  • Duration: The default duration of the appointment type.
  • Provider
  • Location: Hover over the location name to see its address and phone number.
If the appointment type has a slot capacity above 1, a row also shows how many seats are left, such as 2 seats left. A slot that is full does not appear in the results. If a scheduling alert matches the patient and your search, it appears above the results with its name and message. Alerts are advisory and never block booking. Click the dismiss button on an alert to hide it for the current search. Find Open Slots results with a yellow scheduling alert above the list that reads Medicare, Schedule Medicare patients with Dr. Price, and 50 slots found below it Seats left appear at the right of each row. This example shows a Group Counseling appointment type with a patient timezone that Elation detected automatically. Find Open Slots results for the Group Counseling appointment type, with 4 seats left and 5 seats left at the right of the rows and the patient timezone marked auto-detected If no slots match, Elation shows No slots match — try adjusting the date range or filters. If you expect to see openings for a provider and none appear, check that the provider has availability configured for that day, location, and appointment type. If the search fails, click Try again.

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Book from a result

  1. Click the row for the time you want.
  2. In the appointment dialog, review the pre-filled patient, provider, location, appointment type, start time, and duration. Any scheduling alerts that matched the search also appear in the dialog.
  3. Make any changes, then click Save.
The appointment appears on the provider’s Calendar like any other appointment. If someone else books the slot first, Elation reports the conflict in the dialog. Click Search again to get an updated list of slots with the same parameters, then pick another time.

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Book for a patient in another practice

If your organization has more than one Elation practice and you have access to both, patients from the other practice appear in the patient search as Patient name — Practice name.
  1. Select the patient. Elation asks Switch to [practice name]?
  2. Click Yes, switch to [practice name]. Find Open Slots reopens in that practice with the patient selected.
Switching practices logs out any browser tabs open in the practice you are leaving. Save your work first. You can switch back at any time. Select Don’t show this message again to skip this warning on future switches.
If you cannot switch practices, those patients appear greyed out in the list. Switch to Elation North confirmation in Find Open Slots, with a Don't show this message again checkbox and Yes, switch to Elation North and Cancel buttons

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Why do I see no slots for a provider I expect?

Check the provider’s availability, any Calendar Blocks in the search window, and the filters you set. Existing appointments also remove slots. See Calendar Guide — How to set up the provider calendar.

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Why does a row say “No appointment types configured”?

The slot does not allow any appointment type available to you. If the row lists appointment type names with switch workspace to book, switch to the workspace that includes that appointment type.

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Why can’t I change the appointment type?

When you open Find Open Slots from the Reschedule Worklist, the patient and appointment type are locked because rescheduling keeps the same type.