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This article provides a high-level view of scheduling capabilities in Elation EHR, including core features, intentional limits, and recommended workflows to help you design the right scheduling approach for your practice.

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Overview

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What is scheduling in Elation?

Scheduling in Elation refers to the integrated Calendar and Booking Site tools that allow practices to manage provider availability and patient appointments. These tools support both staff-scheduled visits and patient self-scheduling, using a unified set of availability rules.

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Why is scheduling important?

Effective scheduling helps practices reduce no-shows, improve patient access, and streamline front-office workflows. By configuring availability and appointment types in one place, your team can manage in-person visits, telehealth appointments, and recurring series from a single scheduling surface.

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Core Capabilities

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Appointment Types

Elation supports scheduling in-person and virtual appointments directly from the Calendar, including:
  • Standard one-time appointments
  • Telehealth visits using integrated video workflows
  • Staff-scheduled recurring series for ongoing care plans
  • Overlapping appointments when your practice chooses to double-book specific time slots
From each appointment, staff can access the patient chart, view appointment history, and take actions like Quick Reschedule.

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Provider Availability

Provider availability is configured by location and appointment type so that what your team sees on the Calendar and what patients see on the Booking Site come from the same underlying rules. Once availability is set:
  • Staff can schedule visits from the Calendar based on that availability
  • Patients can self-schedule online (where enabled) using the Booking Site
  • Quick Reschedule uses the same availability to surface the next open times for a given provider, location, and appointment type

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Patient Self-Scheduling

When your Booking Site is turned on and configured:
  • Patients can self-schedule visits based on the availability rules you’ve set
  • You can control which appointment types, locations, and clinicians appear on the Booking Site
  • Patients can confirm appointments and, where configured, cancel or reschedule certain visits online
Online scheduling is always bounded by the availability and rules your practice sets in Elation.

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Telehealth Scheduling

Elation supports telehealth appointments using virtual visit appointment types:
  • Staff can schedule virtual visits on the Calendar like any other appointment
  • Patients can schedule telehealth visits online when those appointment types are enabled on the Booking Site
  • Telehealth visit instructions can be included automatically in appointment reminders
Telehealth scheduling uses the same Calendar and availability model as in-person visits, so your team manages just one scheduling surface.

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Recurring Appointments

Staff can create recurring appointment series from the Calendar for patients who need ongoing, structured follow-up (for example, weekly, biweekly, or monthly visits). Key details about recurring appointments:
  • Recurring series are created and managed by staff from the Calendar
  • Conflict detection helps staff identify overlapping times before saving a series
  • Quick Reschedule is designed for single appointments, not entire series (you can reschedule individual instances as needed)
Patients cannot start their own recurring series from the Booking Site. They work with your team to set up long-term care plans.

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Quick Reschedule

Quick Reschedule is a scheduling shortcut that helps staff move an existing appointment to the next available time without canceling and recreating the visit. Use Quick Reschedule when:
  • A patient needs to move an upcoming visit to another time
  • You want to keep the same provider, location, and appointment type
  • You want Elation to suggest the next available slots that match your configured availability
Quick Reschedule is available to staff from the appointment on the Calendar and applies to single appointments (not an entire recurring series).

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Non-Blocking Calendar Events

In addition to standard appointments and blocking events, Elation supports non-blocking calendar events to show preferences on the Calendar without removing availability. Examples include:
  • “New patients preferred” time windows
  • “Telehealth preferred” sessions
  • Internal notes about ideal times for certain visit types
These events appear on the Calendar for your team but keep time slots open on the Booking Site so patients can still book into those windows where appropriate.

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Automated Appointment Reminders

Elation supports automated appointment reminders to help reduce no-shows and keep patients informed:
  • You can configure the number and timing of reminders
  • Reminders can include visit instructions (including telehealth instructions for virtual visits)
  • Where enabled, reminders can include patient-facing options to cancel appointments
Reminders work alongside your scheduling and availability rules to keep patients prepared for upcoming care.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Does Elation support a built-in waitlist?
Elation does not currently include a native waitlist queue that automatically fills canceled slots. Practices that want a waitlist-style workflow typically:
  • Track patients who want earlier times using reports or internal lists
  • Use manual outreach (phone calls, portal messages, or letters) when high-demand slots open up
  • Optionally double-book specific time windows when clinically and operationally appropriate
Can patients create their own recurring appointment series online?
No. Recurring appointment series are staff-scheduled today. Patients can:
  • Book individual appointments online (where enabled)
  • Work with your team to design a recurring series that staff enter on the Calendar
This ensures your clinicians maintain control over long-term care plans and schedule density.
Can Elation automatically overbook or double-book time slots?
Elation does not offer automated overbooking rules (for example, “always double-book this time if utilization is below X%”). Instead:
  • Staff can manually double-book by adding a second appointment into an already-booked time slot
  • Double-booking is an intentional, on-demand workflow that your practice controls for specific scenarios (such as high no-show risk or urgent add-ons)
Can clinicians accept or decline appointments before they are confirmed?
There is no separate “accept/decline” approval step for newly booked appointments. Today:
  • Once an appointment is scheduled (by staff or via the Booking Site), it is treated as confirmed on the Calendar
  • If a visit needs to change, staff can cancel or reschedule the appointment, including using Quick Reschedule when appropriate
This keeps the scheduling workflow streamlined for front-office and clinical teams.
Does Elation automatically reach out to patients who cancel or no-show to reschedule?
Elation does not have a dedicated automation that specifically targets canceled or no-show patients to invite them back. Practices typically:
  • Use appointment reports and patient lists to identify patients with recent cancellations or no-shows
  • Reach out using existing tools (phone calls, portal messages, letters, or other communication channels)
  • Combine this outreach with reminder strategies and scheduling templates to keep patients on track with care
Can I control the sort order of clinicians on the Booking Site?
At this time, the Booking Site lists clinicians in a fixed order (currently alphabetical by first name). That means:
  • You can choose which clinicians and appointment types appear on the Booking Site
  • You cannot currently set a custom sort order (for example, “featured clinician” at the top or manual drag-and-drop ordering)
If prioritizing certain clinicians is important for your practice, staff can still steer patients to those clinicians when scheduling directly from the Calendar.