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Appointments & Central Scheduling

The Appointments & Central Scheduling module in MOANA serves as the operational heartbeat for outpatient clinics, specialty consultations, and diagnostic appointments. It unifies high-level capacity planning, real-time doctor availability rostering, multi-channel booking (in-person, phone, and online teleconsultation), and automated queue management into a single command center.

Central Appointments Command Center showing KPI cards, filter controls, and the active schedule view.
Central Appointments Command Center showing KPI cards, filter controls, and the active schedule view.🔍 Click to enlarge

Executive Scheduling KPIs & Metrics​

At the top of the Central Scheduling screen, real-time counters give reception supervisors and practice managers instantaneous visibility into daily clinic operations:

Metric CardDescriptionClinical / Administrative Significance
Today's BookingsTotal appointments scheduled for the current operating day.Establishes daily target capacity and staffing requirements.
Total AppointmentsAggregate number of bookings registered across the selected date range.Tracks overall facility throughput and resource utilization.
Scheduled & ConfirmedPatients with booked slots awaiting arrival or confirmed via SMS/Phone reminder.Indicates expected upcoming patient arrivals.
Checked InPatients who have physically arrived at the facility and are waiting in the reception lounge.Triggers nurse triage alerts and adds the patient to the active consultation queue.
In ProgressConsultations currently underway inside physician consultation rooms.Tracks real-time doctor room occupancy and active consultation durations.
Cancelled / No ShowBookings cancelled by patients or flagged as unattended.Frees up provider capacity and prompts automated rebooking workflows.
Teleconsults TodayVirtual/remote consultations scheduled with telemedicine video links.Alerts clinicians to open digital consultation rooms.

The Three Central Scheduling Display Modes​

MOANA provides three specialized viewing modes tailored for different front-desk and clinical coordination workflows:

graph TD
    A[Central Scheduling Module] --> B[1. Comprehensive List View]
    A --> C[2. Provider × Time Grid Matrix]
    A --> D[3. Live Outpatient Queue]
    
    B --> B1[Paginated multi-parameter search]
    B --> B2[Batch status updates & CSV export]
    
    C --> C1[Visual doctor timeline columns]
    C --> C2[Drag-and-Drop Slot Rescheduling]
    C --> C3[Doctor availability & room binding]
    
    D --> D1[Status-prioritized queue]
    D --> D2[Dynamic wait time calculation]
    D --> D3[One-click consultation call]

1. Comprehensive List View​

The List View provides a robust, tabular directory of all appointments. It is ideal for receptionists performing multi-criteria searches, bulk status checks, or exporting appointment rosters.

List View Features:​

  • Granular Time Filters: Toggle between Day, Week, Month, and Year views, or choose a specific custom date via the calendar widget.
  • Provider & Specialty Filtering: Filter appointments by attending physician, medical department (e.g., Cardiology, Pediatrics, General Medicine), or consultation type.
  • Real-time Status Tags: Distinct, color-coded badges for Scheduled, Confirmed, Checked In, In Progress, Completed, Cancelled, No Show, and Rescheduled.
  • Quick Action Controls:
    • Check In: Instant one-click check-in for arriving patients.
    • Call Patient: Broadcasts a call chime to the waiting area display board.
    • Reschedule: Launches the conflict-free slot picker modal.
    • Cancel / No Show: Logs non-attendance with required audit rationale.
    • View Details: Opens the comprehensive appointment summary drawer.

2. Provider × Time Grid Matrix (Interactive Timeline)​

The Grid View renders a horizontal timeline matrix where each column represents an attending physician or consultation room, and each row corresponds to an hourly time slot (e.g., 08:00 to 18:00).

Provider by Time Grid View displaying appointment blocks across doctor columns with drag-and-drop capability.
Provider by Time Grid View displaying appointment blocks across doctor columns with drag-and-drop capability.🔍 Click to enlarge

Key Capabilities of the Timeline Grid:​

  1. Smooth Inertial Navigation: Smooth horizontal wheel scrolling allows rapid scanning across dozens of doctors without jumpy visual stutter.
  2. Drag-and-Drop Rescheduling:
    • To reschedule an appointment to a different hour on the same day, simply click and drag the appointment card to the desired time row.
    • MOANA automatically validates doctor availability, updates the scheduled time, logs the audit event, and refreshes the matrix in real time.
  3. Deep-Link to Provider Queue: Clicking any condensed appointment card immediately opens that specific physician's focused queue view.

3. Live Outpatient Queue View​

The Queue View is a real-time clinical dispatch board designed for outpatient triage nurses and consulting physicians. It orders patients using a strict clinical priority hierarchy:

  • Clinical Priority Order: In Progress > Checked In > Scheduled
Live Outpatient Queue View showing patient order, calculated wait times, and call action buttons.
Live Outpatient Queue View showing patient order, calculated wait times, and call action buttons.🔍 Click to enlarge

Dynamic Algorithmic Wait Time Calculation:​

For every patient in the queue, MOANA calculates their estimated wait time based on the sum of durations of all preceding patients:

  • If the patient ahead is In Progress, MOANA tracks elapsed time and calculates remaining duration: Remaining Time = Math.max(0, Scheduled Duration - Elapsed Time)
  • Subsequent patients accumulate the remaining time plus full scheduled durations of all intervening patients, providing an accurate, live waiting estimate in minutes or hours.

Step-by-Step Scheduling Workflows​

Workflow 1: Booking a New Appointment​

sequenceDiagram
    autonumber
    actor Receptionist
    participant MOANA as Central Scheduling
    participant MPI as Patient Directory (MPI)
    participant Doctor as Doctor Schedule Engine
    participant Notify as Notification Service

    Receptionist->>MOANA: Click "+ Book Appointment"
    MOANA->>MPI: Search patient by Name, Phone, or Health ID
    MPI-->>MOANA: Return Verified Patient Record
    Receptionist->>Doctor: Select Department, Doctor & Target Date
    Doctor-->>MOANA: Display Available Time Slots (Color-Coded)
    Receptionist->>MOANA: Select Slot, Consultation Type & Priority
    Receptionist->>MOANA: Confirm Booking
    MOANA->>Notify: Dispatch SMS & Email Confirmation with QR Code
    MOANA-->>Receptionist: Booking Confirmed (Slot Reserved)
  1. Click the "+ Book Appointment" button on the top-right toolbar.
  2. Select Patient:
    • Search by Patient Name, Phone Number, National ID, or MOANA Health ID.
    • For new patients, click "Quick Register" to create a baseline demographic file instantly.
  3. Select Provider & Service:
    • Choose the Department and Consulting Doctor.
    • Choose the Consultation Type: Initial Consultation, Follow-up, Routine Review, Telehealth Video Call, or Specialist Procedure.
  4. Choose Slot: Select an open time slot from the dynamically generated availability grid.
  5. Set Priority & Chief Complaint:
    • Specify priority: Normal, Urgent, or VIP / Corporate.
    • Enter chief complaints or clinical visit notes for the doctor.
  6. Notification Options: Toggle automatic SMS and email reminders to ensure patient compliance.
  7. Click "Confirm & Book" to finalize the appointment.
New Appointment Booking Modal with patient lookup, doctor slot selector, and notification options.
New Appointment Booking Modal with patient lookup, doctor slot selector, and notification options.🔍 Click to enlarge
New Appointment Booking Modal with patient lookup, doctor slot selector, and notification options.
New Appointment Booking Modal with patient lookup, doctor slot selector, and notification options.🔍 Click to enlarge

Workflow 2: Rescheduling an Appointment​

When a patient requests a time change or a doctor's schedule shifts:

  1. Locate the appointment in List View or Grid View.
  2. Click the "Reschedule" action button (or drag the card to a new time in Grid View).
  3. The Reschedule Appointment Modal opens, showing:
    • Current appointment details and provider name.
    • Calendar date picker and available time slots for the chosen provider.
    • Reason for Rescheduling dropdown (Patient Request, Doctor Unavailable, Emergency Case Priority, Facility Maintenance).
  4. Select the new slot and click "Confirm Reschedule".
  5. The system immediately frees the original slot, books the new slot, logs the audit trail, and sends an updated SMS confirmation to the patient.
Appointment Reschedule Modal with real-time slot availability picker and reason logger.
Appointment Reschedule Modal with real-time slot availability picker and reason logger.🔍 Click to enlarge
Appointment Reschedule Modal with real-time slot availability picker and reason logger.
Appointment Reschedule Modal with real-time slot availability picker and reason logger.🔍 Click to enlarge

Workflow 3: Patient Arrival & Check-In​

When a patient arrives at the clinic:

  1. The receptionist identifies the patient via Name search, Phone lookup, or by scanning their Digital Health ID QR Code.
  2. Click "Check In" on the appointment card.
  3. Automated System Actions:
    • Appointment status updates from Scheduled / Confirmed to Checked In.
    • An Outpatient Encounter (OPD) record is automatically instantiated.
    • The patient's record is routed to the Nurse Triage Queue for baseline vitals recording.
    • The patient appears in the doctor's Live Queue with a live waiting time counter.

:::tip Fast-Track QR Check-In If your facility has barcode/QR scanners at reception, scanning the patient's Digital Health ID card or mobile confirmation SMS performs instant one-second check-in without manual typing. :::

Workflow 4: Handling Cancellations & No-Shows​

To keep clinic calendars accurate and release blocked time slots:

  • Cancellation:
    1. Click "Cancel" on the appointment card.
    2. Select the cancellation reason and indicate whether the slot should be offered to the walk-in waitlist.
    3. The slot becomes immediately available for other patients.
  • Marking No-Show:
    1. If a patient fails to arrive within 30 minutes past their scheduled time, click "Mark No Show".
    2. The status updates to No Show, and the patient's record logs the missed appointment in their clinical dossier.
    3. Practice managers can review chronic no-show reports in the Reporting & Analytics module.

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) in Scheduling​

Action / CapabilityReceptionist / ClerkTriage NurseConsulting DoctorMedical Administrator
View Appointments List & Grid✅✅✅ (Own + Dept)✅ (All)
Book & Reschedule Appointments✅✅✅✅
Perform Patient Check-In✅✅❌✅
Start / Finish Consultations❌❌✅✅
Reassign Attending Physician⚠️ (Requires Approval)❌❌✅
Configure Doctor Shifts & Slot Templates❌❌❌✅
Delete / Override Booking Restrictions❌❌❌✅

Offline Resilience for Central Scheduling​

When operating during internet disruptions or local area network outages:

  • Cached Schedules: The desktop client maintains a local cache of all bookings and provider rosters for the current week.
  • Offline Walk-In & Check-In: Arriving patients can still be checked in and walk-ins can be queued locally.
  • Automatic Cloud Sync: When connectivity is restored, all locally recorded check-ins, new bookings, and status transitions sync upstream with automatic conflict detection.