Patients book restaurants, rides and doctor visits from their phones. When the only way to book a dental appointment is to call during working hours, some of them simply don’t. They mean to, they forget, and six months later the small problem is a bigger one.
Online booking fixes that, but dental appointments aren’t restaurant tables. A root canal needs a specific dentist, a specific chair and the right amount of time. That’s why most clinics do better with booking requests that reception confirms than with fully automatic booking. This guide explains how it works and how to set it up.
Requests, not open slots
There are two ways to take bookings online:
Open self-booking. The patient sees free slots and takes one. Fast for patients, but risky for a dental clinic: the patient doesn’t know a crown prep takes longer than a check-up, or that Dr. Mona only does implants on Tuesdays.
Booking requests. The patient asks for a day and time. Reception confirms it, adjusts it if needed, and it becomes an appointment. The patient still books in a minute, and the clinic stays in control of the schedule.
BeClarified uses requests. Patients book from the patient app, and the request lands on the bookings page in the dashboard. Reception confirms it, then completes it into an appointment that appears in the scheduler. If the dentist already has an appointment at that time, BeClarified flags the conflict so one of them can be moved first.
What the patient sees
From the app, the patient:
- Chooses a time that suits them.
- Sends the request.
- Hears back from the clinic: if the request is turned down or later cancelled, the patient is notified.
- Sees the confirmed appointment alongside their past and upcoming visits.
Reminders before the visit then work exactly like any other appointment. The app also shows invoices and balance, so patients don’t call to ask “how much do I still owe?”. More on patient engagement.
What reception sees
Reception gets one list of booking requests, filtered by status: waiting, confirmed, completed, cancelled or rejected. Working the list takes a few minutes a few times a day:
- Confirm requests that fit the schedule.
- Complete confirmed requests into appointments, choosing the dentist, chair and duration.
- Reject requests that can’t be accommodated. The patient is notified, so call them and offer another time.
- Cancel confirmed bookings the patient can’t make. They’re notified too.
Set a rule for how quickly requests are answered, for example within two working hours. A patient who waits a day for a reply may book somewhere else.
Getting patients to use it
Online booking only helps if patients have the app. Ask at every visit:
- Reception mentions it at checkout: “Next time you can book from the app.”
- A small card or poster at reception with a QR code.
- A line in your WhatsApp messages and on your social pages.
Patients who install the app also get reminders, see their balance and collect loyalty points, so there’s more than one reason for them to install it.
Measure the funnel
Booking requests are a funnel: some are confirmed, some become appointments, and some of those patients turn up. BeClarified’s appointment report shows booking requests made in a period and how far they got, with rejected, cancelled and waiting counts. Watch two things:
- Waiting requests. If they pile up, reception needs a routine to clear them.
- Rejected requests. If many are rejected, patients are asking for times you don’t offer. Maybe it’s time for an evening session or a Saturday chair.
See the reports page for the rest of the appointment reports.
Frequently asked questions
Will online booking fill my schedule with the wrong appointments? Not with requests. Reception confirms each one and sets the dentist, chair and duration before it becomes an appointment.
Can patients cancel online? Every reminder has a cancel link, so patients who can’t come tell you early enough to offer the slot to someone else.
What if two patients request the same time? Reception sees both. Confirm one, and offer the other a nearby time. If a request clashes with an existing appointment, BeClarified shows the conflict before it becomes an appointment.
Do patients pay for the app? No. The patient app is free on Android, with iOS in public beta.