Appointment Booking (Desk)

User Story

As a receptionist, I want to book appointments for patients so that they can see the right practitioner at the right time.

Entry Point

Desk > Patient Appointment > New

Steps

1. Select patient

   • Screen: Patient Appointment form
   • User action: Search and select patient
   • Data changed: patient field set

2. Select practitioner

   • User action: Choose practitioner (filtered by department)
   • API: get_practitioner_list (standard query)

3. Choose date and time

   • User action: Pick date, system shows available slots
   • API: patient_appointment.get_availability_data(date, practitioner, appointment_type, ...)
   • Data changed: appointment_date, appointment_time set

4. Check fee validity

   • Automatic: check_fee_validity(appointment) determines if this is a free follow-up
   • Data changed: Fee Validity record updated if applicable

5. Save appointment

   • User action: Save
   • Data changed: Patient Appointment created (status: Open)

6. Invoice (if payment required)

   • User action: Click "Invoice" button
   • API: invoice_appointment(appointment_name, discount_percentage, discount_amount)
   • Data changed: Sales Invoice created, appointment marked as invoiced

7. Create encounter (when patient arrives)

   • User action: Click "Create > Patient Encounter"
   • API: make_encounter(source_name)
   • Data changed: Patient Encounter created, linked to appointment

Error States

• No available slots → system shows "No slots available" message
• Double booking → overlap validation prevents save
• Patient not linked to customer → warning on invoice attempt

Permissions

• Healthcare Administrator: Full appointment access
• Physician: Can create and view appointments

Related Code

• Backend: healthcare/healthcare/doctype/patient_appointment/patient_appointment.py
• Fee validity: healthcare/healthcare/doctype/fee_validity/fee_validity.py