Booking an appointment
Step-by-step guide to the front-desk booking wizard, from mobile number lookup to the confirmation dialog.
The booking wizard is how front-desk staff book a doctor appointment in LeapHealthOS. You start with the patient's mobile number, then choose the patient, centre, doctor and time, and finish by choosing how the patient pays. This page walks through every step and explains what each button does.
Before you begin
- You need the Create permission on Appointments. Ask your administrator if you are not sure you have it.
- A doctor only appears in the wizard if they have bookable slots for the selected service. If a doctor is missing, see How slot search works.
- To create new patients, your hospital needs a published patient registration form. See Finding and registering patients.
Ways to open the wizard
- From the top bar: Quick Create > New Appointment. This always starts at the mobile number screen.
- From Quick Create > New Patient: after you find or create the patient, choose Book Appointment. The wizard opens with that patient already selected.
- From other screens that offer to book, such as a lab test request or a patient's package. These open the wizard with the patient, centre or service filled in.
Opening the wizard from the start clears any booking you had in progress.
The booking steps
The wizard is a single page with five numbered sections. Each section unlocks when the one before it is complete, and completed sections stay open for you to change.
Enter the patient's mobile number
Front deskQuick Create > New Appointment
Type the patient's mobile number, choose the country code if needed, and click Continue.
The number is checked for format only. If it is not valid you see Enter a valid mobile number.
Expected result: The booking page opens at step 1, Select Patient, with every patient profile linked to that number.
Select the patient (step 1)
Front deskOne mobile number can hold several patient profiles, for example a parent and their children. Each card shows the patient's name, visit type, mobile, email, age, gender, UHID and date of birth, plus first visit, last visit and doctor when the patient has history. If more than five profiles share the number, a Find by name or UHID box appears.
Click the card of the patient you are booking for.
- No profiles on this number: the Enter New Patient Details form opens automatically.
- The patient is not in the list: click Add Family Member (or Add Patient when the number has no profiles yet) and fill in your hospital's registration form.
Expected result: The patient is selected and step 2 opens.
Select the centre (step 2)
Front deskChoose the clinic where the appointment will happen. Each card shows the centre name and its Branch Code.
Changing the centre later clears the service, doctor and time you picked.
Expected result: Step 3 opens with the centre's services loaded.
Select the doctor (step 3)
Front deskThe wizard lists doctors who have at least one bookable slot for the selected service on the selected date. Use these controls to narrow the list:
- Service: the first service offered at the centre is chosen for you. Change it if the patient needs a different service.
- Calendar: the date to look at. It starts at today.
- Search by doctor name
- Sort By: Earliest Available, Lowest Fee or Most Experienced.
- Filters: Specialty and Urgency (Today, Tomorrow, Weekend, Weekday). Click Apply, or Reset to clear them.
Each doctor card shows the fee for their nearest slot. Nine doctors show per page.
Expected result: When you click a doctor card, step 4 opens with that doctor's calendar.
Select the slot (step 4)
Front deskA week strip shows Monday to Sunday with Week N of M. You can move forward up to 45 days from today; past days are disabled. The wizard jumps to the first date that has slots.
Times are grouped into Morning, Afternoon and Evening. Slots is set to Available, which shows only times you can book; switch to All to also see times that are blocked by a booking rule. Blocked times are greyed out and the wizard does not show the reason. Fully booked times are not shown at all.
Click a time.
Expected result: Step 5, Confirm and Pay, opens with a summary of the booking.
Confirm and pay (step 5)
Front deskCheck the doctor, date, time, location and patient. Then complete the Bill Summary:
- REDEEM PACKAGE: appears only when the patient holds a package that covers this service. Choose the package to use one session. Leaving it on Pay for this visit still uses a session from the package that expires soonest; see the limitation in Packages.
- DISCOUNT TYPE and VALUE: a Percentage (%) (0 to 100) or Flat (₹) discount. Discounts are disabled when you redeem a package.
- REMARKS: an internal note of up to 500 characters. Patients never see it.
The summary shows the Consultation Fee, Subtotal, any Discount or package cover, and the TOTAL. Choose how the patient pays (see the next section).
Expected result: A Review Appointment dialog opens.
Review and confirm
Front deskThe Review Appointment dialog lists the patient, UHID, mobile, age and gender, doctor, specialization, clinic, date, time, payment choice, remarks and bill summary. Click Confirm & Pay Online, Confirm Pay at Hospital or Confirm Appointment to book, or Cancel to go back.
Expected result: The booking is created and the Appointment Confirmation dialog opens.
Choosing how the patient pays
The buttons on step 5 depend on the total and on your hospital's payment setup.
Button | When you see it | What happens |
|---|---|---|
Pay Online | The total is more than zero, and your hospital has online payment links set up | A payment link is created for the patient. The appointment stays Draft and the slot is held until the patient pays or the hold runs out. |
Pay at Hospital | The total is more than zero | The appointment is confirmed straight away. The bill stays open so the front desk can collect payment at the counter. |
Confirm Appointment | The total is zero, for example a free service, a 100% discount or a redeemed package | The appointment is confirmed straight away. Nothing is collected. |
For the full rules on holds, payment types and approval, see Holds, payment at booking and approvals.
Redeeming a package
When you choose a package, one session is reserved from it and the visit is billed at zero. If the package cannot cover this service (for example no sessions are left), the booking fails and you see an error. Choose another package, or Pay for this visit, and try again. The session is used up when the appointment is completed, and returned if it is cancelled. See Packages.
After you confirm: the confirmation dialog
The Appointment Confirmation dialog shows what happened.
You see Appointment Confirmed! and Payment will be collected at the hospital. The appointment appears in All Appointments with a Collect Payment button until the bill is paid.
You see Payment Link Sent Successfully! and Waiting for payment confirmation... with the Payment Link and a Copy button so you can share it yourself. The dialog updates by itself while it is open; click Refresh Status to check now. When the payment arrives the dialog changes to Appointment Confirmed!.
You can close the dialog while you wait. The appointment stays Draft in All Appointments until it is paid. Whether the patient also receives the link by WhatsApp or email depends on your notification rules.
You see Appointment Confirmed! and a note that the visit is covered by the package, with one session redeemed and nothing to collect.
The dialog also shows Appointment Status, Payment Status and Appointment ID. The Appointment ID here is a long reference code. The short booking reference, in the form APT-20261110-AB12CD, is shown in All Appointments.
From the dialog, click Create New Appointment to book again for the same mobile number, or Go to All Appointments.
If you opened the wizard from a lab test request, the request is linked to the new appointment once it is confirmed or paid.
Troubleshooting
Last updated on
How slot search works
How doctor schedules become bookable times in LeapHealthOS, and how capacity, walk-in reserve, booking rules and booking limits change what staff can book.
Holds, payment at booking and approvals
When a booking is confirmed straight away, how a slot is held while the patient pays online, what happens when the hold runs out, and how approval works.