Rescheduling, cancellation and refunds

Plans change. This page explains how front-desk staff move an appointment to a new time or cancel it, which rules decide whether that is allowed, and what happens to the bill. It also explains how LeapHealthOS works out the refund amount that is due to the patient.

The settings on this page are in SettingsPlatform ConfigurationSystem Settings on the Appointments tab, in the Reschedule and Cancellation sections.

Rescheduling an appointment

If the patient has already paid, the dialog shows that the advance will carry over to the new slot. The bill moves to the new appointment, so the patient does not pay twice.

When you can reschedule

If a rule blocks the change you see Rescheduling is not allowed for this appointment, Maximum reschedule limit reached or Reschedule window has passed.

Reschedule fees and price differences

A fee can be charged for moving an appointment:

• Reschedule Fee Enabled (off by default) switches the fee on.
• Reschedule Fee Type is Flat or Percentage of the original amount, and Reschedule Fee is the value.
• Reschedule Fee Waive Count lets the first few reschedules go free.

Free Reschedules and Fee After Free are saved but not used. Use the waive count instead.

If the new slot has a different price, Price Difference Handling decides what happens when it is cheaper. A more expensive slot is always charged the difference, plus any fee.

As with cancellations, the refund due is worked out but not paid out (see the note at the top of this page).

What happens to the old appointment

• Nothing more to pay, or pay at hospital: the new appointment is Confirmed at once, the old one becomes Rescheduled, and the bill moves to the new appointment.
• The patient owes money online: the new appointment is created as a Draft with a payment link, and the old one stays Confirmed until the new one is paid. If the payment never arrives, the draft expires and the original appointment is kept.

A message can be sent to the patient through the Appointment Rescheduled notification rule, and reminders follow the new time.

Cancelling an appointment

When you can cancel

• Only Draft, Pending Approval and Confirmed appointments can be cancelled. Checked-in appointments cannot be cancelled by staff.
• Who Can Cancel lists who is allowed to cancel: patient, staff, doctor and system (all four by default). Doctors cancelling from their own login count as "doctor"; other staff count as "staff".
• Reason Required makes a reason mandatory. The All Appointments dialog always asks for one.
• These two settings are taken from the moment the appointment was booked, so later changes do not affect existing appointments.
• A service booking (for example a lab test) whose task is already under way cannot be cancelled from LeapHealthOS.

The Cancel button on a counsellor's case record cancels without asking for a reason and records it as a patient request.

What cancelling does

• An unpaid bill is cancelled.
• For a paid or part-paid bill, the refund amount is worked out (see below) and recorded. The bill keeps its status and no money is returned.
• A package session reserved for the booking is returned to the package.
• Medicines or consumables dispensed against the bill are put back into stock.
• The slot is released.
• A message can be sent through the Appointment Cancelled notification rule.

LeapHealthOS also cancels appointments itself after doctor emergency leave and centre-service blackouts (see Emergency leave and centre blackouts). Patients can also cancel or reschedule from a link in their messages; see Patient action links.

How a refund amount is worked out

A refund is only calculated when the bill is paid or part-paid. LeapHealthOS goes down this list and uses the first rule that applies.

Each rule uses one of four refund types: Full, Percentage, Flat or None.

With the default settings, every cancellation of a paid appointment works out to a full refund, whoever cancels and however late. If you need a stricter policy, for example no refund within 12 hours of the slot, ask your implementation team to set the per-canceller rules.

Example

A patient pays a ₹500 advance online. Two days later the front desk cancels at the patient's request. The appointment is confirmed, the cooling-off period has long passed, and the staff rule is "full", so the refund due is ₹500. LeapHealthOS records ₹500 as due; your implementation team issues it.

Refunds that are issued automatically

If a patient pays after their online hold has expired and Late Payment Action is Refund, LeapHealthOS refunds the payment to the patient's original payment method. This is the only appointment refund that is issued without anyone acting on it. The other automatic refund, for a bill paid more than its total, is described in Adjustments, refunds and deposits. See also Holds, payment at booking and approvals.