Patient Flow: Real-Time Waitroom Management

Track every patient's journey from arrival to completion without leaving the calendar

The Patient Flow sidebar gives your team a live view of today's appointments, organised by clinical stage. Staff always know where every patient is in the flow — who's arriving soon, who's waiting, and who's running late — all without leaving the calendar screen.

Opening the Patient Flow Sidebar

To open the Patient Flow panel:

Click the Patient Flow icon (clock with a person) in the top-right toolbar of the calendar
The icon turns blue when the sidebar is active
Your preference is remembered — the sidebar will reopen automatically next time you visit the calendar

To close it, click the X button in the sidebar header, or click the toolbar icon again.

[Screenshot: Calendar toolbar with Patient Flow icon highlighted]

Understanding the Sections

Appointments are automatically sorted into six sections based on their current status:

Late (red warning icon)
Scheduled appointments past their start time where the patient hasn't arrived. These appear at the top so your team can follow up immediately.

Arriving Soon
Appointments scheduled to start within the next 15 minutes. Helps reception prepare for incoming patients.

Active Now
Patients who have arrived, are waiting, are ready, or are currently in treatment. This is your "live" view of who's in the practice right now.

Scheduled
Future appointments that aren't arriving soon yet.

Completed
Finished appointments for today.

Missed / Cancelled
Appointments marked as missed, cancelled, or late cancellation. These sit at the bottom and include recovery options.

[Screenshot: Full sidebar showing multiple sections]

Reading a Patient Card

Each patient card shows:

Patient avatar — Hover to see their phone, email, and any clinical alerts without navigating away
Patient name — Click to go directly to their patient profile
Appointment type — The reason for the visit
Practitioner — Which staff member is assigned
Appointment badges — Any badges attached to the appointment
Start time — When the appointment is scheduled
Status tag — A colour-coded indicator showing their current state

[Screenshot: Close-up of a patient card with labels]

Status Tags and Wait Time Colours

The status tag on each card changes colour to help you spot issues at a glance:

When a patient arrives:

Teal = Arrived on time or early
Red = Arrived late (shows how many minutes late)

When a patient is waiting:

Teal = Waiting less than 15 minutes
Orange = Waiting 15–30 minutes
Red = Waiting over 30 minutes

Hover over any status tag for more detail, such as the exact arrival time.

Advancing Appointment Status

Each card includes four step icons representing the appointment journey:

Arrived (building + checkmark) — Patient has checked in
Waiting (chair) — Patient is waiting to be seen
In Progress (practitioner) — Treatment has started
Complete (person walking out) — Appointment finished

To advance a patient's status: Click the next step icon on their card. The appointment immediately updates across the calendar for all staff.

To undo an arrival: Click the "Arrived" step again to return the appointment to "Scheduled."

[Screenshot: Step icons on a patient card]

Recovering Missed or Cancelled Appointments

If an appointment was incorrectly marked as missed or cancelled, you can recover it:

Find the appointment in the Missed / Cancelled section
Click the status dropdown on the card
Select Reschedule or Mark Completed

Filtering by Practitioner or Status

Use the filter dropdowns below the sidebar header to focus on specific views:

Practitioner filter — Select one or more practitioners to only see their patients
Status filter — Choose specific statuses (e.g., only show Arrived and Waiting)

Your filter selections are saved automatically and will be remembered next time you open the sidebar.

Note: Patient Flow filters only affect this sidebar view. To filter which appointments appear on the main calendar, use the practitioner checkboxes in the left sidebar.

[Screenshot: Filter dropdowns]

Toolbar Badges

Even when the sidebar is closed, the Patient Flow icon shows live badge counts:

Grey badge — Number of patients currently arrived or waiting
Red badge — Number of late patients (past their scheduled time)

These update in real time, so you can monitor patient flow at a glance without opening the panel.

Check-in Chime

Patient Flow includes an audio notification that plays when a patient checks in (arrives or starts waiting).

To mute or unmute the chime:

Click the speaker icon in the sidebar header
Your preference is saved automatically

Tip: If you don't hear the chime, your browser may be blocking audio playback. If a notification appears asking you to enable sound, click it to unlock audio for the session.

Tips for Your Team

Reception staff: Keep the sidebar open to monitor arrivals and advance patients through stages as they move through the practice
Practitioners: Use the practitioner filter to see only your patients for the day
Practice managers: Watch the toolbar badges — a growing red count means patients are waiting past their scheduled time
Everyone: Hover over patient avatars to quickly check contact details and clinical alerts without navigating away from the calendar