Setting Open Hours: Informing Patients of Your Availability

The Open Hours setting is a feature designed to communicate your practice’s availability to patients. This function plays a role in informing patients about when they can expect services without directly impacting your internal calendar or scheduling features. Here’s a guide to effectively using the Open Hours setting within SigmaMD.

Configuring Open Hours

  • Accessing Open Hours: Navigate to the Practice Settings in SigmaMD and make sure the Business Profile option is selected
  • Setting Hours: Here, you can input the specific opening and closing times for each day of the week. You have the option to set different hours for different days.
  • Enable Days of the Week: Toggle the switch next to each weekday to indicate your availability. A purple toggle means the day is enabled.
  • Set Time Slots
    • Use the time pickers to set your open and close times.
    • Click Add shift to add a second time slot (e.g., if your clinic closes midday and reopens later).
    • You can remove a time slot by clicking the X icon next to it.
  • Customize Each Day: You can adjust start and end times independently for each day.  To disable availability for a day, toggle it off.
  • Click Save: After entering all your open hours, click Save at the bottom right of the section to apply the changes.

Impact on Scheduling

It’s important to understand that configuring Open Hours in SigmaMD does not alter your calendar or affect the actual scheduling of appointments. Rather, it’s a reference for patients, visible through their SigmaMD Patient App, that indicates when the practice is typically open for business. This feature does not restrict the booking of appointments, which is determined by each doctor's working hours.

By setting up Open Hours in your SigmaMD platform, your practice can ensure that patients are well-informed about your operating times. Remember, this feature serves as a communication tool and does not interfere with the functionalities of your calendar or scheduling system. The Open Hours setting is yet another way SigmaMD helps streamline your practice’s operations and patient communications.