Troubleshooting Patient Self-Scheduling Issues in the SigmaMD Patient Mobile App
If a patient is unable to find availability for self-scheduling in the SigmaMD mobile app, there may be multiple reasons for this. Below are the possible causes and solutions to resolve the issue.
1. Check for Existing Events Blocking Availability
Any appointment or other event on the clinician’s SigmaMD calendar will prevent self-scheduling during those times. Blocks will also prevent self-scheduling if the "Block Calendar" option is turned on.
This includes external calendar events as well. Google or Microsoft events will sync with SigmaMD and block availability. If needed, disconnect all external calendars to eliminate conflicts and ensure availability for patient self-scheduling. To check or adjust external calendar settings, go to external calendar settings.
2. Verify Working Hours and Shifts
- The clinician may not have enabled working hours, or they may be incorrectly set.
- Additionally, shifts may be configured to exclude specific visit or appointment types, which could limit availability.
Important:
- If you add new appointment types in Practice Settings, you must manually enable them per shift in Working Hours.
- Don’t forget to click the Save button below the shift list for your changes to take effect.
To check or update working hours and shifts, go to working hours settings.
3. Verify the Settings for Each Appointment Type
Open your appointment settings to ensure all necessary configurations are correct for each appointment type. Click Edit next to each appointment type to review its settings.
Creating a New Appointment Type
- Go to Appointment Types in your practice settings.
- Click Add appointment type.
- Enter the name and optional description.
- Choose a color, duration, and buffer time.
- (Optional) Assign a default resource, such as a room or equipment.
These fields help your team standardize how each visit should be handled.
Choosing Bookable Clinicians
You can control which clinicians are available for each appointment type:
- All clinicians — The appointment type is available for every clinician.
- Patient assigned clinician — Patients can only book this visit with the clinician assigned to their chart.
- Selected clinicians — Choose one or more clinicians who can be booked for this appointment type.
This makes it easy to restrict certain visit types to specific providers or specialties.
Setting Visit Types
Each appointment type can support one or more visit modalities:
- In-clinic
- At-home
- Telehealth
- Phone consultation
Patients will see only the visit types your practice supports for that specific appointment.
On your appointment type settings, check for:
- Ensure Patient Self-Scheduling is turned on.
- Earliest and Latest Scheduling Periods: These settings determine how soon and how far out in time a patient can book an appointment.
- Availability: Is it set for all visits? If not, does it match the patient's current situation? E.g., if set for first visit only and the patient has had a first visit already, it won't show on the patient's app.
- Patient memberships: Ensure your patient matches the membership requirements.
- Bookable Clinicians: Ensure that the correct clinicians are set as bookable, and that they have working hours and shifts correctly set (see number 2 above).