Running a smooth practice means keeping appointments on track, but life happens. Whether clients need to cancel or reschedule, making it easy for them goes a long way in building trust and loyalty. Let's explore best practices for managing cancellations and reschedules in your PIMS and PetDesk Dashboard, ensuring a seamless experience for both you and your furry patients' families!
Watch this easy video breaking down the different steps to cancel or reschedule an appointment in different Practice Management Systems (PIMS)! Review the steps below for step by step instructions. You can click on the name of the Practice Management System you use to skip to the specific steps for your system!
To Cancel in PIMS
- Locate the appointment you need to cancel in your PIMS schedule
- Change the appointment status to Cancelled
(PIMS specific steps found below or click on your PIMS: Cornerstone - AVImark - Impromed - DaySmart Vet - ezyVet - Covetrus Pulse - DVMAX - Intravet) - Do NOT delete the appointment out of your calendar after marking it cancelled
If you must delete the appointment, wait one full nightly sync after marking the appointment status as Cancelled - If the appointment is being cancelled the same day it was scheduled, advance to the next step:
- Navigate to your PetDesk Dashboard > Scheduled tab > search by client or scheduled time and delete the appointment
- The "cancelled" appointment from your PIMS will then sync in overnight and will not send an appointment reminder!
To Reschedule in PIMS
You can follow one of two methods to reschedule appointments in your PIMS:
Option A
- Cancel the appointment in your PIMS schedule following the steps above
- Schedule a brand new appointment for the desired date and time > this appointment will sync into PetDesk with the next nightly sync
- Done!
OR
Option B
- Right click on the appointment in PIMS schedule > move it to the correct date and time
* Rescheduling an appointment the same day it was created? Navigate to your PetDesk Dashboard > Scheduled tab > Modify request to match the new date and time OR delete the appointment out of the Dashboard
* Rescheduling an appointment after a nightly sync has completed after the appointment creation? The new appointment date and time will update the appointment in PetDesk with the next nightly sync - no need to adjust anything in the Dashboard
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PIMS Steps
Cornerstone
Right click on the appointment in the schedule > Move > to reschedule
or select Update/Delete to update appointment status to Cancelled
AVImark
Right click on the appointment in the schedule > select Delete appointment > adjust the status accordingly
NOTE: Using your Ghost calendar in AVImark? PetDesk only reads appointments with a status of Reservation, Kept, or Blank. Appointments with a status of Rescheduled or Cancelled will not sync into PetDesk. Appointments with a status of Kept will sync into PetDesk but will not send out a reminder. If you want an active appointment to sync into PetDesk and send out a reminder, ensure it has a status of Reservation.
Impromed
Bring up the appointment details for client/patient > select desired appointment on the menu > select Edit to reschedule or Status to change status to Cancelled
DaySmart Vet (Vetter)
Single click on appointment from schedule > select Edit to adjust time or status
ezyVet
Right click on appointment from schedule > Cancel/Delete or Status to Cancel > select Edit Appointment to reschedule
Covetrus Pulse
Right click on the appointment in the schedule to Edit the time, or hover over Status to change the status
DVMAX
Right click on the appointment in the schedule > Set Status > mark as Cancelled
Intravet
Right click on the appointment in the schedule > Confirm > mark as Cancelled