Manage Appointments

What this is

An appointment is the date and time you book with a participant, usually for one of their protocol visits. When an appointment is linked to a visit, your team can see when the visit will happen and whether it falls inside the window the protocol allows. You manage a participant's appointments from their Appointments tab, and see appointments across your projects on the organization Calendar, where you can also book appointments that are not tied to a visit.

• One active appointment per visit. A visit that already has a Scheduled appointment cannot be booked again. Reschedule the existing appointment instead.

• Visit windows are checked when you book. You can book a date outside the visit window, but you must give a reason, and the appointment is marked Early or Late. A visit with no window can be booked on any date without a reason.

• Appointments cannot start in the past.

When to use it

• You need to book a participant's next protocol visit.

• A participant needs to move or cancel an appointment.

• An appointment took place and you need to record it.

• You want to choose which site staff cover an appointment.

• You want to see what is booked for one participant, or across your projects, in a given period.

Before you start

• To book appointments, you need a project user type that can schedule appointments. Without it, Schedule appointment and Schedule do not appear.

• To reschedule, cancel, mark complete, or change the site users on an appointment, you need a project user type that can edit appointments. Without it, those actions do not appear.

• The participant must be assigned to a site before you can book their appointments.

View a participant's appointments

1. Open the participant and click the Appointments tab. You can also click View all appointments in a visit's details on the Visits tab.

2. Use the Calendar and List icons beside the title to choose a view.

Times on the participant's Appointments tab and Visits tab are shown in the participant's time zone. When your time zone is different, the time zone is named, and the information icon beside a time shows it in both zones.

Calendar view

The Calendar view shows the participant's appointments by date.

• Choose Month, Week, or Day. Week and Day show each appointment at its time of day.

• Use Today, Previous, and Next to move through dates.

• Hide canceled is on by default. Turn it off to see cancelled appointments, which stay in the participant's history.

• Click an appointment to open its details.

List view

The List view shows one row per protocol visit, in study order, with its window and appointment. Use it to see which visits still need to be booked.

1. Use Visits to show to choose:

   • Upcoming visits: visits whose window has not ended and that are not closed. Visits that do not have a window yet count as upcoming.

   • Past visits: visits whose window has ended or that are closed.

   • All: every visit in the study schedule. This is the default.

2. Read each row:

   • Visit & window: the visit name and the dates the protocol allows for it, in the participant's time zone. Current visit marks the open visit whose window includes today. Next visit marks the first open visit whose window has not started yet. Instead of dates, the window can show:

     • Pending: the visit is planned, but its dates have not been calculated yet.

     • Unscheduled: the visit is an unscheduled event, such as one added with Add event, so it has no protocol window.

     • No window: the visit has no window, so it can be booked on any date.

   • Title: the appointment's title.

   • Appointment: the appointment's date and time, with an Early or Late badge if it was booked outside the window.

   • Status: the appointment's status. See Appointment statuses below.

3. Click a row that has an appointment to open its details.

Cancelled appointments do not appear in the List view. A visit whose appointment was cancelled shows no appointment and can be booked again.

Schedule an appointment for a visit

You can start booking from these places:

• In the List view, click the schedule icon on the visit's row. The visit is selected for you. It appears only when the visit has no active appointment and at least one of its activities is not yet completed.

• At the top of the Appointments tab, click Schedule appointment, then choose the visit.

• On the Visits tab, click Schedule appointment. The visit you have open is selected for you.

• On the Calendar, click Schedule appointment and choose the participant (see Schedule from the Calendar).

1. If the visit is not already selected, choose the Visit. The list leaves out visits that already have an active appointment and visits whose activities are all completed.

2. In Select a Date & Time, pick a date. Dates inside the visit window are highlighted as In window, and Visit window shows the window's dates.

3. Choose a Start and End time.

   • Times are in 15-minute steps, in your own time zone. The end time is set to one hour after the start, and you can change it. An appointment must end on the day it starts.

   • If the participant is in a different time zone, Participant Time Zone is shows the difference from yours, for example +3h. Check it so the time works for the participant.

   • If the date is outside the window, a warning shows Early (before the window) or Late (after it). Book outside the window only when the visit cannot happen in time.

4. Click Next.

5. Review the Title. Sitebase fills it in with the visit name and the participant's ID, and this title is what appears on calendars. It is required.

6. Choose the Visit Mode, which tells staff how the visit will be conducted:

   • In-Person: the participant comes to the site. This is selected by default.

   • Phone: the visit is conducted by phone.

   Visit Mode is recorded with the appointment and shown in its details. It does not change the visit's activities or window.

7. Optional: In Site users (optional), choose the site staff who cover the appointment. The list shows people with access to the participant's project. Site users can find their appointments with My appointments on the Calendar.

8. If the date is outside the window, enter the Reason for scheduling outside the window. It is required and is kept with the appointment.

9. Optional: Add Notes, such as instructions for staff or the participant. Notes appear in the appointment's details and in the visit's appointments on the Visits tab.

10. Click Schedule Visit.

The appointment appears on the participant's calendar and list, in the visit's details on the Visits tab, on the organization Calendar, and on Home when it falls in the chosen range.

View appointment details

Click an appointment on any calendar, or a row in the List view. The details panel shows:

• The appointment's status at the top.

• Time with the duration, Date, and Time zone.

• Study, Visit, Modality, and Site.

• Participant, with their participant ID, or No participant linked for an appointment booked without one.

• Site users, the staff who cover the appointment. Deactivated users are greyed out.

• Notes, if any were added.

• Cancellation reason, for a cancelled appointment that was given one.

Change the site users on an appointment

1. In the details, click Manage users.

2. Add or remove site users, then click Save.

Only the site users change. The appointment's date, time, and visit window checks are not affected. A user who was deactivated after being added stays as a greyed-out entry that you can remove but not add back.

Reschedule an appointment

You can reschedule an appointment while it is Scheduled or In progress.

1. Open the appointment's details and click Reschedule. You can also use Reschedule in the row's actions menu in the List view, or in the appointment card's menu on the Visits tab.

2. Pick the new date and time, then click Next. The same checks apply as when booking: a date outside the window needs a reason, and the start time cannot be in the past.

3. Update any other details, then click Save Changes.

Rescheduling moves the existing appointment instead of creating a new one, so the visit keeps a single appointment.

Cancel an appointment

You can cancel an appointment while it is Scheduled.

1. Open the appointment's details and click Cancel appointment. You can also use the appointment card's menu on the Visits tab.

2. In Cancel this appointment?, optionally enter a Reason.

3. Click Cancel appointment. To go back without cancelling, click Keep appointment.

The appointment stays in the history as Cancelled, with its reason. It no longer counts as the visit's active appointment, so the visit can be booked again.

Mark an appointment complete

Mark an appointment complete once the participant has attended.

1. Open the appointment's details and click Mark complete. In the List view, you can also open the row's actions menu and click Mark complete.

The status changes to Completed, and the appointment can no longer be rescheduled. Marking an appointment complete does not open, complete, or close the visit or its forms. Do that work on the Visits tab, as described in Manage eSource Data.

Use the organization calendar

The Calendar under Global workspace in the sidebar shows appointments across every project you can access.

1. Click Calendar.

2. Optional: Use Project to show one project, or All projects to show them all. The project selected in the sidebar does not narrow the Calendar.

3. Choose Month, Week, or Day, and use Today, Previous, and Next to move through dates.

4. Optional: Turn on My appointments to show only appointments where you are a site user.

5. Optional: Hide canceled is on by default. Turn it off to see cancelled appointments.

6. Click an appointment to open its details. From there you can View participant, Reschedule, Cancel appointment, Mark complete, or Manage users, depending on your access.

Schedule from the Calendar

1. On the Calendar, click Schedule appointment. It appears if you can book appointments in at least one of the organization's projects.

2. Choose the Project. It starts on the project selected in the Calendar's filter, or the active project.

3. Choose the Site. If the project has one site, it is selected for you.

4. Optional: Choose a Participant (optional). Click the X in the field to clear it.

   • With a participant, choose their visit and book it as described in Schedule an appointment for a visit. The visit window rules apply.

   • Without a participant, the appointment is a plain appointment that is not linked to a participant or visit, such as a staff meeting or a site event.

5. Complete the date, time, and details, and click Schedule Visit.

Appointment statuses

Tips

• Book from the List view when you catch up on a participant's schedule, because it shows which visits have no appointment and which visit is next.

• Check Participant Time Zone is before you book. Appointment times are entered in your time zone, but visit window dates follow the participant's, so a late-evening slot for you can fall on the next day for them.

• Add site users when you book, so each coordinator can see their own day with My appointments.

• Mark appointments complete soon after the visit so calendars show which visits are still to come.

Still need help? Submit a help request here.