The basics
This guide covers the day-to-day staff side of patient booking: book for a patient, see visits on the schedule, reschedule or cancel, work through Requires rebooking, and keep patient records accurate.
See also: Patient booking overview, Appointment types and rules for patient booking, Patient booking links.
Book an appointment for a patient
Select a patient and an appointment type before open times load. The calendar uses the same rules as public booking (state, payor, and so on, when the patient record has that data).
From the schedule toolbar
On Scheduling, open Add and choose Add Appointment.
Select a patient (search, or use Add patient to create one in place).
Select an appointment type.
Optionally narrow providers, or leave Best available provider.
Pick a date and time.
Add notes if needed, then confirm. You should see a "we've booked..." confirmation.
From a shift
Open a provider's shift.
Use + → Appointment and choose the type.
Provider and day are often pre-filled so you start closer to the right slots. Then pick the patient and time as usual.
Admin mode
On the admin booking calendar, Admin mode is a more permissive view of open time. It can show times that strict availability-marking or tighter conflict checks would hide for patients. It does not create shifts. The provider still needs published coverage for that window.
Use it when you know you need an exception, not for every booking.
View appointments on the schedule
Booked visits show as appointment activity on the provider's shift timeline (patient name and time). Day views nest them under the shift or availability for that day. Click an appointment card to open details and actions.
For general schedule navigation, see Overview of scheduling for Managers.
Reschedule or cancel
Open the appointment from the schedule (or from rebooking).
Reschedule - pick a new time and confirm. The same rules apply as a new booking unless you use Admin mode.
Cancel - remove the booking, or remove one patient from a multi-patient appointment.
If more than one patient is on the appointment, Planbase may ask whether the change is for everyone or this patient only.
Requires rebooking
If an appointment still has a patient but is no longer sitting cleanly on a published shift (schedule rebuilds, large edits, and similar), Planbase shows an amber Requires rebooking indicator in the scheduling top bar.
Click the badge to open the list.
Open a row and pick a new date/time, or cancel if the visit should not be kept.
A growing list usually means schedule changes are leaving patients stranded.
Patients
Patients live under Team Management → Patients (when patient booking is enabled for your organization).
Keep these fields accurate if you use matching rules:
Name, email, phone
Date of birth and language (age / language routing)
Primary provider (provider match rules)
Address / state (licensure)
Payor / insurance coverage (payor enrollment)
You can also create a patient while booking via Add patient. Public booking creates patients when someone new books with name and email.
Troubleshooting
No available times - check duration on the appointment type; shifts published; availability marking if required; patient state/payor/primary provider vs who is free; blocked time covering the window.
Add Appointment or Patients missing - patient booking may not be enabled for your organization yet.
Link icon missing on appointment type - same enablement gate; also make sure the type is saved.
Requires rebooking keeps growing - recent unpublish or rewrite of shifts left appointments stranded. Clear the list by rebooking or canceling.
Booking limit error - patient already has as many of this type as the rule allows in the period.
Provider looks free but will not book - check licensure, payor, required hosts, and provider match. Admin mode can help for an intentional override; published shift still required.
Related help