Filling an Appointment
Yapi Leap's Fill Appointments feature helps you send mass texts to your patients that let them know about an opening in your schedule. This way, you can get those open spots filled and get patients in faster - that's a win-win! Leap has two different ways to fill broken appointments; click each link below to learn how.
To fill a specific open appointment on today's schedule, follow the steps below.
Important
To send to patients due for recall treatments, you must have those treatments configured in Leap's Online Scheduling. You don't need to enable Online Scheduling; just have the treatments set up there.
From the Leap homepage, make sure you're on today's schedule. If you're not sure, click Today at the top of the page.
Select the Scheduled tab and scroll down to the Broken/Canceled section and find the appointment you want to fill.
Click the Fill Appt link next to the appointment.
On the Fill Appointment page, choose the patients you want to send your message to by selecting one of the following and using additional filters that appear:
ASAP:
Optional: At the Assigned Provider field, select a provider that's available for the open appointment. Leap then searches this provider's upcoming appointments and displays patients wanting a sooner appointment (those that you've marked as ASAP in Dentrix).
Recall:
Important
To send to patients due for continuing care, you must have your a treatment for each of your Continuing Care types set up in Online Scheduling so Leap knows what to schedule for you when a patient accepts the appointment. (You don't have to have Online Scheduling enabled for this to work.)
Recall Type - Select the Continuing Care type for the appointment, so only patients due or overdue for that type will be contacted.
Date Last Reminded - Select the last time patients were reminded they're due or overdue for their continuing care.
Click Continue to Create Mass Text.
Optional: In the Text Message box, edit the text provided for you.
Warning
If you do opt to edit the text, don't remove or change the Fill appointment merge tag because this includes the date and time of the appointment you're trying to fill. Also don't remove the part that asks patients to reply "Yes"; this is how Leap knows to automatically give that patient the appointment slot. If the patient replies with a different response (for example, sure or Y) Leap won't know to give the patient that appointment.
Click Send Mass Text. You'll be sent back to the homepage and see a message confirming your mass text was sent.
Now, just sit back and relax! Leap will send to your list 10 people at a time until someone replies "Yes". Then:
Leap will schedule/reschedule that patient's appointment.
You'll see a green banner on your homepage letting you know the appointment was taken and scheduled.
Leap will stop sending any more texts for this appointment. Anyone who happened to get the text and replied "Yes" after the first patient did will get an auto reply that the spot has been taken.
You can use the Fill Appts button on the homepage to send a mass text about multiple openings and/or to fill appointments on future dates. Just use the instructions below.
Important
To send to patients due for recall treatments, you must have those treatments configured in Leap's Online Scheduling. You don't need to enable Online Scheduling; just have the treatments set up there.
Note
Because this option is used to help fill multiple appointments or send a general message about openings, Yapi won't automatically schedule appointments for you when patients respond. Yapi only schedules appointments automatically when filling a broken appointment for today using the steps above.
On the Leap homepage, click Today or click the calendar and select any date in the future. (The Fill Appts button won't appear for past dates.)
Click the Fill Appts button.
On the Fill Appointment page, choose the patients you want to send your message to by selecting one of the following and using additional filters that appear:
ASAP:
Optional: At the Assigned Provider field, select a provider that's available for the open appointment. Leap then searches this provider's upcoming appointments and displays patients wanting a sooner appointment (those that you've marked as ASAP in Dentrix).
Recall:
Recall Type - Select the Continuing Care type for the appointment, so only patients due or overdue for that type will be contacted.
Date Last Reminded - Select the last time patients were reminded they're due or overdue for their continuing care.
Click Continue to Create Mass Text.
In the Text Message box, type your message. Include any dates and times you have available or write a message about general openings if you like.
Note
Optional: To automatically include personalized information like patient names or practice information, place your cursor where you want the information inserted. Then, click the Merge Tag menu and select the merge tag you want to include. For example, using the Patient preferred name tag automatically inserts each patient's preferred name so they receive a personalized message. Refer to Merge Tags for Text Messages for a complete list of merge tags you can use.
Click Send Mass Text. You'll be sent back to the homepage and see a message confirming your mass text was sent.
Note
Make sure you monitor and respond to incoming texts from patients who want to take the open appointment
Make sure to monitor your incoming texts and:
Book the appointment in Dentrix if a patient takes it and let the patient know they've secured the new appointment time.
Respond to any other interested patients to let them know the appointment has been taken.