Treatment series

Book and track a whole course of recurring visits

A treatment series books a course of recurring care in one step — a 36-session TMS course, SPRAVATO induction and maintenance, ketamine infusions, weekly psychotherapy, physical therapy twice a week, allergy shots — and keeps it on track. A series can also be ongoing: weekly follow-ups, or SPRAVATO / ketamine maintenance that continues after induction, run until you stop them, a few sessions booked at a time. Each session is an ordinary appointment on the calendar, numbered as part of its course (3/36, or #14 for an ongoing series), and Series Watch checks every course hourly for missed sessions, gaps, and sessions nobody booked yet. Nothing is created automatically: your practice adds templates if it wants them, and staff book a series from the scheduler.

Set up series templates and Series Watch

Templates save the shape of a course so staff pick it instead of building it each time. Open Admin > Scheduling, then Treatment Series under Automation in the Schedule Manager’s left navigation. The page has two panels, Series templates and Series Watch.

1. Add a template. Add from preset offers ten ready-made courses (below); picking one creates it straight away, active, and opens it for editing. Add template starts from a blank 12-session weekly course.
2. Fill in the editor. Name (required); Visit type — leave blank to use whatever visit type is picked in the scheduler, or name one (for example TMS Session); an optional Description.
3. Describe the phases. Each phase has a Phase name, a number of Sessions, the Days of the week (no weekday means weekly on the first session’s weekday), Every N weeks, and — after the first — Gap before (wks). Add phase adds another; the header shows the total. Times come from the scheduler, not the template. To make the course ongoing, tick Continue until stopped on the last phase: its Sessions box becomes Book N at a time (1–52, usually 4) and the header reads, for example, “12 first, then ongoing”. An ongoing phase must be the last one, so Add phase is unavailable while it is ticked.
4. Set the course rules. Max gap (days) flags the course when sessions drift further apart; Length override (min) replaces the visit type’s length; Reminders picks Standard, Day before only, or First session of each week (see 1.32). Under Series Watch for this template, clear Use practice defaults to switch individual flags off for this course.
5. Save. Keep Active (offered in “Book as a series”) ticked and click Save template. If some providers do not offer the named visit type, the list shows a warning under the template; the template still saves.

Ongoing schedules (weekly follow-ups and maintenance)

An ongoing series books its first sessions (any fixed phases plus one batch of Book N at a time) and then stays Active until someone uses Mark complete, Pause…, or Cancel remaining… — it never completes itself by count. The one exception is a series you gave an Ends by date: once no more sessions fit on or before that date, Series Watch stops asking for more and the series completes the way a fixed one does. Before the booked sessions run out, Series Watch raises “Book the next 4 sessions (booked through Nov 2)” (when the last booked session is within the sessions due in the next [14] days look-ahead), and one click books the next batch on the same days and time, keeping an every-2-weeks rhythm and your practice’s clock time across daylight-saving changes.

Series Watch settings

The Series Watch panel (“Checks every active series hourly and puts drifting courses on the Treatment Series worklist.”) is on by default. Under Flag a series when:

Below that: Auto-complete a series when all planned sessions are attended (on; an ongoing series is never completed by count, only after its Ends by date if it has one); Create to-dos for — Series coordinator (default), Series provider, Coordinator and provider, Everyone who can manage scheduling (max 10), or Specific people; and the to-do Priority (Medium). “To-dos surface at 8:00 AM practice time when a problem is found outside business hours, and complete themselves when the problem is fixed.” Click Save Series Watch.

Book a series from the scheduler

1. Start a normal booking. Open the scheduler the usual way and pick the provider, the visit type, the first session’s day and start time, and the location when there is a choice. Then click Book as a series… under the Book button. It needs a visit type and a start time first (hover it to see Pick a visit type first or Pick a start time first) and is not offered while rescheduling. From a chart, Start a series on the Treatment series card opens the same dialog with a Who and what section for the provider and visit type.
2. Shape the plan. The Book as a series dialog carries over the patient, provider, visit type, location, first day, start time, and length from the scheduler. Choose a Template (applied automatically when exactly one matches the visit type) or Custom; edit the staff-only Label; confirm Location, Starts, Time (practice time), and an optional Ends by. The phase rows, Reminders, Max gap (days), and Length (min) follow the template and can be changed for this patient — including Continue until stopped on the last phase, which makes this patient’s series ongoing. Advanced holds Sessions already completed before this series (for a course already underway) and the Coordinator who receives follow-up to-dos (default: you).
3. Check every date. The preview table checks each session against the schedule and reads, for example, “34 ready · 2 need attention · 0 blocked · 36 planned (Nov 9 – Jan 6)”. Each row shows the date, time, a status, and details such as “Appointment overlaps 1 existing appointment(s).” For an ongoing series the preview shows only the first batch, under the line “Ongoing — Hero will remind you to book the next 4 before these run out.”
4. Resolve conflicts. Per row: Move to <suggested time>, Book anyway (an override, with an optional reason), or Skip (adds one at the end); Undo reverses a choice. Fix all conflicts moves every conflicting row to its suggestion, or skips it when there is none.
5. Book. Leave Notify patient (one message with the whole schedule) ticked and click Book 36 sessions. The result reads, for example, “Booked 36 sessions” over “TMS: acute course (36) · Mon, Nov 9 – Wed, Jan 6 · patient notified (SMS, email)”, with View series (opens the chart’s series card) and Done.

Manage a course from the chart’s Treatment series card

Open the patient’s Info tab and choose Appointments. The Treatment series card sits above Upcoming appointments and shows each course: its label and status (Active, Paused, Completed, Cancelled, or Auto-completed, plus Ongoing for a series that runs until stopped), the visit type and provider, the pattern (for example “Thu weekly at 3:00 PM until stopped · 4 booked at a time”), a progress bar (green done, red missed, blue booked, grey to book), a line such as “0 of 36 done · 36 booked” (or “13 done · 4 booked · ongoing”), the next session, and any open Series Watch flags. View sessions lists every session with its number, date, status (attended, booked, unresolved, missed, cancelled), and Detach.

The card’s main button follows what the course needs most: Resume for a paused course, then Book make-up, Resolve session (opens a past visit whose status was never set), Book N remaining, Book next N (an ongoing series running low), and Mark complete. Everything else is in the … menu. Resuming an ongoing series with nothing booked offers its next batch.

Catch drifting courses on the Treatment Series page

Once your practice has a series or a template, the toolbar’s More menu shows Treatment Series — “Recurring courses, missed sessions and make-ups” — with a count such as 3 need attention, also shown as a badge on More. The page has four tabs: Needs attention, Active, Paused, and Completed (which also lists cancelled courses), with All providers, All issues, and All visit types filters.

1. Read the row. Patient (links to the chart), Series, Progress (“12/36 done”, or “13 done · ongoing”), Issues, Next session, and Last attended.
2. Fix it in one click. The row’s button matches the problem: Book make-up, Resolve, Resume, Book remaining, Book next 4 (an ongoing series), or Mark complete. They open the same dialogs as the chart card.
3. Or set it aside. The … menu offers Snooze for 1, 3, or 7 days (hides the flag; its to-do stays open), Dismiss (completes the flag’s to-dos; the flag closes once the problem clears), Open chart, and Pause series…. Tick rows to snooze or dismiss several at once. Staff who can only view the schedule see the rows and Open chart.

What patients receive for a series

Daily or twice-weekly sessions would bury patients in reminders, so each series has a reminder mode. It adjusts your practice’s appointment reminders (see Patient notifications) and only applies when those reminders are on.

1. One message per booking, not one per visit. Booking a series, Book N remaining, Extend, and Book next N send no per-visit confirmations. Instead the patient gets one message (by text and email, following their preferences) with the schedule — for example “Hi Tessa, 36 TMS Session sessions booked with Nicholas Romero, MD (Mon–Fri at 9:00 AM). First: Mon, Nov 9, 2026 at 9:00 AM EST. Last: Jan 6, 2027.” followed by your practice name. The email (“Your appointments are booked”) lists the sessions. Untick Notify patient to send nothing.
2. Forms for the first session only. Questionnaires and paperwork your Visit Rules attach are still assigned to every session, but only the first booked session’s assignments notify the patient.
3. Cancellations and pauses. Cancel remaining, and Pause or Mark complete with cancellations, send one message listing what was cancelled, charge no cancellation fees, and send no per-visit cancel notices.
4. A single make-up is a normal booking with its usual confirmation.