Appointments GET Slots

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PBECKER
Posts: 125
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2022 11:54 am

Appointments GET Slots

Post by PBECKER » Tue Feb 28, 2023 7:44 am

Can BlockOutType please be added to > Appointments GET Slots

Appointments GET Slots

Version Added: 21.1

This is closer to how search behaves from within Open Dental instead of WebSched. This requires no advanced setup. It looks at open schedule times, whether the schedules are attached to a provider or an operatory.

There are, however, some differences between this and the Search in Open Dental. This returns entire open slots instead of a series of suggested appointment times or the first appointment time for each day. It also currently searches by entire appointment length instead of the XXX provider times on appointments. For providers assigned to a single operatory, the results will be the same as what a person would see if looking at the Appointments Module. If a provider has existing appointments in multiple operatories, it considers all of them as a whole and only returns slots that are available in all operatories for that provider simultaneously. See also Schedules GET.

Most users will specify a Provider and an Operatory.

Parameters: All optional.

date: For a single day. Must be today or a future date. Default is the next 14 days.
dateStart, dateEnd: For a date range, inclusive of both dates.
lengthMinutes: This allows ignoring slots that are too small.
ProvNum: Provider. Defaults to the Practice Default Provider.
OpNum: (Added in version 22.1) The operatory that the provider is assigned to.

PBECKER
Posts: 125
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2022 11:54 am

Re: Appointments GET Slots

Post by PBECKER » Thu Mar 02, 2023 1:58 pm

Hello API team,

Can you please kindly advise on the below request?

Please and thank you

DerekR
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2022 1:13 pm

Re: Appointments GET Slots

Post by DerekR » Fri Mar 03, 2023 9:24 am

Good Morning,

We will discuss adding BlockOutType to Appointments GET Slots at our next API team meeting.

PBECKER
Posts: 125
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2022 11:54 am

Re: Appointments GET Slots

Post by PBECKER » Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:01 am

Hey Derek

sorry to be a pain any ETA on when we may hear back on the decision and estimated completion.

Thanks so much Derek

DerekR
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2022 1:13 pm

Re: Appointments GET Slots

Post by DerekR » Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:11 am

The API team will make a decision and update this thread early next week.

SLeon
Posts: 476
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2021 10:00 am

Re: Appointments GET Slots

Post by SLeon » Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:19 pm

Good afternoon,

Dental offices can use Blockouts for a variety of purposes. Some are used exclusively to schedule on, such as high production procedures or training a new hygienist. Other times blockouts are used to indicate that no appointments can be scheduled, such as lunch or equipment maintenance. For these reasons, we cannot simply consider a Blockout an indicator that an appointment cannot be scheduled.

To get Blockout information, use Schedules GET and the SchedType: Blockout filter to determine when blockouts are scheduled and if you want to schedule on them or not.

In the very near future, I will write a guide outlining the many ways to get schedulable timeslots. In the meantime, please see my other posts on this subject:

https://www.opendentalsoft.com:8085/for ... 84&p=34942
https://www.opendentalsoft.com:8085/for ... 67&p=35302
https://www.opendentalsoft.com:8085/for ... 40&p=35199
https://www.opendentalsoft.com:8085/for ... 78&p=34526

rinse-dental
Posts: 73
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2022 12:04 pm

Re: Appointments GET Slots

Post by rinse-dental » Tue May 16, 2023 9:37 am

Checking in on the write up @Sleon mentioned.

Also, for what it's worth... I understand we can use API GET Schedule and API GET Slots, etc. then process our own logic; however, for those of us who let Open Dental manage a majority of our configurations and then leverage the APIs to extend certain features/functions (e.g. Online Scheduling via iOS/Android) - I believe it would be useful if GET Slots (or perhaps some future spin off) followed Open Dental's existing search logic - which includes Blocks. Otherwise we find ourselves building a redundant and likely brittle re-creation of Open Dental logic via our app or some ShortQuery. Besides, isn't it confusing that Open Dental allows Block configurations for scheduling inclusion/exclusion and then ignores that configuration in its own API?

SLeon
Posts: 476
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2021 10:00 am

Re: Appointments GET Slots

Post by SLeon » Tue May 16, 2023 1:21 pm

As you and the API documentation describe, the appointment search results in Open Dental and the Appointments GET Slots results are indeed different. A major reason for these differences is in the parameters required to run them.

To use Open Dental's appointment search:
  1. An appointment must be on the Pinboard.
  2. This appointment holds information like the length and provider of the appointment.
  3. By clicking Search, Open Dental will only search the operatories visible in the current Appointment View.
  4. The results of this search is the only first open time for each day (eg "Tuesday 05/16/2023 2:00PM, Wednesday 05/17/2023 8:00AM).
  5. The Open dental user then goes to that day, visually see which operatories have openings at the time.
Appointment GET Slots:
  1. It has no required parameters. An appointment does not have to be specified to find open slots.
  2. Appointment provider and length can be optionally supplied.
  3. Running the API method will search all operatories (unless a single one is specified), as the API cannot display an appointment view
  4. The results of this search are all open slots for each day (Tuesday 8:30a-11:00a and 12:00p-2:30p) as well as which specific operatory the opening is available, as the API cannot display an appointment view.
I understand that this API method will not be the best way to find when to schedule an appointment depending on the dental office's setup. It is meant for small offices/simple scheduling configurations and provides a quick way for API developers to get started in these scenarios.

For larger or more complex setups, Appointments GET Slots may not be the most desirable way to determine this information. Especially those whose application is used by several dozen customers, most API developers will want full control to determine what they consider a "schedulable opening". The first link in my post above describes how to create a facsimile of the Appointment Module in Open Dental, which can then be cached/used to schedule appointments according to rules governed by your application.

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