Online booking and the eight-minute hold
A patient taps the clinic's own link, signs in through the portal with a verified phone, says why they're coming, picks from what is actually free (shifts minus exceptions, blackouts, bookings and other people's live holds), and the slot is held for eight minutes — extendable in five-minute steps to a hard ceiling — so two people can never be told yes for the same time; then a text and an email with the calendar file and the reschedule link go out on their own.
2705
The run
- The link — from a website, a text, or a QR code on the door. No app.
- Who they are — sign-in through the patient portal on a single-use token; the booking is refused on the server unless the phone on the record has been verified.
- What they need — the reason in their own words; the doctor and the service are worked out with them rather than hunted for in a dropdown, and insurance on file is filled in for them.
- What is free — the doctor's shifts, minus date exceptions, minus blackouts, minus what is booked, minus what somebody else is holding right now, grouped into morning, afternoon and evening.
- The hold — pick 10:15 and it is theirs for eight minutes with the clock on screen, extendable five minutes at a time up to a hard ceiling (twenty-eight minutes, never twenty-nine). An expired hold puts the slot back on the board.
- The details — insurance if the service is coverable, intake forms if the doctor requires them.
- Booked — one appointment row in one transaction under a lock held for that doctor alone. A text with the time, the doctor and a reference number; an email with a PDF receipt, a calendar file and the reschedule link; your dashboards update; an audit line is written.
Every copy is best-effort
If the text fails, the booking stands. If the email bounces, the booking stands. The appointment was true the moment it was written; everything after is delivery.
After hours
The schedule is open at eleven at night and on Sunday evening, every rule still holds, and nobody has to be awake.
Where to look