Provider Manual · Part I

Scheduling setup

Configure a physician's calendar foundations: where they work, when, what they offer, and recurring patterns. Everything here is scoped to one physician — pick the right physician first.

6 sections~6 min read6 screenshots
I
Part I

Scheduling setup

Configure a physician's calendar foundations: where they work, when, what they offer, and recurring patterns. Everything here is scoped to one physician — pick the right physician first.

1.1Open Schedule Manager

Get to the Schedule Manager

Every scheduling setting lives in one place: the Schedule Manager. Open it from the top navigation and pick the physician you are configuring before changing anything — settings on every tab are scoped to that physician.

  1. Sign in as an admin or as the physician. Admins can configure any physician; physicians can configure themselves.
  2. Open Admin > Scheduling. The Schedule Manager opens with the sidebar pinned to Locations by default.
  3. Select the physician at the top of the panel. Use the Physician: picker to make sure you are editing the correct calendar. Locations, weekly hours, templates, time off, visit types, notifications, waitlist, and visit policies are all per-physician.
Locations Weekly Schedule Templates Time Off Visit Config Patient Notifications Waitlist Visit Policies
1.2Basics

Add and associate practice locations

A physician can only be scheduled at locations that are part of the organization and explicitly associated with their calendar. The first physician on a new organization typically also creates the practice's primary location.

  1. Open the Locations tab. The top half shows the organization's practice locations; the bottom half shows the locations associated with the selected physician.
  2. Add organization locations (admins). Click Add Location to create a location with name, address, phone, and email. Mark one as the primary location.
  3. Associate a location with the physician. In the Associate Location section, pick an active location from the dropdown and click Associate. The physician's primary location appears first in their list.
  4. Remove a location if it no longer applies. Use Remove on the associated locations table. Existing appointments are not deleted, but new appointments cannot be booked at that location.
Locations tab in Schedule Manager showing practice locations and physician location associations
Practice Locations and the per-physician Associate Location section.
Why this matters: Working hours on the next tab are stored per location per day. Add the locations a physician will actually use before configuring weekly hours, or you will have to come back and re-pick the location on each day.
1.3Working hours

Set the weekly schedule

The weekly schedule defines, for each day, whether the physician is working, what hours they are available, and which location those hours are at. Patients can only book within these windows (minus any breaks or time off).

  1. Open the Weekly Schedule tab. You will see seven rows — one per day of the week — showing the current hours and location, or "Non-working day".
  2. Edit a day's hours. Double-click the day row or use the Edit schedule button. Set the start and end time, pick the location, and save.
  3. Mark non-working days. Save a day with no hours, or toggle it off, to remove that day from bookable availability entirely.
  4. Repeat for every day the physician works. Different locations on different days are supported — for example, Mon/Wed/Fri at clinic A and Tue/Thu at clinic B.
Weekly Schedule tab showing 9 AM to 5 PM hours Monday through Friday at Mercer Island ENT Clinic
Working hours and location for each day of the week.
1.4Visit catalog

Build the visit catalog

Visit types are the building blocks of the calendar. Each one defines how long an appointment lasts, what color it is, whether it is bookable online, whether it is virtual, and which scheduling guardrails (notice, max-per-day, buffer) apply.

  1. Open the Visit Config tab. New physicians start with a default catalog (for example: Annual Physical 45 min, Follow-up Visit 25 min, Sick Visit 20 min). Edit these or add your own.
  2. Click Add Visit Type or Edit visit type on an existing card. The editor opens inline.
  3. Fill in the basics. Give the visit a name and a duration in minutes (5–480). The description is optional but shown on the booking page.
  4. Set the scheduling guardrails. Buffer time, max per day, minimum notice (in hours), and how far ahead patients can book (in days).
  5. Pick the options that apply. Telehealth/virtual, requires pre-visit questionnaire, available for online booking, default visit type, and active.
  6. Confirm the portal follow-up defaults. Each physician should have one active in-office follow-up visit type and one active virtual follow-up visit type. Returning patients and follow-up reminder links use these defaults in the patient portal.
  7. Choose a calendar color and save. The color shows on day, week, and month views so staff can spot visit categories at a glance.
Visit Configuration tab listing Annual Physical, Follow-up Visit, and Sick Visit cards with duration and modality
The visit catalog. Each card shows duration and whether the visit is in-person, online, or both.
Visit type editor with fields for name, duration, description, scheduling settings, options, and color
The visit type editor with scheduling settings, options, and color.

Buffer time

Minutes of automatic padding after the visit before another can be booked. Useful for room turnover or charting.

Max per day

Hard cap on how many of this visit type can be booked in a single day. Leave blank for no limit.

Min notice

Smallest gap between booking time and visit start. Use it to prevent last-minute online bookings.

Max schedule ahead

How far in advance patients can book this visit type. Defaults to 90 days.

Telehealth / Virtual

Marks the visit as virtual. When Zoom is connected, telehealth visits provision a meeting automatically.

Pre-visit questionnaire

Forces the patient to complete the pre-visit form before the visit is fully confirmed.

Online booking

Exposes the visit type on the public booking page. Turn off to keep it staff-only.

Default visit type

Pre-selected in scheduling dialogs. The patient portal uses the in-office and virtual follow-up defaults for follow-up booking; public initial/new-patient booking is controlled by the landing-site setup.

Patient portal mapping: use clear, separate follow-up names such as Follow-up Visit and Virtual Follow-up Visit. When a returning patient books from the portal, Hero EMR picks the in-office default for office visits and the virtual default for virtual visits. The landing site still controls initial assessment and other new-patient booking flows.
1.5Recurring blocks

Add weekly templates for breaks and admin time

Templates are recurring blocks that repeat every week — lunch, recurring meetings, admin time, urgent slots, and same-day reserves. Once saved, they are removed from bookable availability and shown on the calendar with their own color.

  1. Open the Templates tab and click Add Template.
  2. Pick the template type. Lunch, Meeting, Administrative, Urgent, Same Day, or Other.
  3. Choose the day of the week and the start and end time. Add an optional description (it shows on the block).
  4. Save. The block appears every week on the calendar from now forward and blocks patient booking unless the type is reserved for that purpose (for example, Same Day).
Templates tab with the Add Template form showing type, day, start time, end time, and description fields
The template editor for recurring blocks like lunch and admin time.
Tip: Use Same Day templates to carve out a window every day that only opens to same-day bookings — useful for primary care and urgent care practices.
1.6Time off

Block vacations, holidays, and one-off days

Time off is for non-recurring blocks — vacations, CME days, holidays, or a single morning out of office. Time off overrides working hours and templates for the dates it covers.

  1. Open the Time Off tab. The calendar view shows the current month with any pending or approved time off marked.
  2. Click Request Time Off. Pick the start and end date (and optional time range for partial days), add a reason, and submit.
  3. Switch between month, week, and day views. Use the buttons in the toolbar to drill in on a specific date or browse upcoming requests in the panel below the calendar.
Time Off tab showing a monthly calendar with the Memorial Day holiday and a Request Time Off button
Time-off calendar with month/week/day views and the request flow.

Need help? Email support@heroemr.com.