Calendar Slots & Slot Time Division
When booking a consultation from Patient Navigation, the available appointment times come from a doctor's calendar slots. MetahOS can divide a doctor's working hours into time bands and split capacity between online and offline (in-person) bookings.
At a glance​
fa-user-md | Doctor working hours | Here is what happens at this step.
fa-clock-o | Split into slots (slot time) | We choose a free time slot.
fa-clock-o | Divide day into time ranges | Here is what happens at this step.
fa-circle-o | Range mode? | Here is what happens at this step.
fa-clock-o | Online slots | We choose a free time slot.
fa-clock-o | Offline slots | We choose a free time slot.
fa-mobile | Apply distribution % | Here is what happens at this step.
fa-flask | Show available slots in booking | Someone asks to begin, like booking a ride.
Slot Time​
Each doctor's schedule is broken into slots of a fixed length. When a slot length is not specified for a doctor, a default is used.
Slot Time Division (Online vs Offline)​
A doctor's day can be divided into time ranges, and each range can be designated for online or offline consultations. This is the slot time division: it lets a clinic, for example, reserve mornings for in-person visits and afternoons for tele consultations.
Slot time division is defined per day of the week, with one or more { start, end, mode } ranges per day, where mode is either online or offline. The ranges are validated so they are well-formed and non-overlapping before they are saved.
Slot Distribution Percentage​
Within a divided schedule, capacity can be apportioned by a percentage, so a configurable share of slots is allocated to a given mode rather than all-or-nothing. MetahOS uses this percentage to decide how slots are picked across the available times.
Conflicting Slots​
By default, a patient cannot be booked into a slot that conflicts with an existing booking. This can be relaxed where double-booking is intentional.
tip
Use slot time division when a doctor sees both walk-in and tele patients in the same day — it keeps each consultation type within its intended time band while still drawing from one calendar.