Fill openings from the ASAP list

Who can do this: Anyone on your team.

Go to Front Desk → ASAP List, and pick the office at the top right.

The ASAP list is for patients who say “call me if anything opens up”. When a gap appears in your schedule, NixDent can text them a link to claim it.

Add a patient

1. Click Add a patient.
2. Under Patient, start typing a last name, then pick the right person. Their date of birth shows so you don’t pick the wrong one.
3. Everything else is optional. Leave it blank if they’ll take anything:
   • Days that work
   • Time of day: Any, Mornings or Afternoons
   • Not before: a date, for example if they’re away until then
   • Note (optional): anything the person offering the slot should know
4. Click Add to list.

Adding someone who’s already on the list updates their preferences instead, and restarts their 60 days.

Type at least 2 letters of the name. For Days that work, tick Mon to Sun (any day, if none are ticked). The note is for your team only and is never in the patient’s text. Each row shows the days that work and mornings or afternoons when set, or “Any time”.

Patients stay on the list for 60 days. A badge shows how many days are left in the last week.

Manage the list

• Click the pause icon to stop offers to a patient for now, and the play icon to start again.
• Click the X to take them off the list.
• Show all includes paused, removed, expired and filled entries. Active only goes back. The heading reads “N waiting” or “N entries”. Badges show Paused, Removed, Expired or Fulfilled, and “Nd left” in the last week.

When a patient claims an opening, they’re booked and drop off the list.

Turn on text offers

Offers are off until you turn them on. While they’re off, the page says Offers are turned off.

1. Click Settings (or Turn on in the yellow banner).
2. Read any warnings at the top. They tell you what will stop offers working, such as no texting number or no rooms set up for automated booking.
3. Switch on Text patients about openings. The settings below only appear once it’s on.
4. Adjust the settings, then click Save.

Setting	What it does	Starts at
Patients told per opening	How many patients hear about each opening. The first to claim it gets it. Choose 1 to 5.	2
Days before contacting again	Stops the same patient hearing from you too often. Choose 0 to 90.	14
When texts may go out	Your local time. A cancellation at 9pm waits for the morning.	9:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Look ahead (days)	How far ahead to look for openings. Choose 1 to 30.	7
How much notice patients need	In hours. Openings sooner than this aren’t offered. Set it to how long it really takes your patients to get to you. Choose 1 to 72.	1
Link valid for (hours)	After this, the opening goes to the next person. Choose 1 to 72.	4

Openings are only offered in the rooms ticked in Booking rules. Patients who have opted out of texts are never contacted.

Open Settings on the ASAP list page to change these.

Caution

Tick at least one provider in Booking rules too. When the opening came from a gap found by NixDent’s regular check, the appointment is booked with the first provider ticked there. When it came from a cancellation, it’s booked with the provider of the cancelled appointment.

NixDent checks for openings about every 15 minutes. When an appointment in an approved room is cancelled or broken, it offers that time within a couple of minutes instead. See How ASAP openings are found and offered.

What the patient sees

The text has a link. The patient opens it and taps Yes, book it for me, and the appointment is booked straight into Open Dental. Instead, they may see:

• This one’s gone: someone else claimed it first. They stay on the list for the next opening.
• This opening expired: the link ran past Link valid for (hours). They stay on the list.
• You already have this one, or This link isn’t valid.
• Not booked, with your office phone number: the booking couldn’t be completed, and nothing was booked.

See How ASAP openings are found and offered for the full picture.

Is it working?

Once offers have gone out, the top of the page shows Chairs filled, Fill rate and Said yes for the last 30 days, and how many patients are Awaiting a reply right now.