Every appointment moves through the same set of states, whoever booked it and whichever way it was booked. Knowing them makes most support questions answerable in seconds, because the state usually is the answer.
The states
| State | Means | What can happen next |
|---|---|---|
| Pending | Created but not confirmed — usually payment is incomplete. | Becomes confirmed on payment, or expires. |
| Confirmed | The booking is real and holds a seat. | Completed, rescheduled, cancelled, or no-show. |
| Completed | The patient was seen. | Prescription and receipt attach here. |
| Cancelled | Called off by patient or clinic. | Refund follows the clinic's policy. |
| No-show | Patient did not attend and did not cancel. | Handled per clinic policy. |
Only confirmed appointments count
This is the rule worth internalising. An appointment that is not confirmed:
- cannot be joined, if it is a video consultation;
- may not hold the slot against other patients;
- will not behave like a real booking anywhere in the system.
When a patient says "I booked but it isn't working", check the state first. It is a pending payment far more often than it is a fault.
Booking
Appointments arrive from three places — the clinic's website, the patient app, or the front desk — and they are the same appointment however they arrived. Video consultations are the exception: those can only be booked by the patient, never at the counter.
Rescheduling
Rescheduling moves the booking to a new slot and keeps its history. The patient is notified by SMS.
For a video consultation there is one important consequence: the join link changes. The link sent for the old time stops working, and a new one is issued. That is correct — an old link must not open the room at the new time — but it means patients should always use the most recent SMS.
Cancelling
Either side can cancel. The patient is notified, the seat is released, and any refund follows the clinic's own cancellation policy — which may include a fee depending on how close to the appointment it was cancelled.
A cancellation is always better than a no-show: the seat goes back into the pool for someone else.
Holidays and clinic-side changes
When a clinic marks a holiday, affected appointments are flagged for reschedule rather than quietly cancelled, and patients are notified. Somebody still has to agree the new time with them — the system surfaces the work, it does not decide for you.
Completion
After the consultation the appointment is marked completed. This is what makes the prescription and receipt attach to it, and — for the front desk — what makes the prescription-upload option appear.
If a receptionist says they cannot upload a prescription, the appointment is almost always not yet marked completed.
What each state means for money
- Pending — payment started but not finished; nothing is settled.
- Confirmed — paid online, or due at the counter.
- Completed — the receipt is final and appears in reporting.
- Cancelled — any refund follows clinic policy; the payment gateway's own charges are separate.
See Financial dashboard and reports.
Diagnosing by state
| Patient says | Check |
|---|---|
| "I can't join my video call" | Is it confirmed? Is it inside the join window? |
| "I booked but got no SMS" | Is it pending? Pending bookings do not send a confirmation. |
| "My prescription isn't there" | Is it completed? Has the doctor signed it? |
| "I was charged but have no appointment" | Look for a pending booking against that mobile number. |
| "My old join link is dead" | Was it rescheduled? The link rotates. |