Before You Begin:
This article assumes your locations, providers, services, and booking page are already set up. If you haven't done that yet, start with How to Create an Online Booking Page.
Important: If you plan to use patient-status or previous-service booking controls, your booking page must ask for the patient’s identifying information before showing available services. This allows Prospyr to recognize the patient and apply the correct booking rules.
Restrict a service by patient status
Patient-status controls let you show a service only to specific patient groups.
Go to Settings > Catalog.
Select the service you want to control.
Find Online Booking Controls.
Turn the controls on.
Select every patient status that may book the service:
Existing Patient — has completed an appointment
New Patient — has booked but has not completed an appointment
New Lead — has not booked with the practice
Fired — has been marked as fired
Click Update Service.
If you select multiple statuses, a patient matching any selected status may book.
Require a previous service
Use this control when a patient must complete a consultation or other prerequisite before they can book a specific treatment.
Go to Settings > Catalog.
Open the treatment service.
Find Online Booking Controls.
Turn on the previous-service requirement.
Select the required service — for example, Facial Consultation.
Click Update Service.
Patients who have not completed the required service will not be able to book the controlled treatment online.
Common uses include:
Consultation before an injectable treatment
New-patient evaluation before follow-up care
Test appointment before a treatment series
Required clearance before an advanced procedure
Restrict booking by membership
Use this control when a service should only be available to patients with a specific membership.
Go to Settings > Catalog.
Open the service.
Find Online Booking Controls.
Under Only bookable by patients with these memberships, select the membership or memberships that may book the service.
Click Update Service.
Only patients with one of the selected memberships will be able to book the service online.
Require a Good Faith Exam
Use this control when a patient must have a Good Faith Exam on file before they can book the service.
Go to Settings > Catalog.
Open the service.
Find Online Booking Controls.
Turn on Patient must have Good Faith Exam on file to book.
Click Update Service.
Patients without a Good Faith Exam on file will not be able to book the service online.
Require a deposit
Use this setting when a patient must pay a deposit before their appointment is confirmed.
Go to Settings > Catalog.
Open the service.
Turn on Requires Deposit.
Enter the deposit amount.
Confirm the service is available for online booking.
Click Update Service.
During online booking, the patient must complete the deposit payment before the appointment is finalized.
Tip: Test the service before publishing to confirm the correct deposit amount and payment flow appear.
Set a booking lead time
Booking lead time, called Booking Buffer, controls how much notice a patient must give before booking an appointment.
Go to Settings → Online Tools → Patient Portal → General → Booking.
Find Booking Buffer, turn on Can Book Appointments and set the minimum notice required in minutes, hours, or days.
Save your changes.
Note: Booking Buffer applies to all online booking across the practice. It cannot be set by booking page, location, service, or provider. There is currently no setting to limit how far in advance a patient can book.
Set cancellation and rescheduling limits
Use these settings to control how close to an appointment a patient can cancel or reschedule through the patient portal.
Go to Settings → Online Tools → Patient Portal → General.
Under cancellations, turn on Can Cancel Appointments and set the Cancellation Window in minutes, hours, or days.
Under rescheduling, turn on Can Reschedule Appointments and set the Rescheduling Window in minutes, hours, or days.
Save your changes.
Note: These settings apply practice-wide and cannot be set by booking page or location. If online cancellation or rescheduling is no longer available, patients will need to contact the practice directly.
Require a card on file for no-shows
Prospyr can require patients to save a card when booking, so your practice can charge a no-show fee if they miss their appointment.
Go to Settings → Configuration.
Find No Show Fee Settings.
Turn on No show fee active.
Enter the No show fee amount.
If your payment processor is Finix, you can also turn on No show pre-authorization enabled to place a hold on the patient's card instead of charging it right away.
Save your changes.
Notes:
This setting applies practice-wide.
If a service also requires a deposit, the deposit takes precedence — the patient pays the deposit instead of just saving a card for a potential no-show fee.
During booking, patients see this as Secure Your Appointment, followed by Confirm No-Show Fee.
Whether the card is placed on hold or charged only after a no-show depends on your connected payment processor. Confirm your processor under Settings → Payments.
Troubleshooting:
The wrong patients can book a service
Confirm that your booking flow identifies the patient before displaying services, then review the allowed patient statuses and any required previous service on that service.
A patient canceled or rescheduled closer to their appointment than expected
Check the Cancellation Window and Rescheduling Window under Settings → Online Tools → Patient Portal → General — these apply practice-wide, so one setting affects every booking page.
A no-show fee wasn't charged, or a card wasn't required at booking
Confirm No Show Fee Settings is turned on under Settings → Configuration, and check whether the service also requires a deposit — deposits take precedence over the no-show card requirement.