Handling paperwork online
Booking a medical appointment online
What you will be able to do In 5 minutes, you'll know how to book, check and cancel a medical appointment online, from the right reason for the visit to the confirmation.
Booking a medical appointment online almost always follows the same path, whichever website you use. First you choose the reason for the visit, which sets the length of the slot and sometimes which professional you should see. Then you choose a date and a time among the slots that are really free, shown live. A summary appears before anything is confirmed: that's the moment to read it all again. Once confirmed, the appointment can be cancelled at any time from the same place, which immediately frees the slot for someone else. We're going to practice on a screen we built ourselves. Nothing here is real, so nothing can happen to you.
Simulated screen
I practice
This screen was drawn by us. Nothing is sent, nothing is installed, and no real brand is shown.
The situationYour back has been hurting for a week and you want to see someone, but only outside your work hours.
The interactive exercise needs JavaScript. The written step by step, just below, says exactly the same thing.
The written step by step
The same steps, in words, to read or print. This sheet works even without the exercise.
The right reason
Your turn Your back has been hurting for a week, and you've never seen this professional about this problem. Tap the reason that matches.
A new problem, never shown to this professional before, matches the reason "First visit".
A time slot that works for you
Your turn You're working every morning this week. Tap a time slot you can really make.
Monday 2:30 pm is the only slot offered that falls in the afternoon, outside your working mornings.
Before confirming
Your turn The summary appears. Read it again, then tap what confirms the appointment.
The summary shows Monday, 2:30 pm, first visit: that's correct, so you tap "Confirm this appointment".
Something comes up
Your turn A reminder arrives the day before, but you won't be able to come anymore. Tap what you do.
You open your usual appointment account and tap "Cancel", as soon as you know you won't be able to come.
Finding your appointment again
Your turn The reminder message is lost. Tap the place where your upcoming appointment can always be found.
Your personal account, under "my appointments", always shows your upcoming appointments.
The sheet to keep
- The reason you choose sets the length of the appointment and the right professional to see: it's worth stating it clearly.
- The time slots shown are the ones really free, live: a slot that's taken disappears at once for everyone.
- Before confirming, reread the summary: date, time, reason. It's the simplest moment to fix a mistake.
- If something comes up, cancel from your usual appointment account, not by replying to the reminder message.
- Cancelling early frees the slot for someone else, and keeps you from being counted as a no show.
- Your upcoming appointment can be found at any time in your personal account, even if the reminder message is lost.
The reflexes in this skill
I stop before I click
Urgency is the sign of a trap. A message that counts down the hours is trying to stop you from thinking. Putting your phone down for two minutes costs nothing, and it is almost always enough.
I go through the official door
The address typed in by hand, the app installed from the official store, the phone number printed on the back of your card. Never the link someone hands you, even when it looks right.
I make a copy of what matters
Photos, documents, contacts: anything that exists in only one place can disappear along with the device. A copy somewhere else turns a breakdown into a minor inconvenience.
Two questions to check
Nothing is graded, and nothing is saved anywhere except in your own browser.
You've chosen a time slot and the summary appears on screen. What do you do before confirming?
See the answer
I reread the date, time and reason shown, then I confirm
Nothing is final until you confirm the summary: it's the simplest moment to spot and fix a mistake before it counts.
You won't be able to make an appointment you booked online anymore. What do you do?
See the answer
I cancel the appointment from my usual account, as soon as I know
The reminder message isn't always followed by a reply: cancelling is done from your usual account, and the earlier you let them know, the sooner the slot can help someone else.
I've done it
Check this box once you can do this skill on your own.
Your progress stays in your own browser.