Before you begin
Direct Booking must be enabled for your practice by Instinct support before it appears in your settings. Contact [email protected] to have the feature turned on for your account.
Once enabled, navigate to Admin → Pet Owner Portal Settings → Direct Booking to configure the feature. See Enable and Configure Direct Booking in the Pet Owner Portal for more details.
Note: Direct Booking is supported for single-location practices only. |
Pet owners can book appointments in one of three ways, depending on how your practice has configured the feature.
Existing pet owners booking for an existing pet
The pet owner logs into the portal and selects Appointments → Book Appointment.
The owner selects an appointment type and can filter by Doctor.
Once an Appointment Type is selected, available dates and times are shown. The owner can then select an appointment date/time, which is held for 30 minutes.
They select their pet, enter a Reason (required) for the appointment, and select Book appointment.
The appointment can then be confirmed directly from the Pet Owner Portal’s Appointments page.
Existing pet owners adding a new pet
The flow is the same as above. At the pet selection step, the pet owner sees an Add a pet option and can enter the pet's name, species, and breed (optional).
Note: Pet owners cannot edit pet details after they are created. If corrections are needed, staff must update the record in Instinct. |
New client booking
If your practice has enabled new client booking, anyone with the booking link can book without a portal account.
The new client visits your practice's booking link and chooses First visit?
They select an appointment type and an available time slot.
They enter their account details and pet information.
The client confirms and a new client record, pet record, and confirmed appointment are created in Instinct.
Guests who already have a portal account (linked via email) are prompted to sign in instead.
How appointment availability works
Available time slots come from availability blocks set up in Instinct. The portal shows appointments that:
Fall under a selected appointment type on the Allowed Appointment Types list
Include a doctor on the Allowed Doctors list
Are not already filled by an existing appointment or a pending hold
Appointment duration is set by the availability settings, not the appointment type. If appointment availability blocks are 45 minutes, all bookings through the portal will be booked for 45 minutes regardless of the appointment type's default duration.
Tip: Appointment availability can be configured in two areas of Instinct: Business Office → Appointments → New Appointment → New Availability
or
Admin → Calendar → Time Slot Templates |
How slot holds and conflicts work
When a pet owner selects an available appointment time, it is held for 30 minutes, so no one else can book it.
If the pet owner does not select Book Appointment within 30 minutes of choosing an available time, the hold expires, and the slot is made available.
If a staff member attempts to book an appointment that is on hold for an owner, a prompt will appear notifying the staff member that a pet owner is actively booking the time slot. Staff can choose to overwrite the pet owner’s booking.
Direct Booking does not include:
Rescheduling or cancellation through the portal
Multi-location practice support
Booking for multiple pets in a single flow
Payment collection at the time of booking
Waitlist or availability notifications
Frequently asked questions
Do bookings need practice approval?
No. Appointments are made when the pet owner completes the booking in the Portal.
Can I see which appointments in Instinct EMR came through Direct Booking?
The details shown when hovering over an appointment indicate whether it was created and/or confirmed by the pet owner via the Pet Portal.
A pet owner says their appointment time was taken after they selected it.
The 30-minute hold either expired or a staff member booked the same time in Instinct. When scheduling an appointment in Instinct, staff will see a prompt if a pet owner is actively booking that time slot online. They can choose to proceed and overwrite the pet owner's reservation, or cancel and select a different time.
Can pet owners book for multiple pets at once?
No. Each booking flow is for a single pet.
Still need help?
Contact support via live chat or email [email protected]