Wondering why open appointment times aren't showing up for patients in the Aloha scheduling app? This guide will walk you through the common reasons this happens and show you exactly how to fix them.
✨ When You Need This Guide:
You or your patients can't see any available appointment times in the scheduling app.
A specific day or time seems to be blocked off, but you're not sure why.
You need to check if your office hours, provider schedules, and appointment settings are all working together correctly.
You suspect a setting like a scheduling window or room assignment is causing a problem.
A patient says they can't book an appointment, but another patient can.
What This Covers (And What It Doesn't):
✅ This article explains how to troubleshoot and resolve issues with appointment visibility by checking settings for office hours, provider schedules, appointment types, and other common conflicts.
❌ This article does not cover how to set up the scheduling app for the first time or how to create new appointment types from scratch.
Prerequisites/You'll Need:
An administrator account with access to Aloha's settings.
✅ Check These Settings to Fix Your Availability
When appointment slots go missing, it's usually because three key things aren't perfectly aligned: your main Office Hours, your specific Provider Schedules, and your individual Appointment Type settings. Follow these steps to find the cause.
Step 1: Check Your Hours and Schedules
Your master office hours, each provider's personal schedule, and any planned holidays must all agree for a time slot to appear.
Confirm Office Hours: Make sure your main business hours are set up correctly for each day.
Verify Provider Schedules: Check that the provider’s individual schedule is active and falls within the main office hours.
Check Holiday/Vacation Hours: Ensure that an accidentally added holiday or vacation day isn't blocking off a day that should be available.
Step 2: Review Your Appointment Type Settings
Each appointment type has its own rules that can affect when it's offered.
Check the Scheduling Window: Some appointments can only be booked a certain number of days in advance (e.g., two weeks out). Check the settings for the appointment type to see if this window is too restrictive.
Look at Weighted or Provider-Specific Rules: If only a few dates are showing, it could be due to "weighted" settings that limit how many of that appointment type can be booked, or a rule that ties it to only one specific provider.
Step 3: Look for Other Conflicts
Sometimes, other settings or existing appointments can block availability.
Room Assignments: If a provider is assigned to a specific room, their availability will only show when both they and the room are free.
Existing Patient Appointments: The system might be set up to prevent a patient from booking another appointment of the same type if they already have one scheduled.
Overlapping Appointment Types: Check that your appointment types are not configured in a way that allows them to be double-booked, as this can cause conflicts that hide availability.
💡 Common Questions
What You Might Notice | Why It's Happening | What to Do |
No appointments are showing up at all for anyone. | This is a sign that your main Office Hours, Provider Schedules, and Appointment Type availability are not aligned. | Check that your office is set to "open" and that the provider's schedule falls within those open hours. Then, confirm the appointment type is available during those times. |
Availability suddenly stops after a certain date (e.g., two weeks from now). | The "Scheduling Window" for that appointment type is likely limiting how far in advance patients can book. | Go into the settings for that specific appointment type and adjust the scheduling window limitation to open up future dates. |
A patient says they can't see any open slots, but you can. | Their web browser may be storing old information (cache) that is hiding the updated availability. | Ask the patient to clear their browser's cache and cookies, or try booking from a different web browser or device. |
A specific patient can't book a follow-up, but new patients can book their first visit. | The system may be preventing patients from booking a duplicate appointment if they already have one of that type scheduled. | Check the patient's profile to see if they have an existing appointment that is blocking them from scheduling another one. |
🎉 You'll Know It's Working When:
You can see all the correct, available time slots in the Aloha scheduling app.
Your patients are able to find and book appointments without any issues.
Your office hours and provider schedules are correctly reflected in the online booking calendar.
💬 Need Help? We're Here!
If you have other questions about appointment visibility, our support team is ready to help. Contact us at 800-563-0469 or support@getaloha.com.
📚 Related Articles: