Send a waitlist request to offer open slots to patients so they can claim them with one click. The waitlist uses the NexHealth Synchronizer to insert claimed appointments into your calendar, which prevents double bookings.
For use with NexHealth Scheduling
Create and send a waitlist request
1. Go to Waitlist → New waitlist request.
Navigate to Waitlist in the left sidebar, then select New waitlist request.
2. Create a slot or select open slots.
If you create a slot manually, select the Date, Time, Duration, Provider, and Operatory.
You cannot choose an appointment type for the waitlist slot.
If you select from Open slots, check one or more slots and set the appointment duration.
You can add up to 10 slots to each waitlist request using the +Add slot button after selecting the initial slot you want to fill.
When open slots appear
Providers and slots only appear in Open slots if online booking Availability is configured and active for those providers. If a provider has no active availability set up in Scheduling → Online booking → Availability, their slots will not surface here even if their schedule has openings. See How do I set up providers and provider availability for online booking?
Note: If the number of open slots shown in NexHealth is lower than what you see in your practice management system, check whether any providers are marked Inactive in NexHealth. Only active providers surface slots. Go to Scheduling → Online booking → Availability and confirm each relevant provider is toggled to Active.
3. Add patients.
You can add patients to a waitlist request from four different groups:
Your practice management system ASAP list
Patients overdue for Continuing Care
Patients who missed or canceled appointments
Manually
Click a tile to select the patients you want, and adjust the filters as needed. After you add patients, click the X to the right of a patient's name to remove them from the request. The ASAP and Continuing Care lists depend on your EHR.
Note: When you open the patient selection lists, NexHealth automatically filters out patients who already have a future appointment, so you'll only see patients without an existing appointment.
For the ASAP, Missed, and Cancelled flows: patients with a non-cancelled appointment scheduled between the original appointment date and 6 months out are excluded.
For the Continuing Care flow: patients with any future non-cancelled appointment at that location are excluded.
Option 1: Add from ASAP list
Use the filters to search for patients matching the duration, provider, operatory, and even appointment type (if mapped in NexHealth).
If no patients are returned for that appointment type, there likely isn't a patient on your health record system ASAP list with that appointment type.
Appointment type filtering is only available for some health record systems.
Option 2: Add from Continuing care list
You can filter by Recall types and Select a date range. The Continuing Care waitlist option lets you send a waitlist request to patients marked in your health record system as due for continuing care within a certain time range.
Note: NexHealth doesn't enforce any relationship between the appointment time slot being filled and a patient's recall due date. Avoid sending a waitlist request to a patient whose recall due date is after the time slot being filled, as their insurance may not cover a visit before the actual due date.
Option 3: Add from Missed or cancelled appointments
Missed/Cancelled depends on how you mark those appointments in your practice management system and what NexHealth reads. A good check is whether NexHealth sends the Missed and Cancelled templates to patients.
Option 4: Search for patients manually
Use the search bar to find patients to add manually.
4. Click Send.
NexHealth sends your Waitlist template.
Note: Waitlist requests automatically expire at the scheduled appointment time. A patient attempting to claim the slot after the appointment time will receive a message stating "Sorry, this slot has already been claimed."
Smart send
For larger selections of patients (over 100 patients), Smart Send sends your waitlist request in batches of 10 patients every 5 minutes. This ensures patients are not frustrated by "never" being able to claim a waitlist spot, while still keeping your schedule full. Once the slot has been claimed, only the patients who attempt to claim it receive the message that it has been taken. NexHealth does not message everyone the request went out to, so patients who were not interested don't get another unwelcome message.
When a patient receives a request
How patients claim a slot by SMS
SMS waitlist messages use lettered reply options — for example, "Reply A" for one slot, "Reply B" for another. There is no "Book Now" button in SMS messages. When a patient replies with the correct letter, NexHealth matches their reply and books the slot.
If multiple waitlist requests have been sent to the same phone number — for example, two family members who share a number — NexHealth always matches the reply to the most recent outbound message sent to that number. Earlier requests remain active and can still be claimed if a subsequent message is sent to that number.
How patients claim a slot by email
Email messages include a Book now link. The NexHealth 1-Click booking experience matches the patient with their profile in NexHealth, so they don't need any additional information to confirm.
If a patient selects a slot that has already been booked by another patient or through your Online Booking, they will receive a message that says "The time you have selected is no longer available."
By default, patients in this situation are shown a link to your online booking form so they can find another available appointment. To control this behavior, go to Settings → Scheduling → Waitlist and toggle Show a link to online booking when waitlist slots are claimed.
On (default): Patients who find a slot unavailable are redirected to your online booking form and shown upcoming open appointments.
Off: Patients who find a slot unavailable receive the "no longer available" message with no prompt or link to book another appointment.
How NexHealth updates your records
After a patient successfully claims an appointment from your waitlist request, three things happen:
The appointment is inserted in your health record system calendar.
You receive a notification on the Activity page.
The appointment slot no longer shows as available in the waitlist request or Online Booking.
Important: For patients selected from your ASAP list, you must cancel their original appointment.
Appointment insertion timing
After a patient accepts a waitlist slot, NexHealth typically inserts the appointment into your health record system calendar within 1–2 minutes. Occasionally, network conditions or system load can delay this beyond the usual window. The patient has still accepted the appointment, and the insertion completes once the sync processes. You can check the Activity page for confirmation. If the appointment does not appear in your EHR after several minutes, contact support.
Provider names in waitlist messages
When a waitlist blast includes multiple slots that share the same date and time — for example, two providers both available at 2:00 PM on Tuesday — NexHealth automatically includes the provider name in the outbound message to distinguish the options. If all slots in the request have unique times, or if there is only one provider, the provider name is not included.
Waitlist FAQs
What happens if a patient tries to book a slot filled manually by someone in the office?
If an open slot is filled manually after the waitlist request is sent out, you don't need to cancel the waitlist request:
Once the filled appointment has synced to NexHealth, a patient who tries to claim the waitlist slot is told it has already been claimed and no extra appointment is inserted.
If a patient claims the waitlist slot before the filled appointment has synced, NexHealth flags the new appointment in the Activity feed — contact the patient who accepted the slot to reschedule.
Why would I want to filter by appointment type?
You can match the provider with availability to the appointment types they can service — for example, you might not want your oral surgeon to fill their availability with new patient exams.
You can select high-production appointment types for times when your office is prepared to serve them.
Why don't I see the option to filter by appointment type?
This feature is only available for select health record systems, including:
Athena
Denticon
Dentrix
Dentrix Ascend
Dentrix Enterprise
Eaglesoft
eCW
ModMed
Open Dental
Can I see notes about patients' preferred days/times from existing appointments on my ASAP list?
NexHealth supports reading appointment notes for Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, and Dentrix Enterprise.
How do I edit the default template wording?
There are two templates for waitlist requests:
Waitlist ASAP Appointment, sent when you choose from your ASAP list, for patients who have missed or canceled appointments, and for hand-selected patients
Waitlist Continuing Care, sent to patients chosen from your continuing care list
Does the waitlist send to patients with future appointments?
Generally, no. NexHealth automatically filters out patients who already have a future appointment when you build the candidate list, so they won't appear as options to add to a waitlist request.
ASAP, Missed, and Cancelled lists: Patients with a non-cancelled appointment scheduled between the original appointment date and 6 months out are excluded.
Continuing Care list: Patients with any future non-cancelled appointment at that location (after today) are excluded.
Exception: If a patient books their own appointment after being added to a waitlist request but before the waitlist message is sent, they will still receive the waitlist SMS or email. The system only checks for existing appointments at the candidate-selection stage, not when the message goes out. If this happens, you can cancel the waitlist request to prevent further messages from sending.
What if a patient books an appointment after I add them to the waitlist?
Because the appointment check only happens when the candidate list is built (not when the message sends), a patient who books after being added to the waitlist may still receive the message.
See also: How do I cancel a waitlist request?