Setting Availability by Location and Session Format

How to create availability that matches providers, locations, session formats, services, and scheduling audiences.

Availability calendars tell PracticeRunner when a provider is available for specific kinds of appointments. They can reflect the practical details that matter in a therapy practice, including office locations, telehealth, phone sessions, service length, and whether the time should be shown to new inquiries or existing clients.

What an availability block controls

Each availability block can include:

provider
location
session format through the selected location, such as in person, video, or phone
audience
services
start and end time
repeat days or a specific date
timezone

This lets a provider keep different schedules for different kinds of care. For example, a clinician might offer telehealth consultations on Tuesday afternoon, in-person sessions on Wednesday morning, and internal-only appointment times on Friday.

Locations and session formats

Locations are more than addresses. In PracticeRunner, the location includes the session format for how that session happens.

Common examples include:

Office
Telehealth
Phone

When availability is tied to a location, scheduling can show times that match the requested location and session format. A client looking for telehealth should not need to see office-only times, and an in-person consultation should not need to use a phone-only block.

Open Settings → Practice → Locations, add or edit a location, and turn on Specify Access Instructions to enter details such as parking directions, a door code, or a video password.

To share those details outside the client portal, select Include access instructions in appointment emails and client calendars, then save the location. This checkbox is off by default.

When selected, the location’s instructions can appear in appointment confirmations, reminders, attached calendar files, and client calendar feeds. The email’s location or video settings and the client calendar feed’s location setting still apply. Custom email templates must include the appointment details or access-instruction field for the instructions to appear.

Only select this option if you are comfortable including any door codes, gate codes, or passwords in emails and calendar apps. Anyone with the client’s private calendar feed link can see instructions included in that feed. Clearing the checkbox stops including instructions in future emails and updated calendar feeds; it cannot remove them from emails or calendar files already received. Calendar apps may take time to refresh.

The instructions remain available in the client portal when this sharing checkbox is off. Provider calendar feeds do not include these access instructions.

This checkbox is separate from the Video link. For video appointments, PracticeRunner uses the appointment-specific video link first, then the case’s link, then the provider’s link. You do not need to enable access-instruction sharing to include that video link.

For email and calendar settings, see Client calendar feeds and appointment reminders.

Default appointment locations

Location defaults reduce repeated choices when staff create appointments. PracticeRunner uses the first available location in this order:

a location selected for the appointment
the case’s preferred location
the provider’s default appointment location
the practice default location

Providers can set their own default under Settings → Account → Profile → Scheduling Defaults. Owners and authorized admins can set a clinician’s default from Settings → Administration → Staff. Set a preferred location on a case when that case usually meets somewhere different from the clinician’s provider default.

These defaults do not replace availability blocks. Availability still controls when a provider is available at a particular location and which session formats, services, and audiences can use that time.

Services and appointment length

Availability can apply to any service or to selected services only.

Use service-specific availability when:

consultations are shorter than therapy sessions
assessments need a different block of time
some services are only offered by certain providers
a service should be offered at one location but not another

PracticeRunner uses service duration when building available time slots.

Audiences

Availability can be set for different audiences:

New inquiries and clients: Use the block for both prospective clients and existing clients.
New inquiries: Show the block for public inquiry scheduling.
Existing clients: Use the block for client appointment-change workflows.
Internal only: Keep the block available for staff scheduling without showing it to client-facing flows.

Use audiences to keep your online options clear. For example, you might offer short consultation blocks to new inquiries, while reserving longer recurring-session times for existing clients.

How to set availability

Open the calendar or scheduling area where availability blocks are managed.
Choose the provider.
Choose the location with the right session format.
Choose the audience.
Select any service limits, or leave the block open to any service.
Set the start and end time.
Choose whether the block repeats weekly.
Save the availability.

After saving, test the client-facing scheduling flow that should use the block.

Setup tips

Create separate blocks for office, telehealth, and phone locations if they follow different schedules.
Use service limits when consultation, assessment, and therapy times should not be interchangeable.
Use New inquiries for times you are comfortable showing to prospective clients.
Use Existing clients for appointment-change options that should not be offered to new inquiries.
Use Internal only for times staff can schedule but clients should not request directly.
If a provider works across more than one PracticeRunner organization, use shared busy time visibility when another provider calendar should be visible or considered for online booking conflicts.