Set up your appointment-type mappings
A one-time setup: classify each of your EMR consult types as New Consult, Follow-up, or Excluded. Only New Consult types create i-consult episodes, and your mapping is reused on every sync.
Before you rely on syncing appointments to i-consult, do this one-time setup: tell i-consult how to treat each of your EMR consult types. You classify each type once, and the classification is reused on every sync, so you don't have to think about it again unless you add a new consult type.
This is part of the i-consult sync workflow. For the sync itself, see Sync your appointments to i-consult.
Why this matters
When you sync, the extension reads the appointment type for each appointment. Your mapping decides what happens to it:
- New Consult creates an i-consult episode. These are the patients who will be invited to a pre-consult questionnaire.
- Follow-up is skipped. No episode is created.
- Excluded is skipped. No episode is created.
Only New Consult types create episodes. Follow-up and Excluded types are automatically skipped on every sync, so you never invite a follow-up patient by accident. Mapping a type once means every future sync treats it the same way.
Classify each consult type
Open the appointment-type mapping settings in i-consult.
You'll see a list of the consult types from your EMR.
For each type, choose New Consult, Follow-up, or Excluded:
- Choose New Consult for the appointment types where you want patients invited to a pre-consult questionnaire (typically genuine first/new consultations).
- Choose Follow-up for review or follow-up appointment types.
- Choose Excluded for anything that shouldn't go to i-consult at all.
Save. Your choices are remembered and applied on every sync from now on.
Keeping mappings up to date
If you add a new consult type in your EMR, it won't be classified yet. Come back to the mapping settings and set it to New Consult, Follow-up, or Excluded so the next sync handles it the way you intend. If a new type is left unclassified, check how it's treated before relying on it for invitations.
Mapping controls which appointment types create episodes, but it isn't the only filter. Every sync also skips past appointments and appointments with an invalid mobile number. So a New Consult type can still be skipped if, for example, the patient's record has no valid Australian mobile. You remain responsible for checking the right patients are being invited.
If it doesn't work
- A patient who should have been invited wasn't created → check the appointment's consult type is mapped to New Consult, and that the patient has a valid mobile on their record. See Sync your appointments to i-consult.
- Follow-up patients are getting invited → check that consult type is mapped to Follow-up or Excluded, not New Consult.
Do I have to set this up every time I sync?
No. It's a one-time setup. Your classifications are reused on every sync. You only need to revisit it when you add a new consult type.
What's the difference between Follow-up and Excluded?
For the purposes of syncing, both are skipped; neither creates an episode. Use Follow-up to label review/follow-up appointment types and Excluded for types that should never go to i-consult; the distinction keeps your mapping readable.
I mapped a type to New Consult but no episode was created. Why?
Mapping is one filter; the sync also skips past appointments and those without a valid Australian mobile. Check the appointment is upcoming and the patient's record has a valid mobile.
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