Special Unavailability

Overview

Special unavailability lets you block time on the calendar when your normal appointment type availability should not apply — site closures, provider time off, room maintenance, and other one-off exceptions.

Blocks supersede appointment type availability in a straightforward way: you do not need to edit every appointment type when something changes for a day or a week. Leave your standing availability configuration untouched; add or remove a special unavailability block when the exception applies.

Special unavailability is configured under Operations by users with Can Manage Operations. See Inviting Users for access requirements.

How It Works

A special unavailability entry is a scheduling block for a defined window. For the resource you choose, new appointments cannot be scheduled during that period — whether booked by staff, through self-serve booking, or via Connect.

Creating a block is simple:

1. Choose a resource type (clinic-wide, provider, or room)
2. Set a start date and time
3. Set an end date and time
4. Save

You can delete a block anytime it is no longer needed — for example when a provider returns from vacation or a room is back in service.

Resource Types

Clinic-Wide

A clinic-wide block applies to your entire organization for the time frame you specify. All appointments become unbookable during that window — every appointment type, every provider, every room.

Use clinic-wide blocks for holidays, weather closures, all-staff training, or any period when the practice is shut down entirely.

Provider-Specific

A provider-specific block applies to one provider for the dates and times you set. People get sick, take vacation, or attend conferences; the scheduling algorithm accounts for that provider being unavailable without changing your global appointment type rules.

New bookings that would require that provider cannot be scheduled during the block. Other providers and rooms continue to follow their normal availability unless they have their own blocks.

Room-Specific

A room-specific block applies to one room — for example an exam suite, procedure room, or imaging bay tied to a modality. Renovations happen, machines need service, and rooms go offline for maintenance; the scheduling algorithm handles room unavailability the same way it handles provider time off.

Appointment types that depend on that room cannot be newly booked into the blocked window. Other rooms remain available according to their configuration.

Relationship to Appointment Types

Think of appointment types as your baseline schedule — which services exist, which rooms and providers are generally in play, and how public booking and Connect rules behave day to day.

Special unavailability sits on top of that baseline as a temporary override. When a block is active, it wins for the affected resource and time range. When you delete the block, scheduling reverts to whatever your appointment types already define — no need to revert manual edits across multiple types.

Existing Appointments

Special unavailability does not automatically cancel or reschedule appointments that already exist on the calendar.

If you create a block over a time frame that already has booked appointments, those appointments remain until your team handles them. It is your responsibility to contact patients, reschedule, or cancel as appropriate for your workflow — the block only prevents new scheduling into that window.

Plan blocks ahead when you can, and review the calendar after adding a block that overlaps existing bookings.

When to Use Special Unavailability

Situation	Resource type
Holiday or full-site closure	Clinic-wide
Provider PTO, sick leave, or CME	Provider-specific
Room renovation, modality downtime, or equipment service	Room-specific

Use special unavailability for exceptions, not everyday hours. Regular weekly availability belongs in appointment type configuration; blocks are for the gaps that baseline rules do not cover.