Video consultations (online appointments)
Some visits don't need the patient in the room — follow-ups, results discussions, prescription reviews. MedicalSuite handles these as online appointments: the patient gets a video link and joins from home.
How a treatment becomes "online"
Each treatment (Practice → Treatments) has a mode:
- In-clinic only — normal visits,
- Online only — always a video call,
- Both — whoever books chooses.
Set this once per treatment; every booking then behaves correctly.
Where the video link comes from
When an online appointment is booked, a meeting link is created automatically — no one has to make a Zoom meeting by hand. Which kind of link depends on what the doctor has connected (Doctor Portal → Integrations):
| Doctor's setup | Link created |
|---|---|
| Google Calendar connected | Google Meet link |
| Zoom connected | Zoom meeting |
| "Permanent link" chosen | The doctor's one fixed personal room link, reused for all their online visits |
| Nothing connected | Staff can paste a link manually on the appointment |
How the patient gets the link
- In the confirmation email, immediately after booking.
- In every reminder (email and SMS) — see Reminders.
- Staff can also send it by SMS on demand from the appointment details — handy when a patient calls saying "I lost the link".
On the day
- The doctor sees the join link on the appointment in their calendar — one click to join.
- The patient clicks the link from their email/SMS. Google Meet and Zoom both work in a normal browser; nothing to install for Meet.
If a link stops working
Open the appointment and click Regenerate link — a fresh meeting is created and you can resend it to the patient.
Patients booking online visits themselves
If your website has the booking widget and the treatment allows both modes, the patient can pick In-clinic or Online while booking. Online picks get their link automatically, like any other booking.
Common questions
Doctor prefers one permanent room instead of a new link each time. They can choose that under Doctor Portal → Integrations → video link preference.
Patient joined but the doctor wasn't there. The doctor joins from the same link on the appointment. Check the appointment time and timezone settings both sides.
Can we do group calls? The link is a normal Meet/Zoom meeting — anyone with the link can join, so a family member can sit in if the patient shares it.