Transparencies are used to block off certain times or days on the calendar to prevent an appointment from being scheduled or to inform the staff of important information. You may also use transparencies to color code the schedule for certain appointment types. If you prefer a video format, please refer to Schedule - Transparencies.
MacPractice would suggest the following workflow:
The first thing to do when setting up Transparencies is to set up a Transparency Type. You'll first go to the Schedule ability, select the Transparencies node, and click the green plus sign above the sidebar.
A New record item will appear under the Transparency node, and the drawer will open to one side of the MacPractice window. Enter the transparency type's name and select a Color. If the drawer doesn't appear, resize your window and try toggling the drawer button.
Generally, the transparency name will correspond to its purpose, such as "Vacation", "Meeting", "New Patients Only", "Urgent Care", or similar. After choosing the options, be sure to save the changes by selecting the Edit menu > Save Record, or by using the Command-S keyboard shortcut.
Creating a Block
To create a block, select a transparency name in the sidebar and click and drag on the schedule, just like creating an appointment.
To create a block, select a transparency name in the sidebar and click and drag on the schedule, just like creating an appointment.
As shown above, by default, the new block's name will be the transparency name followed by a number. The name can be changed in the drawer and additional notes can be entered at the bottom in the Notes field. Save the changes by going to the Edit menu and selecting Save Record, or use the Command-S keyboard shortcut.
Set Up Block Options and Rules
Block Options
The Block tab in the drawer applies just to the single block. After renaming the block for the specific event or occurrence, use the All Resources checkbox to apply this to the whole office. Use All Day to extend the full day, regardless of how long the transparency initially was.
Block Options
The Block tab in the drawer applies just to the single block. After renaming the block for the specific event or occurrence, use the All Resources checkbox to apply this to the whole office. Use All Day to extend the full day, regardless of how long the transparency initially was.
If this block will happen again, use the Repeat option to set up the recurrences. If it's a single repeat or this block will not repeat on a standard schedule, you may also right click on the transparency block to Copy and Paste.
Transparency Rules
The Rules tab in the drawer applies to every block for this transparency. These can be set to not accept appointments, to require a confirmation, or to only allow certain procedures.
For example, with a Vacation transparency, Setting a rule to "Do Not Schedule" would prevent any appointments during the blocks for Dr. Heusinger's vacation in April, and it would also prevent appointments during Dr. Perdue's vacation in November.
Managing Transparencies
Many offices choose to clean up their transparencies annually or every few years. There are three options for managing transparencies; turn them off, end repeats, and delete them. This also applies to MacPractice default transparencies for MacPractice and US Federal Holidays.
Many offices choose to clean up their transparencies annually or every few years. There are three options for managing transparencies; turn them off, end repeats, and delete them. This also applies to MacPractice default transparencies for MacPractice and US Federal Holidays.
Deleting Blocks
If a block was entered in error, or is no longer needed, it can be deleted by simply right clicking on the block itself. The All Blocks tab displays every instance of the transparency. It allows you to delete single or repeat transparency blocks. You may also simply delete the transparency type in the sidebar. See the FAQ article for instructions on disabling and deleting transparencies.
Viewing and Locking Transparency Records
You may set all of your other office computers to display the same transparencies using the Set Selection In Other Terminals option; this is found by right clicking Transparencies in the sidebar.
Once all of your transparencies are correct, lock the records so no one accidentally changes these settings. Certain users can be given privileges to edit transparency record. Set this up in the User Group Privileges Reference.
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