Scheduling & appointments · 3 min read · Beginner
Waitlist and fill a gap
When a cancellation opens a slot, Amy offers it to waitlisted patients by text and books the first to say yes — turning last-minute holes in your day into filled chairs, automatically.
Updated Jul 9, 2026
A cancellation used to mean an empty chair and lost revenue. With Amy, it means an opening she can fill on her own. When a patient wants a time you don't have, Amy adds them to a waitlist — and the moment a matching slot frees up, she texts them the offer and books the first person to say yes. No sticky notes, no calling down a list.
Tip
The waitlist runs itself. Amy adds patients when their ideal time is full and reaches out automatically when a spot opens. Your team doesn't have to track who's waiting or who to call.
How a patient gets on the waitlist
When Amy is booking and the patient's preferred day or time isn't available, she offers the nearest openings — and if none of those work, she offers to add them to the waitlist for the time they really want. She captures what they're waiting for: the day, the time of day, and the visit type, so she can match them precisely later. This happens right in the normal booking flow described in How Amy books an appointment.
How a gap gets filled
- A slot opens. A patient cancels or reschedules, and that time frees up on your schedule. See Rescheduling and cancellations.
- Amy finds matches. She looks at your waitlist for patients who wanted that day, time, and visit type with a provider who's available.
- She sends the offer by text. Matching patients get a message letting them know the spot is open and asking if they want it.
- The first yes wins. The first patient to accept gets booked into the slot, and Amy sends them a confirmation. If someone replies after it's taken, Amy lets them know the slot was just filled and keeps them on the list.
Note
Amy only ever offers a waitlist slot that is genuinely open and a real fit — right visit type, right provider, inside your hours. She won't double-book or offer a time that's already been claimed.
Why the waitlist matters
Late cancellations are one of the biggest quiet drains on a practice. A single open hour a day, five days a week, adds up fast over a year. Because Amy fills those gaps the moment they appear — including nights and weekends, when no one's at the desk — that lost time turns back into production. The patient wins too: they get seen sooner than they expected.
Where you see it
Waitlist activity shows up on the patient's timeline, and any offer that needs a person's attention lands in What needs to get done. When a waitlisted patient accepts, the new appointment appears on your Today view and schedule just like any other booking, and they move into your normal reminder flow. See How reminders and confirmations work.
Frequently asked questions
Does Amy call everyone on the waitlist at once? She reaches out to matching patients and books the first to accept. That keeps the fill fast without over-promising the same slot to a crowd — and anyone who misses it stays on the list for the next opening.
What if two patients say yes at the same time? The first accepted reply gets the slot. The other patient is told it was just taken and stays on the waitlist, so they're first in line for the next match.
Can a patient ask to be taken off the waitlist? Yes. If a patient says they're no longer interested, Amy removes them, and your team can manage the list too.
Does the waitlist work for specific providers? Yes. Amy matches on the visit type and an available provider, so a patient waiting for a particular kind of appointment gets offered a slot that actually fits. Provider availability comes from your settings — see Provider hours and blackout dates.
What if my PMS is disconnected when a slot opens? Amy holds the activity safely and syncs it once your connection is back, so nothing is lost. See Reconnecting your PMS.
Still need a hand?
Reach the Valian team any time at help@valiansystems.com, or open a ticket from the Help Center inside your dashboard. During onboarding, your onboarding contact is at onboarding@valiansystems.com.