NextGen setup guide
What your practice needs, the seven setup steps, and what 2care reads, writes and never touches in NextGen during a booking call.
4 min read
How it connects
2care is authorised against your NextGen environment and limited to the scheduling scope you grant. Availability is read live from each provider's template on every call, exceptions included, and the booking is written into NextGen while the caller is still on the line.
The agent books against the template rather than around it, so it only offers what NextGen already enforces for that provider. Nothing is installed on your computers and nobody on your team changes how they work in NextGen.
- Provider template. The pattern of slots and rules each provider schedules by, including the exceptions.
- Encounter type. The kind of visit, which sets its length and which clinician can take it.
- Course of care. A series of visits booked at set spacing, such as a block of treatment sessions.
- BAA. The Business Associate Agreement your practice signs with 2care before any patient data moves.
Before you start
| Item | Who provides it |
|---|---|
| A signed BAA with 2care | Signed before any patient data moves |
| Approval of the connection in your NextGen environment | Your practice administrator |
| Your provider list, specialties and the sites each provider works at | Your practice manager |
| Your scheduling rules: prerequisites, lengths, spacing and who may see whom | Your lead scheduler |
| Your escalation contacts | Your practice manager |
Setup
- Sign the BAA. No patient data is read until it is in place.
- Approve the connection. Your onboarding specialist walks you through it in your NextGen environment.
- Confirm providers, sites and encounter types. Each one is matched to what NextGen already holds.
- Capture your specialty rules. Prerequisites, provider eligibility, lengths and spacing are configured once and applied on every call. See visit types and provider templates.
- Agree routing between specialties. The agent learns how patients describe each problem, so it reaches the clinician who treats it.
- Run a test round trip. A test appointment is booked, opened in NextGen, then cancelled, with your team watching.
- Switch the line over. Your number forwards to 2care at the hours you choose. See forwarding your number.
On a booking call
| Step in the call | What the caller hears | What happens in NextGen |
|---|---|---|
| Understanding | A question or two about what they need | Specialty and encounter type resolved from how the caller describes the problem |
| Availability | The open times for the right clinician | Open slots read live from that provider's template, site and encounter type |
| Choice | The time they chose, read back | The slot is held and your specialty rules are applied |
| Booking | Confirmation of the appointment | The appointment is written against the template |
| Confirmation | A text with the date, time, location and any preparation | Contact details, coverage and reason for visit saved as structured fields |
The appointment is confirmed to the caller only once NextGen has accepted it. If the slot was taken in the meantime, NextGen refuses the write and the agent offers the next open time instead.
What 2care reads
- Each provider's own template, which is what makes a specialty booking correct
- Encounter and visit types, so the right length is chosen for the right reason
- Sites, providers and specialties, so a caller is offered somewhere they can get to
- Patient identity, checked before a new chart could be created
- Coverage held on file, so nobody is asked twice
What 2care writes
- Appointments, booked against the template
- Patient contact details, confirmed back before they are saved
- Insurance fields, populated so verification can begin before arrival
- The reason for attending, so the clinician is not learning it in the room
- What the call asked for and what happened, kept with the record
What 2care never touches
- Clinical notes: never read and never written
- Results: never retrieved, read out or summarised. Those calls go to your team
- Medication: a request is taken down and passed on, never granted or changed
- Anything beyond the permissions you granted
Courses of care
Where care runs as a series, the agent books every visit at the correct spacing in one conversation. That keeps a course from stalling after the first appointment.
Preparation instructions go out ahead of each visit on the channel the patient answers. See confirmations and reminders.
Questions
Every provider here schedules differently. Is that a problem?
No. The agent reads each template rather than reproducing it, so whatever NextGen enforces for a given provider is what it offers.
Does it work across several locations?
Yes. Sites, providers and encounter types come from NextGen, so the agent offers slots at the site the caller asks for.
How long does setup take?
Most practices are live in about 5 business days once the connection is approved and the scheduling rules are captured.
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