Blocks

Blocks are one of InSched's most powerful features. A Block sets aside time for specific types of events, providing visual guidance for scheduling and intelligent use of screen space.

What Blocks Do

Blocks serve three purposes:

1. Visual Guidance: Blocks appear as colored regions on the schedule, making it immediately obvious what types of appointments belong where. Staff can schedule appointments just by clicking on the right color.

2. Intelligent Display: InSched uses Blocks to determine what to show. A morning surgery block ensures the entire morning is displayed, even before any surgeries are scheduled. Without blocks, InSched shows only the times that have events.

3. Filling Up: When events are scheduled within a Block's time, resources, and location, the Block "fills up," and the remaining available time is visible at a glance.

How Blocks Work

A Block is technically an Event whose Event Type has the class "Block." However, Blocks have their own user interface and menu items to keep them separate from regular events.

Block Matching

An event "fills up" a Block when:

• The event's time falls within the Block's time range
• The event's Resources match the Block's Resources (or either has no Resources set)
• The event's Location matches the Block's Location (or either has no Location set)

Events or Blocks with no Resources match events with any Resource. This means:

• A Block with no Resources will be filled by any event
• An Event with no Resources will fill any Block

Default Event Type

Each Block Event Type has a Default Procedure Code that specifies which Event Type should be created when a user schedules an event from that Block. For example, a "Cosmetic Consult Block" would have its Default Procedure Code set to "COSCON" (or whatever your cosmetic consultation Event Type code is).

Creating a Block

1. Select Blocks > New Block from the menu, or press Ctrl+Ins
2. The Edit Block dialog opens

Edit Block Fields

Event Type - Select the Block Event Type (only Block class Event Types appear in this list).

Block Name - Assign a descriptive name (e.g., "Surgery -- Dr. N").

Time - The start time for the block.

Duration - The length in minutes. You can use the "h" and "m" notation (e.g., "4h" for four hours, "2h 30m" for two and a half hours).

Resources - Select which Resources this Block is for. This determines:

• Which column the Block appears in (for views that separate Resources)
• Which events fill this Block
• What Resources are assigned to events created from this Block (if the Event Type has no default Resources)

The keyboard shortcuts for selecting Resources are the one-character Resource codes.

Locations - Select the Location for the Block.

Details - Unlimited text that will be added to events created from this Block.

Repeating - Most Blocks are recurring. See Recurring Events for details on setting up the repetition schedule.

Editing a Block

• Right-click on a Block in the schedule and choose the edit option, or
• Use the Blocks menu

Deleting a Block

• Press Ctrl+Del on a Block, or
• Right-click and choose delete, or
• Use the Blocks menu

For recurring blocks, you will be asked whether to delete this instance only, from this date forward, or all instances.

Color Strategy

Choosing good colors for your blocks is important for an intelligible schedule display:

• Use color families for related block types. For example, cosmetic events in purple hues, reconstructive in red hues, aesthetician in blue hues.
• Make blocks lighter (less saturated) than the events that fill them. This way, available time is visually distinct from scheduled time.
• Use the slider on the right side of the Color dialog to adjust saturation.
• Consider using white text for new patient events and black text for returning patients, or another scheme that helps your staff distinguish patient types at a glance.

Viewing Block Availability

Show Blocks Even If Used - By default, once a block is fully filled by events, the block color is hidden behind the events. Enable this option from the View menu to always show the block color, even when events are scheduled over it.

Show Available Blocks - Use Find First Available (see Find First Available) to search for open time within specific block types.

Event Type Classes Reference

Class	Timeless Shown All Day	Generates Conflict	Fills Up Blocks
Regular Event	Yes	Yes	Yes
Off Schedule Event	Yes	No (except Call Coverage)	No
Call Coverage	No	Only with "Conflict With Call Coverage" events	No
Time Off	Yes	No (except Call Coverage)	No
Note	No (shown in Note row)	No (except Call Coverage)	No
Block	Timeless not allowed	No	No