IMPORTANT Some or all of the functionality described in this article is available only in Beta and will be released to all Bp Omni customers soon.
This article explains how to set a Base Appointment Interval in Bp Omni.
A Base Appointment Interval lets your practice choose a Default Appointment Length other than the standard 15 minutes and sets the time slot display shown on the Appointment book.
NOTE Base appointment intervals apply across the whole practice. They cannot be set by provider or by location.
Before you begin
Base Appointment Intervals let a practice set a default appointment time slot instead of the standard 15 minutes. Once a base appointment interval is set, every appointment and appointment type in the practice must be a multiple of that interval, and the calendar display updates to match.
Use Base Appointment Intervals when:
- Default appointment time slots are needed for a period other than 15 minutes.
- The time slot display length shown on the calendar needs to change.
Before changing the Base Appointment Interval, complete the following steps:
- Contact the Support team for assistance.
- Review the all the information and instructions provided in this Knowledge Base article.
- Use the Appointment by Date report to print a record of all future appointments.
- Finalise all Incomplete Clinical Notes before changing the Base Appointment Intervals. These can be reviewed via Admin > Recent patients.
To change the Base Appointment Intervals, users must have Practice Information permissions set to Administrator. This permission is included by default with the Practice Manager, Owner, and Administrator roles.
See Configure Business Roles and Security Permissions for more information.
Every appointment length and appointment type duration must be a factor of the base appointment interval selected.
For example:
- A base appointment interval of 5 minutes allows appointment lengths of 5, 10, 15minutes etc.
- This is the most granular option; appointment lengths of 6 or 12 minutes would not be valid.
- A base appointment interval of 10 minutes allows appointment lengths of 10, 20, 30minutes, etc.
- A base appointment interval of 12 minutes allows appointment lengths of 12, 24, 36minutes, etc.
Appointment durations can be viewed in Settings > Config > Appointment types. If BHB is enabled for your practice, the equivalent BHB appointment type durations are shown as well; all durations will be a multiple of the base interval.
The Update upcoming appointment durations option is checked by default when changing the Base Appointment Intervals. Understanding how this works before saving can prevent unexpected gaps or clashes in the appointment book.
When Update upcoming appointment durations is selected and saved, Bp Omni recalculates the duration of every existing appointment type so it fits the new base appointment interval.
Bp Omni works this out in two parts: first it finds how many old base appointment intervals made up the current duration, then it multiplies that number by the new base appointment interval.
For example: a 25-minute Standard appointment, changing from a 5-minute base appointment interval to a 6-minute base appointment interval.
- Divide the current duration by the old base appointment interval to find the number of intervals it used: 25 minutes ÷ 5 minutes = 5 intervals.
- If this doesn't divide evenly, round to the nearest whole number of intervals.
- Multiply the number of intervals by the new base appointment interval: 5 intervals × 6 minutes = 30 minutes.
- Bp Omni updates the appointment type to this new duration. The Standard appointment changes from 25 to 30 minutes.
These changes apply to every future appointment of that type created in Bp Omni and BHB. Past appointments are not affected, and patients are only notified of a change if it affects the timing of their SMS reminder.
IMPORTANT When durations are recalculated, appointment lengths change but start times do not move. Because the spacing between appointments is based on their original start times, this can leave gaps in the calendar if durations decrease, or cause appointments to overlap if durations increase. Check the appointment book after saving and adjust any upcoming appointments as needed.
Examples: How existing appointment lengths change
The examples below assume Update upcoming appointment durations is selected, and are based on a practice currently using a 15-minute base appointment interval.
|
Current appointment length |
Number of 15-minute intervals |
New length at a 10-minute base interval |
New length at a 20-minute base interval |
|---|---|---|---|
|
15 minutes |
1 |
10 minutes |
20 minutes |
|
30 minutes |
2 |
20 minutes |
40 minutes |
|
45 minutes |
3 |
30 minutes |
60 minutes |
|
60 minutes |
4 |
40 minutes |
80 minutes |
Because start times do not move when durations are recalculated, changing the base appointment interval can affect the calendar differently depending on whether it increases or decreases:
|
Base appointment interval change |
If Update upcoming appointment durations is selected |
If not selected |
|---|---|---|
|
Increases (for example, 15 to 20 minutes) |
Appointment lengths increase to fit the new interval. Start times stay the same, which can cause appointments to overlap. Affected appointments will need to be manually adjusted. |
Appointment lengths and start times are unchanged. |
|
Decreases (for example, 15 to 10 minutes) |
Appointment lengths decrease to fit the new interval. Start times stay the same, which can leave gaps in the calendar. |
Appointment lengths and start times are unchanged. |
Appointment type durations set specifically for Online Bookings do not update automatically when the base appointment interval changes. These need to be updated manually.
The Name, Duration and Participant fields for system-managed Appointment types (for example, Standard and Long appointments) cannot be edited directly. Instead, their duration is set as a fixed number of base appointment intervals:
|
Appointment type |
Number of intervals |
|---|---|
|
Standard |
1 |
|
Long |
2 |
|
Recall |
1 |
|
Record Update |
1 |
For example, with a 10-minute base appointment interval, a Standard appointment is 10 minutes and a Long appointment is 20 minutes.
Set the base appointment interval
IMPORTANT Before changing the Base Appointment Intervals, we recommend reading How the Update upcoming appointment durations option works to understand how base appointment intervals affect existing appointments, and to help prevent unexpected gaps or clashes in the appointment book.
- Click your profile icon in the top-right corner of the screen and select Settings.
- From the list of options on the left of the screen, click Practice & locations.
- Scroll down to Appointment settings. Select a Base appointment interval from the available options: 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30 or 60 minutes.
- The Update upcoming appointment durations option is checked by default. See How the Update upcoming appointment durations option works above before saving, as this recalculates the durations of existing appointment types.
- Click Save.
Once saved:
- The Appointment book updates to display the new base appointment interval. For example, selecting 10 minutes will show the appointment book in 10-minute increments.
- Time slot availability in the Add / Edit appointment modal updates to align with the new base appointment interval.
IMPORTANT If your practice uses Online Bookings, it can take up to 24 hours for a base appointment interval change to be reflected in the appointment slots available to patients.
Troubleshooting
Reverting a base appointment interval change
A Base Appointment Interval change can be reverted:
- If the Base Appointment Interval is changed back to its original value before any affected appointments are manually adjusted, the appointment book returns to how it was originally.
- If appointments have already been manually moved or edited to resolve gaps or clashes, reverting the Base Appointment Interval will not automatically restore those appointments to their original times.
Last updated: 04 August 2026.
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