# Channelling Overview

Channelling is the system used to book patients for consultant appointments at a specific date and time. It is the primary workflow for managing scheduled outpatient consultations with specialists and visiting doctors.

## What Is Channelling?

In HMIS, **channelling** refers to the complete process of:

- Scheduling a consultant session (the doctor's available time slots or token numbers)
- Booking a patient into that session
- Managing the patient through the queue on the day of the appointment
- Collecting payment and issuing a bill

Channelling is distinct from OPD walk-in consultations. In channelling, a patient is booked in advance into a specific **session instance** (a scheduled occurrence of a doctor's clinic), whereas OPD walk-in patients receive a token on the spot without a prior booking.

## Key Concepts

### Consultant
A specialist or visiting doctor who holds channelling sessions. Each consultant belongs to one or more **specialities** (e.g., Cardiology, Paediatrics, Neurology).

### Speciality
A clinical discipline used to group and filter consultants (e.g., Cardiology, General Surgery, ENT). When booking, staff first select a speciality to narrow down the consultant list.

### Session
A recurring schedule that defines when a consultant holds their clinic — for example, "Dr. Perera, Cardiology, every Tuesday 09:00–12:00, maximum 30 patients." Sessions carry fee information and numbering rules.

Sessions come in two types:
- **Slot-based (time-based):** Each patient is given a specific appointment time within the session window.
- **Token/unlimited:** Patients are given a serial token number and seen in order — no fixed time per patient.

See [Channel Session Type: Slot-Based](Channel-Session-Type-Slot-Based) and [Channel Session Type: Token / Unlimited](Channel-Session-Type-Token-Unlimited) for details.

### Session Instance
A single occurrence of a session on a specific calendar date. For example, the Tuesday session above generates a session instance for each Tuesday it runs. The session instance holds the actual bookings for that day, its status (Scheduled, Ongoing, Completed, Cancelled), and real-time counts.

### Booking
A patient's reservation within a session instance. Each booking produces a **channel bill** and assigns the patient a serial number or time slot.

## Booking Lifecycle

```
Session Instance Created
        ↓
Patient Booked → Bill Issued → Payment Collected
        ↓
Day of Appointment:
  Doctor Arrives (session marked Arrived)
        ↓
  Session Started
        ↓
  Patients Called One by One (Queue)
        ↓
  Session Completed
```

At any point before the session starts, a booking can be:
- **Rescheduled** — moved to a different session instance
- **Cancelled** — removed with a cancellation record
- **Refunded** — payment returned to the patient
- **Transferred** — bill moved to a different session

## Navigation Path

Channelling is accessed from the main menu:

**Menu → Channelling**

The Channelling menu contains:

| Menu Item | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Channel Booking View | Main live booking screen |
| Channel Booking — By Dates | Browse and book across a date range |
| Channel Booking — By Month | Monthly calendar view |
| Channel Schedule | Today's sessions for the logged-in doctor |
| Channel Queue | Live patient queue for a session |
| Channel Display | Waiting room display board |
| Past Bookings | Search historical bookings |
| Channel Bill Search | Find channel bills by patient or date |
| Doctor Leave | Mark a consultant as unavailable |
| Channel Scheduling | Admin hub for managing sessions and schedules |
| Payment | Pay doctors and agents |
| Cashier Transaction | Record income and expenses |
| Credit/Debit Note | Raise financial adjustments |
| Reports | All channelling reports |
| Channel Analytics | High-level dashboards |
| Management | Agencies, consultants, specialities |
| Patient Portal | Patient self-service |
| Doctor Card | Consultant profile and card |

## Required Privilege

Access to the Channelling menu requires the **Channelling** privilege. Individual menu items have their own sub-privileges (e.g., `ChannellingChannelBooking`, `ChannellingPastBooking`, `ChannelSessionManagement`).

Contact your system administrator if any menu items are not visible.

## Related Articles

- [Creating a New Channel Booking](Creating-a-New-Channel-Booking)
- [Channel Booking View and Search](Channel-Booking-View-and-Search)
- [Channel Queue](Channel-Queue)
- [Channel Session Type: Slot-Based](Channel-Session-Type-Slot-Based)
- [Channel Session Type: Token / Unlimited](Channel-Session-Type-Token-Unlimited)
- [Channel Scheduling Overview](Channel-Scheduling-Overview)