Managing provider availability is essential for effective patient scheduling and optimal practice workflow. Canvas Medical integrates with Google Calendar to synchronize provider schedules, allowing you to control and display availability directly within Canvas while maintaining the flexibility of calendar-based scheduling management.

User's Guide

Overview of Calendar Integration

Patient appointments are scheduled within Canvas, while provider availability is managed through an integration with Google Calendar. This setup enables centralized availability control that automatically syncs with Canvas scheduling systems.

Calendar Types and Naming Conventions

Canvas uses specific calendar types to manage provider and organizational availability across multiple practice locations. Each calendar type serves a distinct scheduling purpose and must follow exact naming conventions for proper synchronization.

Organization Admin Calendar

Defines times when the entire organization is unavailable, such as during all-staff meetings.

Naming format:

• All locations: Organization Admin

• Specific location: Organization Admin: Canvas Clinic Oakland

Provider Clinic Calendar

Shows when a provider is available for patient appointments. Each provider requires an individual calendar.

Naming format:

• All locations: Jane Doe: Clinic

• Specific location: Jane Doe: Clinic: Canvas Clinic Oakland

Important: The location name in Google Calendar must exactly match the practice location name in Canvas.

Provider Admin Calendar

Marks times when a provider is unavailable for patient appointments due to vacation, sick leave, or administrative tasks.

Naming format:

• All locations: Jane Doe: Admin

• Specific location: Jane Doe: Admin: Canvas Clinic Oakland

Same-Day Hold Calendar

Reserves slots for same-day appointments. These slots remain hidden until the morning of the appointment day.

Naming format:

• All locations: Same-Day Hold

• Specific location: Same-Day Hold: Canvas Clinic Oakland

• Provider-specific, all locations: Jane Doe: Same-Day Hold

• Provider-specific, specific location: Jane Doe: Same-Day Hold: Canvas Clinic Oakland

Next-Day Hold Calendar

Reserves time slots for next-day appointments, which become visible the morning before the appointment.

Naming format:

• All locations: Next-Day Hold

• Specific location: Next-Day Hold: Canvas Clinic Oakland

• Provider-specific, all locations: Jane Doe: Next-Day Hold

• Provider-specific, specific location: Jane Doe: Next-Day Hold: Canvas Clinic Oakland

Accessing Google Calendar

To maintain current provider availability in Canvas, each provider's Google Calendar must be properly configured. Access the calendar system using GSuite credentials provided by Canvas.

1. Open an incognito window to prevent conflicts with existing Google accounts or sessions

2. Navigate to calendar.google.com

3. Log in with Canvas-provided GSuite credentials

Configuration & Set Up

Creating New Provider Calendars

When adding new providers to the system, you must create their calendars in Google Calendar following Canvas naming conventions.

1. Navigate to Settings (⚙) in the upper right corner of Google Calendar

2. Select Add Calendar

3. Choose Create new calendar

4. Enter the calendar name following the outlined naming conventions

5. Add the provider's staff key from their Canvas staff profile to the calendar description to ensure sync continuity during future updates.

6. Click Create calendar

   

Setting Provider Availability

After creating the necessary calendars, you can begin scheduling availability blocks.

To create availability blocks:

1. Return to the main Google Calendar schedule view

2. Click and drag on the desired date to select appropriate time slots

3. When the event modal appears, complete the following:

   • Event Name: Assign a clear, descriptive name

     • Admin calendar names appear on admin blocks in Canvas

     • Clinic calendar names are not displayed in Canvas but are strongly recommended for maintaining organization and easily identifying which providers are associated with specific events.

   • Repetition: Configure recurrence settings if the event repeats

   • Calendar Selection: Verify the event is assigned to the correct calendar before saving

     

Updating Calendar Events

We strongly suggest cancelling an event and recreating whenever possible rather than rescheduling. Google does not always register the reschedule correctly which can cause missing event blocks in Canvas.

To modify existing calendar events:

1. Click on the event in Google Calendar to open the appointment card

2. Click Edit ✏

3. Make necessary adjustments

4. Click Save

5. For recurring events, choose whether to edit the specific event or all events in the series

Sharing Calendar Access with Providers

At the practice's discretion, Canvas Google Calendar access can be shared with providers, allowing them to manage their own availability directly.

To share calendar access:

1. Navigate to the provider's calendar settings

2. Select Share with specific people or groups

3. Click Add People and groups

4. Enter the provider's email address

5. Select Make changes and manage sharing from the permission dropdown

   

Provider activation process:

1. The provider receives an email invitation to access the shared calendar

2. The provider must click Add to integrate the Canvas calendar into their personal account

3. Once added, the provider can manage their availability directly from their own Google account

[Beta] Limiting Availability by Note Type

Canvas offers beta functionality to restrict availability based on specific note types, providing more granular scheduling control.

How it works:

• Events created in Google Calendar sync to Canvas in the Calendar Events table within admin settings

• Each event includes an Allowed Note Types setting in Canvas admin

• Admins can select which schedulable note types are permitted during specific availability periods

• Settings apply to the entire recurrence pattern

• Individual event modifications within a recurrence require separate updates in Canvas admin

Important notes:

• Note type restrictions are not visible on the calendar interface

• Appointment slots are filtered in the appointment modal to reflect restrictions

• Consider naming Google Calendar events to reflect allowed note types for easier admin management

Manual Calendar Synchronization

Occasionally, the Google API may experience notification failures, causing some Google events to not appear in Canvas. Canvas provides manual synchronization capabilities to capture missed events.

Provider Blocks Missing from the Schedule View

1. Navigate to admin settings

2. Go to Google Accounts under the Google_Calendar heading

3. Select the checkbox next to the relevant Google Account name

4. From the action menu dropdown, select Sync Google Calendar events

5. Click Go to initiate the sync

Timezone Error on the Schedule View

1. From the schedule view, there will be an error stating the timezones do not match

   

2. Go to Calendars: Calendars under settings

3. Review the timezone column to see which calendar is mismatched

   

4. Within the Google Calendar

   • Click the triple dot on the calendar that is incorrect in Canvas

   • Select Settings and sharing from the dropdown

   • Update the timezone to the instance timezone

     • There are times when the timezone will be correct. This means Google did not correctly sync the correct data.

5. From the Canvas setting

   • Back in admin navigate to Google Calendar: Google Account.

   • Select the check mark next to the account name

   • Select Sync with Google Calendar from the Action dropdown

     

   • Click Go to run the sync

6. Return to schedule view to make sure error is no longer visible and calendar loaded correctly

If synchronization issues persist, contact Canvas Support for assistance

FAQ & Troubleshooting

Q: Why isn't my provider's schedule appearing in Canvas?

A: First, ensure that the calendar names strictly adhere to Canvas naming conventions. Verify that all calendars are correctly configured, including the exact staff key of the provider from their Canvas staff profile is included in the description field on Google Calendar. If the issue persists, attempt a manual synchronization through the admin settings. Should synchronization still fail, reach out to Canvas Support for further assistance.

Q: Can providers manage their own availability?

A: Yes, if calendar sharing is enabled by the practice. Providers must accept the calendar sharing invitation and integrate the Canvas calendar into their personal Google account to manage their own availability.

Q: What should I do if I get timezone errors during synchronization?

A: First confirm all calendars are set to the correct timezone in Google Calendar. Then use the "Sync with Google Calendar" option from the admin action menu. If errors persist, contact Canvas Support.

Q: How do overlapping calendar blocks affect scheduling?

A: Overlapping blocks (such as Clinic and Admin blocks at the same time) can create scheduling conflicts. Best practice is to schedule blocks sequentially without time overlaps.

Q: What happens to same-day and next-day hold appointments?

A: Same-day hold slots become visible on the morning of the appointment day, while next-day hold slots become visible the morning before the appointment. These slots remain hidden until their designated reveal times.

Q: How does the beta note type restriction feature work?

A: This feature allows admins to specify which note types can be scheduled during specific availability periods. Settings are configured in Canvas admin after Google Calendar events sync, and restrictions are applied during appointment booking.

Q: Why should I include staff keys in calendar descriptions?

A: Including provider staff keys in calendar descriptions ensures synchronization continues to work properly if provider names change in the future, maintaining system integrity.

Q: How often does Google Calendar sync with Canvas?

A: Synchronization typically occurs automatically through Google API notifications. If automatic sync fails, manual synchronization is available through Canvas admin settings.

Related Resources

• Managing Staff Members

Keywords: provider availability, Google Calendar integration, calendar management, appointment scheduling, provider scheduling, calendar synchronization, staff scheduling, practice management

Categories: Practice Management, Scheduling, Integration, Provider Management, Calendar Management