Overview
From the internal calendar, you can now:
Create a brand-new client and patient,
Add a new pet to an existing client, or
Link a client who is already registered at another clinic in your group, choosing which of their pets to bring over
…all from the Add Appointment modal, without navigating to separate Client or Patient screens.
This replaces the old Quick Appointment and gives you:
A single, fast booking flow for new callers
No extra effort to add client and patient information
Full appointment functionality (reminders, forms, deposits, as soon as the appointment is booked)
Where you start
From the Calendar view:
Click on an empty time slot or click the global Add Appointment button.
The Add Appointment modal opens.
On the left side, click “New Client or Patient?” (above the Patient field).
You’ll now see the header: “Add Appointment for a New Client or Patient”.
The modal is split into:
Left pane: Client & Patient details
Right pane: Appointment details (clinic, staff, visit type, time, status, forms, etc.)
Only the left side has changed. The appointment side works exactly as before.
Flow A – New client + new patient (new caller)
Use this when the caller has never been to your clinic.
Open Add Appointment modal and go to New Client or Patient?
In the Client section, fill in:
First Name (required)
Last Name (required)
Phone (required – validated in international format)
Email (optional, but needed for email confirmations and app invites)
Address (recommended for mobile clinics; optional otherwise)
In the Patient section, fill in at least:
Name (required)
Species (required)
Breed (required)
Optional: Sex, Reproductive status, Age
If you leave them blank, they’ll be stored as Unknown and can be updated later in the healthcard.
Fill in the mandatory Appointment details on the right:
Click Add Appointment.
What happens on Save
A new Client and Patient are created.
The appointment is booked for that patient.
If a phone is present, SMS confirmations/reminders follow your notification rules.
If an email is present, the welcome message and email confirmations are sent, according to your clinic settings.
Flow B – Existing client, new pet
Use this when the caller is already a client and they’re bringing a new pet.
You can connect them in two ways:
Option 1 – Search for an existing client
In the “Search for existing client” field at the top left, type the client’s:
Name, or
Email, or
Phone number
Pick the correct client from the results list.
The selected client appears in a Client card above the Patient section.
Fill in the new pet’s details (Name + Species at minimum).
Complete the appointment information on the right.
Click Add Appointment.
Result:
Existing Client is reused.
A new Patient is created and linked to that client.
The appointment is booked for the new pet.
Note: this search covers your own clinic only. A client who exists solely at another clinic in your group won’t appear here — they are surfaced when you type their email or phone into the new client form. See Option 3.
Option 2 – Start as “new” and resolve duplicates
Sometimes reception starts typing as if it’s a new client, but they’re already in Digitail. The system helps you avoid duplicates.
Phone duplicates (orange warning)
When you type a phone number that matches one or more existing clients, you’ll see an orange warning:
“We found X clients with the same phone number. Select one of them to avoid duplicates.”
Click Select client to open a dropdown with the matching clients.
Pick the correct one and the Client card will be populated automatically.
Email already used at your clinic (red warning)
If you enter an email that already belongs to a client at your clinic, you’ll see a red warning:
“:client_name (:email) is already a client at this clinic. View their pets or add a new one.”
Click View pets to open their pet list. From there you can pick up an existing pet or continue to register a new one.
Email addresses must be unique, so you cannot create a second client record with the same one.
Client registered at another clinic in your group (red warning)
If the email or phone matches a client at one of your sister clinics, you’ll see:
“:client_name (:email) is registered at :clinic_name, another clinic in your group. Link them to this clinic and choose which pets to bring over or register a new one.”
Click View pets and follow Option 3 below.
From here, the flow is the same as Option 1: add the new pet, complete the appointment, and click Add Appointment.
Option 3 – The client is registered at another clinic in your group
This applies only to clinics that belong to the same group in Digitail. Clients at unrelated clinics are never visible or searchable. Before you link them, you only see the client’s name and the email or phone that matched — no medical or financial information.
You don’t need to do anything differently: start registering them as a new client and Digitail spots the match while you type.
Type the client’s email or phone number in the Client section.
The red group-clinic warning appears. Click View pets.
The Review :client_name’s pets window opens, listing every pet they have across your group, with the hint “Select which pets to link to the current clinic.”
Tick the pets you want to bring into your clinic. Use Select All to take them all, or leave everything unticked if you only want the client. A search box appears when the list is long.
Click Next to link them. If you didn’t select any pets, click Add a new pet instead — the client is still added to your clinic and you go straight to registering a new pet.
A confirmation appears: “:count pets linked successfully. Register a new pet?” From here you can:
Add a new pet – continue to the patient details and register a pet that isn’t in the list yet.
Skip – finish here. The client and the pets you selected are now at your clinic.
Back – return to the pet list with your selection still ticked, in case you want to adjust it.
Once the client is linked, continue with the appointment details on the right and click Add Appointment as usual.
Linking more pets later, or removing one (coming soon)
You won’t have to decide everything at once. When you open the pets window for a client who is already at your clinic and belongs to a group, you’ll see two tabs: At this clinic (read-only) and Registered at group clinics, where you can tick further pets and click Next to bring them over. Unticking a pet you previously linked asks you to confirm — “Remove :count pet(s) from this clinic? They stay active at their other clinics and you can re-link anytime.” — and only removes it from your location.
Data validation & when records are created
Phone is required and validated; email is optional but recommended. Email is also what lets Digitail recognise a client who already exists elsewhere in your group.
Duplicate handling:
Matching phone at your clinic → suggests using an existing client.
Matching email at your clinic → you must use the existing client (no duplicate emails); View pets takes you to their pet list.
Matching email or phone at another clinic in your group → View pets lets you link the client and choose which of their pets to bring over.
The client and patient are only created when you click “Add Appointment”.
If you close the modal or cancel, no partial clients/patients are saved.
Unsaved changes warning
If you’ve entered any data (client, patient, or appointment details) and then try to close the modal:
A confirmation popover appears, letting you know that closing will discard all progress.
You can Cancel (stay and keep editing) or Close anyway.
This prevents accidentally losing a half-completed booking.
What happened to Quick Appointments?
The Quick Appointment flow has been removed and replaced by this unified Add Appointment flow.
Benefits:
Every booking now creates a proper Client + Patient record.
Notifications, deposits, forms, wellness plans, and reporting
The quick appointments option has been greyed out and users will be informed that they can complete the new client and/or patient directly in the add appointment flow.
FAQ
Q: Do I have to fill in all patient fields?
A: No. Only Name ,Species and Breed are required. Sex, Reproductive status, and Age can remain Unknown and be updated later.
Q: Will reminders still be sent if I don’t have an email?
A: Yes. As long as the phone number is valid and your appointment reminders use SMS channel, reminders will go out by SMS. Email confirmations and app invitations require an email address.
Q: Can I go back if I clicked “New Client or Patient?” by mistake?
A: Yes. Use “Go back to Select Patient” at the top left to return to the standard patient search.
Q: What if the client changes their mind and doesn’t book?
A: Just close the modal. Since client and patient records are only created on Add Appointment, nothing is saved.
Q: The client is at another clinic in our group. Do I have to create them again?
A: No. Type their email or phone as if they were new — Digitail recognises the match and offers to link the existing record to your clinic instead of creating a duplicate.
Q: Do all of their pets come over when I link a client?
A: Only the ones you tick in the Review :client_name’s pets window. You can link the rest later from the client’s pets window.
Q: What can I see about a client from another clinic before I link them?
A: Only their name and the email or phone number that matched what you typed. No medical history, no financial information.
Q: Can I link a client from a clinic outside our group?
A: No. This only works between clinics that belong to the same group in Digitail.