What Is Room Traffic?
Room Traffic is a visual dashboard that shows you exactly where every patient is in your clinic, right now. Think of it like a live map of your office: you can see who's waiting, who's in an exam room, and who's checking out — all at a glance.
Each room on the dashboard is displayed as a column, and patient appointments appear as cards you can drag and drop between rooms as patients move through your clinic.
Getting Started
When you open Room Traffic for the first time, a Welcome dialog will guide you through setting up your rooms. You'll be prompted to create three types of rooms:
Room Type | Purpose |
Entry Room (Check-In) | Where patients check in. Moving an appointment here automatically marks the patient as Arrived. |
Exit Room (Check-Out) | Where patients check out. Moving an appointment here removes it from active rooms without marking it complete. |
Treatment Rooms | Your exam rooms, consultation rooms, fitting rooms — anywhere patients are seen during their visit. |
Tip: You only need one Entry Room and one Exit Room per clinic location, but you can create as many Treatment Rooms as you need.
To set up your rooms:
Navigate to Scheduling → Room Traffic for your clinic.
The Welcome dialog will appear automatically if no rooms have been created yet.
Click Set Up Rooms Now to begin.
Click the "Get Started by Creating a Patient Check-In" button to name your Entry Room.
Click the "Create Patient Check-Out" button to name your Exit Room.
Click "Add Room" to create your treatment rooms (e.g., "Exam Room 1", "Fitting Room A").
Understanding the Dashboard
Once your rooms are set up, the Room Traffic dashboard is organized left-to-right to match the natural flow of a patient visit:
Appointments → Entry Room → Treatment Rooms → Exit Room → Completed
Column Breakdown
Appointments — Shows today's upcoming appointments that haven't started yet. These are the patients you're expecting.
Entry Room (Check-In) — Patients who have arrived and checked in. Dragging an appointment here marks it as "Arrived."
Treatment Rooms — Your custom rooms (exam rooms, consultation rooms, etc.). Drag patients between these rooms as they move through their visit.
Exit Room (Check-Out) — Patients who are done with their visit and checking out.
Completed — Drag an appointment here to mark it as complete. This is the final step in the patient's visit.
Patient Cards
Each patient appears as a color-coded card showing:
Patient name
Appointment time (start and end)
Appointment type (e.g., "Hearing Test", "Follow-up")
Provider name
Arrival time (once checked in)
Time in room (how long the patient has been in their current room)
Click on any patient card to see more details about their appointment.
Moving Patients Between Rooms
Moving patients is as simple as drag and drop:
Click and hold a patient card.
Drag it to the desired room column.
Release to drop the patient into the new room.
What happens when you move a patient:
Action | Result |
Drag to Entry Room | Patient is marked as Arrived |
Drag between Treatment Rooms | Patient is moved to the new room; time tracking resets for the new room |
Drag to Exit Room | Patient is removed from their current room (checked out) |
Drag to Completed | Appointment is marked as Complete |
Note: The dashboard updates in real time. If a colleague moves a patient on their screen, you'll see the change reflected on yours as well.
Managing Your Rooms
You can add, rename, or remove rooms at any time.
From the Room Traffic Dashboard
Click the Edit Rooms button in the top-right corner of the dashboard.
Editing tools will appear on each room:
Edit (pencil icon) — Rename a room.
Delete (trash icon) — Remove a room. You'll be asked to confirm before it's deleted.
Add Room — A placeholder column appears where you can click to create a new room.
When you're done, click Hide Editing Tools to return to the normal view.
Tip: If you delete a room and later want to re-use the same name, you can — deleted room names are freed up for reuse.
Automatic Patient Flow
Room Traffic works hand-in-hand with your appointment statuses. Certain actions happen automatically:
When an appointment status is changed to "Arrived" (from any part of the system), the patient automatically appears in the Entry Room.
When an appointment is marked as "Completed" (from any part of the system), the patient automatically appears in the Exit Room.
This means that even if a staff member marks a patient as arrived from the scheduling calendar instead of the Room Traffic dashboard, the change will still be reflected on the Room Traffic screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I use Room Traffic for multiple clinics? Yes. Each clinic has its own set of rooms and its own Room Traffic dashboard. Switch between clinics using the clinic selector at the top of the screen.
Q: How often does the dashboard update? The dashboard refreshes automatically every 60 seconds. It also updates instantly when a patient arrival is detected.
Q: What if I don't see the Room Traffic option? Room Traffic is enabled by default for all practices. If you don't see it, contact your administrator to confirm it's turned on in your practice settings.
Q: Can I reorder my treatment rooms? Treatment rooms are displayed in alphabetical order. To change the order, you can rename your rooms with a numbering or lettering prefix (e.g., "1 - Exam Room", "2 - Fitting Room").
Q: What's the difference between the Exit Room and the Completed column? The Exit Room represents a physical check-out area — moving a patient there removes them from their treatment room without ending the appointment. The Completed column finalizes the appointment entirely and marks it as done in the system.
Q: Can I scroll if I have many rooms? Yes. If your rooms extend beyond the screen, scroll arrows will appear in the top-right corner of the dashboard to navigate left and right.