> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.clinikehr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Calendar integrations

> Connect a clinician's Google or Outlook calendar two ways, or subscribe to an outside calendar one way, and decide whether its events block booking.

export const StillStuck = ({topic}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--note" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      <strong>Still stuck{topic ? ` with ${topic}` : ''}?</strong>{' '}
      Check <a href="/platform/help/troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</a> first —
      it covers the failures we see most often. If that does not resolve it,{' '}
      <a href="/platform/help/contact-support">contact support</a> and include
      your workspace name and the time the problem happened, so we can find the
      matching entry in your audit log.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const TaskHeader = ({before, time, after}) => <div className="ck-task">
    {before ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Before you start</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{before}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {time ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Takes about</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{time}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {after ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">When you're done</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{after}</p>
      </div> : null}
  </div>;

export const Path = ({steps = []}) => <span className="ck-path">
    {steps.map((s, i) => <span key={i} className="ck-path__step">
        {i > 0 ? <span className="ck-path__sep" aria-hidden="true">
            ›
          </span> : null}
        {s}
      </span>)}
  </span>;

export const Availability = ({editions = ['all'], plans, roles, note}) => {
  const list = editions.includes('all') ? ['clinic', 'pharmacy', 'lims'] : editions;
  return <div className="ck-avail" role="note" aria-label="Feature availability">
      <span className="ck-avail__label">Available in</span>

      {list.map(e => <span key={e} className={`ck-pill ck-pill--${e}`}>
          {EDITION_LABELS[e] || e}
        </span>)}

      {plans ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Plan</span> : null}
      {plans ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--plan">{plans}</span> : null}

      {roles ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Who</span> : null}
      {roles ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--role">{roles}</span> : null}

      {note ? <span className="ck-avail__note">{note}</span> : null}
    </div>;
};

<Availability editions={['clinic']} plans="Enterprise" roles="Owner or manager" note="Any staff member can connect their own account; only owners and managers manage subscriptions" />

Consultants rarely work in one system. This tab keeps the hospital calendar honest about the rest of a clinician's week — either by connecting their own account both ways, or by subscribing to an outside calendar one way.

<Path steps={['Sidebar', 'Settings', 'Patient Experience', 'Calendar Integrations']} />

<TaskHeader before="For a subscription, the secret .ics address from the other calendar" time="5 minutes per calendar" after="Outside commitments visible here, and optionally blocking new bookings" />

## What this tab controls

The tab has two halves, and they do different jobs.

### Connected Accounts — two-way

"Connect your Google or Outlook calendar with two-way sync. Each staff member links their own account." Select **Google** or **Outlook**, sign in, and choose which calendars to sync. Appointments here are copied out to that calendar, and its events come back.

Each connected account has **Sync now**, **Choose calendars**, **Reconnect** and **Disconnect**.

### Calendar Subscriptions (read-only) — one-way

"Subscribe to an external calendar (Google, Outlook, Apple, or any .ics URL) … Events appear on your clinic calendar and stay in sync — read-only, one-way."

| Control                                                              | What it does                                                                                                         | Default      |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------ |
| **Add calendar**                                                     | Opens **Connect a calendar**                                                                                         | —            |
| **Calendar URL**                                                     | The secret `.ics` or `webcal://` address, with a **Test connection** button that reports how many events it can read | Required     |
| **Display name**                                                     | What the feed is called in the list                                                                                  | Required     |
| **Assign to staff (optional)**                                       | Whose calendar this is                                                                                               | No one       |
| **Default venue**                                                    | **In person** or **Online**                                                                                          | In person    |
| **Sync frequency**                                                   | Every 15 or 30 minutes, hourly, every 2, 6 or 12 hours, or daily                                                     | Hourly       |
| **Blocks booking** / **Info only**                                   | Per-feed switch on the row                                                                                           | Set per feed |
| **Sync now** · **Reveal URL** · **Copy URL** · **Edit** · **Remove** | Row actions. Revealing the URL is owner-only                                                                         | —            |

A privacy card above the list sets how much patient identity appears on a synced calendar, clinic-wide.

## Set it up

<Steps>
  <Step title="Decide which half you need">
    Use **Connected Accounts** when a clinician wants their hospital diary and their own calendar to agree in both directions. Use **Calendar Subscriptions** when you only need to see an outside commitment — a rota, a teaching block, a platform like Headway or Alma.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect an account">
    Select **Google** or **Outlook**, sign in as that clinician, then use **Choose calendars** to pick which of their calendars sync.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Or copy a secret .ics address">
    In the other calendar, find its private iCal address. The **How to connect a calendar** panel spells out where it lives in Google, Outlook, Apple iCloud and the therapy platforms. Always take the **secret / private** link and treat it like a password.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add and test it">
    Select **Add calendar**, paste the address, then **Test connection**. You should see the calendar name and a count of upcoming events before you save.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign it and set the frequency">
    Pick the staff member it belongs to, and a **Sync frequency** that matches how often that calendar really changes.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Select **Connect & import**. The first sync runs immediately and reports what it created.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose blocking or info only">
    On the feed's row, use the **Blocks booking** / **Info only** switch. It confirms with "Now blocks booking" or "Now info-only".
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What changes once you save

**Imported events appear on the hospital calendar** at the venue you nominated, and stay in step on your chosen frequency.

**A blocking feed makes that time unbookable — but does not create a ClinikEHR appointment.** This is the distinction that decides how you use the switch:

* **Blocks booking** — the provider's slots at that time disappear from availability, so nobody double-books them. There is no appointment, no patient, no invoice and no clinical record.
* **Info only** — the event is visible to staff and changes nothing about what can be booked.

**Sync is periodic, not instant.** An event added to the outside calendar a minute ago is not here yet; it arrives on the next run, or immediately if you select **Sync now**. Plan around that when a clinician cancels at short notice — use **Sync now**, or block the time here directly.

**Imported events are not linked to a patient.** "Open one on the calendar to link it if it represents a clinical encounter."

Connecting an account also sends the other way, and that is your responsibility to manage: "your ClinikEHR appointments are copied to your external calendar — including telehealth visits and their secure join links. Anyone with access to that calendar can see them." Set the clinic-wide privacy card before you connect anything.

Removing a feed stops syncing at once and removes its imported events; anything you linked to a patient is kept as a normal local appointment.

## Check it worked

Open the hospital calendar for the assigned clinician and find one event you know exists in the other calendar. Then, on a feed set to **Blocks booking**, try to book that provider over the top of it — those times should not be offered. On a feed set to **Info only**, they should still be.

## Common issues

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="There is no Calendar Integrations tab">
    It appears for owners and managers only. Everyone else with settings access does not see it at all.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I can connect my own account but see no subscription list">
    Subscriptions are clinic-wide governance and load for owners and managers only. Connecting your own account works for any staff member.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Test connection fails">
    You almost certainly have the public sharing link, not the secret iCal one. It must start `https://` or `webcal://` and end at an `.ics` feed.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A feed says it was auto-paused">
    "…auto-paused after repeated sync errors. Check the URL, then re-enable to resume." A regenerated secret address is the usual cause — edit the feed and paste the new one.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="An event is on the calendar but people can still book over it">
    That feed is **Info only**. Switch it to **Blocks booking** on the row.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A blocking event did not create an appointment">
    Correct — it never does. It reserves the time and nothing more. Book a real appointment if the visit belongs in the record.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<StillStuck />