Setting Availability

Overview

To fully utilize the Ankota scheduling system, admins can input their staff's availability (both days and hours) and time off directly into ankota.net.

Note: In some agencies, staff are responsible for entering their own availability via the Caregiver Portal. If your agency is interested in this feature but doesn’t have it yet, please contact an Ankota specialist for help setting it up.

To enter this information, first open the caregiver's profile whose availability and/or time off you wish to enter.

Next, click the Availability tab.

The screen will appear below. The left side of the screen for Availability and the right side for Time Off/Conflict.

Availability

This is where you can define the available times for your staff.

Note: Your base calendar will represent all dates. If you add a specific date range, it will overwrite the calendar for those specific dates.

First add the hours per week available and hit save changes

Then select Add Slot

Select the days and times available.

Set your working hours for that day in a typical week or you can select Show More and do by date range then select Save. The following other statuses are also available:

• Working

• Busy

• Unavailable

• Unavailable (Full Day)

• Standby

• Available

Tagging hours as Busy functions the same as marking a caregiver as unavailable. Unavailable indicates partial unavailability, while Unavailable (Full Day) marks the caregiver out for the entire day. Standby and Available both mean the caregiver is eligible to receive shift offers, but not automatically scheduled. In most cases, Working and Standby are the options used most frequently.

You can use the edit pencil to adjust individual time entries as needed.

The dated Availability Calendar will override any overlapping entries set in the Base Calendar. You can view both calendars by scrolling down within the Availability tab.

Setting Time Off/Conflict

At times, you'll need to make exceptions and mark a caregiver out as unavailable. 

To do so, return to the Availability tab. On the right of the screen there will be Time off/Conflict. Next to add time off, select Add Time off/Conflict.

Change the Type to an appropriate category, such as Unavailable (Full day), then click the Save Adjustment(s) button.

If you have a visit scheduled on this day, the system will warn you and ask you if you wish to proceed. Proceed if desired. The visit will not be unassigned, so be sure to delete any visits that present a conflict, unless you wish to keep them. (This functionality allows you to make the decision; this is particularly useful when a caregiver wishes to be out for the day, but agrees to keep one short visit. As the admin, you make the call on what to keep assigned or unassigned.)

You can view all Pending Time Off requests below. Administrators can approve a request by clicking the green button, which will move it to the Approved Time Off section.

The caregiver's calendar (on all calendars) will be marked appropriately to reflect the calendar adjustment.