# Practice rules & policies

> Practice rules are your policies, built into how Intavia handles every conversation. Patients are offered the right appointments, hear your cancellation and deposit policies, and reach your team when your rules say they should.

Type: Capability (Scheduling & practice rules)
Last reviewed: 3 October 2026
Web page: https://www.intavia.ai/docs/practice-rules

## At a glance

- What it does: Applies your booking, cancellation, deposit and hand-off policies in every conversation
- Channels: Inbound and outbound calls, with additional channels available
- Integrations: Your practice management system, such as Dentally
- What you can customise: Who can book what, notice periods, your cancellation and deposit policies, and when requests go to your team
- What your team sees: Bookings that follow your rules, and tasks with the details for anything your rules send to your team
- Setup: Done for you by our team, around your practice policies

## How it works

Practice rules are built around your practice. Our team does the setup work: we agree with you how each situation should be handled, turn your policies into rules, and Intavia applies them whenever a patient books, moves or cancels an appointment or needs your team.

1. Plan: we agree your policies with you, from which patients can book each appointment to which requests your team handles. Our team turns them into rules.
2. Ask: the questions your rules depend on, such as whether the patient is new or how the appointment is funded, are asked before times are offered.
3. Apply: the rules decide which appointments, clinicians, locations and times can be offered, and which requests your team arranges.
4. Explain: your cancellation and deposit policies are explained when they apply, in the wording you have approved.
5. Check: the rules are checked again at the moment an appointment is booked, moved or cancelled, so every change stays inside them.
6. Next step: requests your rules send to your team are transferred or passed on as a task, following your hand-off rules.

## Options

These are the options we agree with you, not fixed settings. Each one can be shaped around how your practice works, and anything not listed here can be built into the plan.

| Option | What we agree with you |
| --- | --- |
| Appointment types | Which appointment types patients can book, and which your team arranges |
| Who can book what | Which patients each appointment is for, such as new or existing patients, age ranges or how the appointment is funded |
| Questions before booking | What is asked before times are offered, and in what order |
| Clinicians | Who can see each patient, including whether patients stay with their usual clinician |
| Notice and booking window | How soon and how far ahead appointments can be booked or moved |
| Cancellation policy | What counts as short notice, which appointments and patients it applies to, and what patients are told |
| Deposits | Which appointments need a deposit, what patients are told after booking, and whether your team gets a task to take the deposit |
| Changes and cancellations | Which appointments can be moved or cancelled directly and which go to your team |
| Hand-over | The situations that go to your team, and whether they're transferred or passed on as a task |
| Fallbacks | Alternative routes that keep things moving, such as offering other times, another clinician or another location, or passing the request to your team |

## Examples of practice rules

- New patients are offered a new patient appointment rather than a routine check-up.
- Certain appointment types are always passed to your team to arrange.
- Patients moving or cancelling at short notice hear your cancellation policy before the change is made.
- Patients booking an appointment that needs a deposit are told after booking, and your team can get a task to take it.
- Requests for your team are transferred while reception is open and passed on as a task when it's closed.

## Works together with

- [Appointment booking, changes & cancellations](https://www.intavia.ai/capabilities/appointment-booking): Appointments booked, moved and cancelled during the call, directly in your system.
- [Team hand-off, tasks & alerts](https://www.intavia.ai/docs/team-hand-off): Clear tasks and alerts so your team knows exactly what to do next.
- [Practice knowledge & pricing answers](https://www.intavia.ai/docs/practice-knowledge): Clear answers about your services, prices and practice, from information you approve.
- [New patient registration](https://www.intavia.ai/docs/new-patient-registration): New patients registered and booked in one call.
- [Multi-site practices](https://www.intavia.ai/docs/multi-site-practices): One receptionist that books at the right location.
- [PMS & booking system integration](https://www.intavia.ai/integrations): Live information from your practice system and appointments handled directly in it.

## FAQs

### Does Intavia take deposits?

Intavia explains your deposit policy once the appointment is booked, using the wording you have approved. Taking the deposit stays with your team, following your usual process.

### How are short-notice cancellations handled?

When a patient moves or cancels an appointment inside your short-notice window, they hear your policy before the change is made. Where your policy depends on the appointment type or the patient's plan, the matching wording is used.

### Can different appointments follow different rules?

Yes. Each appointment type can have its own rules for who can book it, how much notice is needed, and which clinicians and locations it's offered with.

### What if a situation isn't covered by our rules?

It goes to your team with the details already captured, following your hand-off rules, rather than Intavia guessing at a policy it hasn't been given.

### Can the rules change after launch?

Yes. Tell your support team what you need and they update the rules. There's nothing for you to configure.