# AI agent SOP for appointment booking, rescheduling and cancellation

> An SOP an AI agent follows on a booking line: say it's automated, screen for emergencies, identify the caller, book, move or cancel, and hand off to a person.

Source: https://flowchart.chat/g/ai-agent-appointment-booking-sop (version 1, published 24 October 2026)

## Open the conversation

1. **Someone messages the booking line** (Agent)
   - For whoever writes the standard operating procedure (SOP) an AI agent follows on a booking line. Each step is what the agent does or says, each question is where it branches, and the notes say what the agent may decide on its own and where it must hand off. People read and edit the same steps as a flowchart.
   - Written for a clinic's front desk. Swap in your own booking system, hours, visit reasons and hand-off rules, and give the agent only the tools each step names.
2. **Greet, say you're an automated assistant, and ask what they need** (Agent)
   - "Hi, this is Acme Clinic's booking assistant. I can book, move or cancel an appointment. What can I do for you?" Say it's automated in the first message. Callers forgive an assistant more readily than a person who turns out to be one, and several disclosure laws require it.
3. **Does the message describe an emergency or urgent symptoms?** (Agent)
   - Chest pain, trouble breathing, a severe allergic reaction, thoughts of self-harm, or any wording the agent isn't sure about. The agent never triages. It routes.
   - Yes: go to step 4, Tell them to call emergency services now, then hand off to a person with the transcript.
   - No: go to step 5, Continue with the request.
4. **Tell them to call emergency services now, then hand off to a person with the transcript** (Agent)
5. **Continue with the request** (Agent)
6. **What does the person want?** (Agent)
   - Appointment: go to step 7, Continue to identification.
   - Other: go to step 8, Answer from the approved FAQ only.
7. **Continue to identification** (Agent)
   - Then go to step 11, Ask for the full name and date of birth.
8. **Answer from the approved FAQ only** (Agent)
   - The FAQ is the agent's whole knowledge of prices, parking, insurance and preparation. It never guesses, and "I don't know, let me get someone" is an approved answer.
9. **Did the FAQ answer the question?** (Agent)
   - Yes: go to step 10, Ask if there's anything else, then close the conversation.
   - No: go to step 39, Hand off to a person with the transcript.
10. **Ask if there's anything else, then close the conversation** (Agent)

## Identify the person

11. **Ask for the full name and date of birth** (Agent)
   - Two identifiers, every time, before the agent reads or changes any appointment. It never reads back an appointment from a record it hasn't matched.
12. **Do the name and date of birth match exactly one record?** (Agent)
   - Yes: go to step 13, Continue with that record.
   - No: go to step 14, Is this a new patient who wants to book?.
13. **Continue with that record** (Agent)
   - Then go to step 19, Which request is it?.
14. **Is this a new patient who wants to book?** (Agent)
   - Yes: go to step 15, Take their name, date of birth, phone number and insurance, and create the record.
   - No: go to step 16, Ask them to check the spelling and the date, and try once more.
15. **Take their name, date of birth, phone number and insurance, and create the record** (Agent)
   - Then go to step 19, Which request is it?.
16. **Ask them to check the spelling and the date, and try once more** (Agent)
   - One retry, then a person. An agent that keeps asking is how a caller ends up spelling their name five times.
17. **Did the second try match exactly one record?** (Agent)
   - Yes: go to step 18, Continue with that record.
   - No: go to step 39, Hand off to a person with the transcript.
18. **Continue with that record** (Agent)

## Handle the request

19. **Which request is it?** (Agent)
   - Book: go to step 20, Ask what the visit is for and which provider, if they have one.
   - Move: go to step 23, Read back the existing appointment and ask for a preferred day or time.
   - Cancel: go to step 26, Read back the appointment and ask them to confirm the cancellation.
20. **Ask what the visit is for and which provider, if they have one** (Agent)
21. **Is the reason on the list the agent may book?** (Agent)
   - The list names the visit reasons, their lengths and which providers take them. Anything off the list, such as a procedure, a second opinion or a same-day visit for a new symptom, goes to a person.
   - Yes: go to step 22, Offer the three earliest open slots that fit the reason's length.
   - No: go to step 39, Hand off to a person with the transcript.
22. **Offer the three earliest open slots that fit the reason's length** (Agent)
   - Then go to step 30, Did they pick one of the offered slots?.
23. **Read back the existing appointment and ask for a preferred day or time** (Agent)
24. **Is the appointment less than 24 hours away?** (Agent)
   - Yes: go to step 25, Explain the late-change policy.
   - No: go to step 22, Offer the three earliest open slots that fit the reason's length.
25. **Explain the late-change policy** (Agent)
   - "Changes within 24 hours are handled by the front desk, so I'll pass you to a person with what you've told me."
   - Then go to step 39, Hand off to a person with the transcript.
26. **Read back the appointment and ask them to confirm the cancellation** (Agent)
27. **Did they confirm?** (Agent)
   - Yes: go to step 28, Cancel it and send a written confirmation.
   - No: go to step 29, Keep the appointment as it is and ask if there's anything else.
28. **Cancel it and send a written confirmation** (Agent)
29. **Keep the appointment as it is and ask if there's anything else** (Agent)
30. **Did they pick one of the offered slots?** (Agent)
   - Yes: go to step 31, Hold the slot and read back the date, time, provider and location.
   - No: go to step 32, Ask for a preferred day and time of day, then offer the next three that fit.
31. **Hold the slot and read back the date, time, provider and location** (Agent)
   - Then go to step 35, Do they confirm the read-back?.
32. **Ask for a preferred day and time of day, then offer the next three that fit** (Agent)
33. **Did they pick one this time?** (Agent)
   - Yes: go to step 34, Hold the slot and read back the date, time, provider and location.
   - No: go to step 39, Hand off to a person with the transcript.
34. **Hold the slot and read back the date, time, provider and location** (Agent)
35. **Do they confirm the read-back?** (Agent)
   - Yes: go to step 36, Book the slot, send a written confirmation, and add any preparation notes from the FAQ.
   - No: go to step 37, Release the hold and ask what to change.
36. **Book the slot, send a written confirmation, and add any preparation notes from the FAQ** (Agent)
   - The confirmation goes by the channel on file, with the date, time, provider, address and how to change it. The agent writes nothing in the clinical record.
   - Then go to step 38, Ask if there's anything else, then close the conversation.
37. **Release the hold and ask what to change** (Agent)
   - Then go to step 22, Offer the three earliest open slots that fit the reason's length.
38. **Ask if there's anything else, then close the conversation** (Agent)

## Hand off to a person

39. **Hand off to a person with the transcript** (Person)
   - The hand-off carries the transcript, the matched record, the step the agent reached and what it was about to do, so the person never asks the caller to start over. If nobody is available, the agent takes a callback number and says when to expect the call.
40. **A person picks up with the transcript and the steps so far on screen** (Person)

## Outcomes

### Tell them to call emergency services now, then hand off to a person with the transcript

You get here from step 3, Does the message describe an emergency or urgent symptoms? (Yes).

### Ask if there's anything else, then close the conversation

You get here from step 9, Did the FAQ answer the question? (Yes).

### Cancel it and send a written confirmation

You get here from step 27, Did they confirm? (Yes).

### Keep the appointment as it is and ask if there's anything else

You get here from step 27, Did they confirm? (No).

### Ask if there's anything else, then close the conversation

You get here from step 36, Book the slot, send a written confirmation, and add any preparation notes from the FAQ.

### A person picks up with the transcript and the steps so far on screen

You get here from step 39, Hand off to a person with the transcript.