Calendar Sync
Sessions Health offers One-Way calendar sync with several external calendars, and Two-Way sync with Google calendar. One-Way sync will enable you to see your Sessions Health events on your external calendar. Two-Way sync will also allow you to see events from your Google calendar on your Sessions Health calendar.
Setup
To setup calendar sync, click "..." in the upper right corner of your calendar view and select Sync Calendar.
From the following screen, click the box next to Allow your Sessions calendar to sync to an external calendaring application. You will then select how you would like your client names to be displayed in your external calendar.
- Use Internal ID - This will display the Sessions Health pre-assigned identifier, or the identifier you setup, in place of the client's name. When using this option, you'll want to make sure your account has Internal IDs enabled under the Account Settings > Clients page. When enabled, the internal IDs are displayed in your Clients page and in each client's record. This will allow you match the client ID with the client's name. Internal IDs is the most secure option, especially if you are unsure if your 3rd party calendar provider is HIPAA secure.
- Use First Name - This option will display the client's first name in your external calendar.
- Use Full Name - This option displays your clients' full name in your external calendar. Due to the risk of exposing PII, we do not recommend this option. Syncing your clients' full names with a non-compliant service would be a HIPAA violation.
- Use Initials - This option will display the client's initials in your external calendar.
You'll then want to choose whether you want One-Way or Two-Way sync enabled.
One-way sync
Below are a few links from popular calendar providers on how to use this URL to add your Sessions Health calendar. If you use another calendar provider, most offer a way to import an external calendar from a .ICS URL. Please search your calendar provider's help documentation to accomplish this, if you are having trouble, please contact us at support@sessionshealth.com
- Apple: https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/use-multiple-calendars-iph3d1110d4/ios
- Google: https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37100
- Outlook: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/import-or-subscribe-to-a-calendar-in-outlook-on-the-web-503ffaf6-7b86-44fe-8dd6-8099d95f38df
Two-way sync with Google calendar
Note: All client appointments with 2-way sync must originate from your Sessions Health calendar. Client appointments include your client information, service location, services, billing, notes, reminders, etc. which are all components of your Sessions Health account, not your Google account.
To start, select Two-Way Sync with Google Calendar to allow your Sessions Health and Google calendars to send and receive event information.
Next, click the Connect with Google button and allow Sessions Health to access your Google calendar.
Next, you will want to select your Default Calendar. Be sure to select New Google Calendar.
Important: We require creating a new Sessions Health calendar when syncing to a New Google Calendar rather than your primary Google calendar (which is typically listed as your Google email address).
Next, click Start Sync to sync your calendar. This process may take a few minutes. After it's complete, you'll see a checkmark next the the synced calendar.
Other Google Calendars
After your default calendar has been synced, additional Google calendars that can be synced will appear in the Sessions Health calendar sync page. You may need to refresh your page after your default calendar has been synced to view the Other Calendars.
Click the Sync button on each tile for the calendar you wish to sync. It may require you to refresh the page to see the status of the sync. You'll see a checkmark inside the tile once the calendar sync is complete.
Important: Do not edit any events from your Google calendar that originated from your Sessions Health calendar. All appointments and events created in Sessions Health will need to be edited from your Sessions Health calendar to avoid issues. For example, due to the way Google handles events, editing a recurring appointment that originates from Sessions Health from your Google Calendar causes Google to create a duplicate recurring series as an external event instead of a client appointment. Similarly, you should avoid editing any Google created events from your Sessions Health calendar.
Events in Google
When your Sessions Health client events are synced to your Google calendar, you will see a lock icon. The lock icon indicates a client-level event with an un-editable title. To avoid sync issues, these locked events should never be changed from your Google Calendar. You must create and edit Sessions Health events from your Sessions Health calendar.
Note: You cannot create new client appointments from your Google calendar because your client list, service locations, services, etc. all reside in your Sessions Health account.
Deleting or editing events
Removing my Sessions Health calendar from my Google calendar
To remove your Sessions Health calendar from your Google calendar, login to your Google calendar. Locate the Sessions Health calendar from the left panel, then click the X., then click the Remove calendar button to confirm.
Removing Google calendar events from your Sessions Health calendar
If you synced your 2-way Sessions Health calendar with Google, you can switch from the 2-way sync option to 1-way sync. This will clear your Sessions Health calendar from any Google events. You cannot create new client appointments from your Google calendar because your client list, service locations, services, etc. all reside in your Sessions Health account.
FAQ
Do you offer calendar sync?
Yes, we currently offer both two-way sync with Google and a one-way calendar sync that is compatible with any software that accepts .ICS calendar formats.
Do you sync with ical?
Yes. We export the calendar as a .ICS URL which integrates with most calendar apps.
Regarding Calendar syncing, what client identifier options do you have with 3rd party calendars?
You can select to use a client ID, client initials, first name, or full name. Please be careful about exposing PII in calendars outside of Sessions Health. We suggest you refer to HIPAA to make sure you're not making a PII violation.
Why is my Google Calendar not syncing or taking a long time to sync?
If using a one-way sync calendar, Google calendar has a known limitation where they only sync "From URL" calendars about once per day. Other calendar apps like Apple on iPhone allow you set a frequency including as often as every 15 minutes. One-way sync and so we rely upon the consuming calendar app to get new events by checking the URL. Using 2-way sync will provide better performance.
Why do I not see the changes I made on my Google Calendar in Sessions Health?
If you are using two-way sync, you may need to refresh your Sessions Health screen to see updated events in the calendar.
How can I change how clients are displayed in my Google Calendar after the sync?
Changing the way client identifiers are displayed requires a triggering event from your Sessions Health calendar. We recommend removing the existing synced calendar from your Google calendar and re-sync it from your Sessions Health account.
To re-sync all events, first select how you want your clients displayed. Then, toggle your sync type back and forth (ex. if you have 2-way sync, change the sync to 1-way, then back to 2-way). Re-syncing your calendar will display the updated client identifier you chose.
Your Google Calendar may have duplicate records (from both the older and newer sync instances). In that case, you can just remove/unsubscribe the older instance from your Google Calendar.
If I have 2-way sync enabled and a Google event is set to "Busy", will that also be displayed as "Busy" on my Sessions Health calendar?
Yes, Sessions Health will pull in the correct status of your Google event. This is helpful if you want to block your Sessions Health calendar from being scheduled by clients using your online booking during events you set on your Google calendar.
How do I remove Sessions Health access to my Google calendar?
If you need to remove Sessions Health access to your Google calendar, you can make this change within your Google account. Sign in to your Google account and go to Manage Your Google Account. Click Security and scroll to the Your connections to third-party apps & services panel. Then select Delete all connections you have with Sessions Health.