Features

One system, from the first phone call to the last invoice.

Tabs was built as a single product rather than a diary with modules bolted on. Here is what is actually in it — and, at the bottom, what is not.

Diary and front desk

The day, under control.

Book in seconds

Search a patient, pick a service, and only genuinely free times are offered — availability is worked out in 15-minute steps against the practitioner's hours and existing bookings.

Nobody double-books

If two people grab the same slot at the same moment, one gets it and the other is told immediately. The check happens in the database, not the browser.

Recurring blocks

Set up a weekly or fortnightly rehab block of 2 to 12 sessions in one go. Clashes are reported rather than silently moved, so you stay in charge of the diary.

Status at a glance

Confirm, check in, start, complete, cancel or mark a no-show. Every change records who did it and when, and a cancellation always carries a reason.

Waiting list that works

Keep a list of patients waiting for a slot in a busy period, with their preferred days and practitioner. Open an entry to see the next genuinely bookable openings and book one from there.

Services and practitioners

Each service carries its own duration and price, and can be limited to the practitioners who actually offer it — so nobody gets booked for something they don't do.

The clinical record

Notes that hold up.

A record you would be comfortable handing to a colleague, a medical aid or a lawyer — written quickly enough that you actually finish it in the room.

Sign and lock

Work in draft as long as you like. Signing locks the note and fingerprints its contents, so a signed record cannot be quietly edited afterwards.

Corrections done properly

Need to add something later? Write a dated, signed addendum. The original note stays exactly as it was — which is the whole point.

Assessment forms per profession

Every profession starts with a real initial assessment form — 45 to 64 fields written for that discipline — and you edit it into your own.

Build your own forms

Nine field types including body maps and signature capture, with a live preview. Editing a form in use publishes a new version, so old answers keep their original questions.

Outcome measures with scoring

Eight built-in instruments — NPRS, PSFS, LEFS, QuickDASH, PHQ-9, GAD-7 and disability indices for the lower back and neck — scored automatically, with change tracked against what counts as clinically meaningful. The two disability indices use our own condensed wording, since the published questionnaires are copyrighted.

Photos with consent built in

Dated photo series with side-by-side comparison. Consent must be confirmed for every upload, and that confirmation is stored with the photograph.

Exercise programmes

160 exercises ready to prescribe with sets, reps, rest and frequency, or add your own. A programme keeps a copy of each exercise as prescribed, so later library edits never rewrite a patient's plan.

Diagnosis codes on the line

A curated set of 270 ICD-10 codes for the conditions allied health actually treats, attached per invoice line, with free text allowed when you need it.

Psychology records stay private

Session notes are visible only to the treating therapist until someone with staff-management rights explicitly grants access — not automatically to owners or managers.

Billing and money

Get paid without chasing.

Invoices that behave

Build it as a draft, issue it, and it becomes a properly numbered, dated invoice that cannot be edited afterwards. Corrections go through credit notes, the way your accountant expects.

Card payments on the spot

Take payment at the desk or send a link. The money settles into your practice's own bank account and the invoice marks itself paid — no manual matching.

Manual receipts too

EFT, cash or your own card machine — record it against the right invoice and the patient gets a receipt automatically.

Know who owes you

A live debtors view splitting what you are owed into current, 30, 60 and 90-plus days, so nothing quietly ages past recovery.

Statements and PDFs

Branded invoice and statement PDFs carrying your practice name, VAT and registration numbers, line-item codes and totals.

Monthly plans off a saved card

Membership-style clients can pay a set amount each month from a card they save once, collected automatically between the 1st and 28th.

Packages and memberships

Sell blocks of sessions and watch the balance count down as they are used, with an append-only history behind every number.

Retail stock

Put braces, tape or supplements on an invoice and stock drops automatically, with a full movement ledger behind it.

Your bookkeeper's export

Download a journal formatted for Xero or Sage. It is a file your bookkeeper imports rather than a live two-way sync — which is how most bookkeepers prefer to work anyway.

Patients

Fewer phone calls, better prepared visits.

Your own booking page

A five-step booking wizard at your own web address. No login, works on a phone, and an online booking matches an existing patient by email or mobile before creating a new record.

Confirmations and reminders

An immediate confirmation email, then a reminder before the appointment at whatever notice you choose — 24 hours by default, and you can add more.

They reschedule themselves

Every confirmation carries a secure link where the patient can move or cancel that booking without phoning you — and you see it happen in the diary.

The patient portal

A private login with five sections — home, appointments, forms, programmes and invoices — secured by a one-time code sent to their email.

Forms before they arrive

Send an intake or consent form as a secure link and it is completed before the visit, instead of on a clipboard in your waiting room.

Four languages

The booking pages and form links read in English, Afrikaans, isiZulu or isiXhosa, so patients can book in the language they are comfortable in.

Running the practice

The owner's view.

One dashboard

Today's expected revenue, what has been billed and collected this month, what is outstanding and how full the diary is — without exporting anything.

Your team, precisely

Six roles as a starting point, then six permissions you set per person — clinical viewing, clinical editing, finance, staff, settings and reports — because real practices never fit a template exactly.

Follow-up queue

A daily list of patients worth a nudge — those not seen in 30 to 90 days with nothing booked — with a drafted email you review before it goes.

Reports that answer questions

Revenue, appointment volumes, cancellation and no-show rates, and practitioner activity — read on screen, without exporting anything or waiting for month end.

Bring your patients across

Import patients and past appointment history from CSV with a preview and column mapping, so you can check it before anything is written.

Your own email wording

Ten of the emails patients receive can be rewritten in your practice's voice, with a preview before you save.

Being straight with you

What Tabs does not do.

Software demos have a way of glossing over the gaps. We would rather you knew now than after you have moved your practice across.

Medical aid claim submission

Tabs records scheme details and prints an invoice carrying them alongside ICD-10 diagnosis codes. It does not submit electronically to schemes, check benefits in real time, import remittances, or hold procedure and tariff codes — practices that bill schemes directly keep their bureau or billing tool for that.

Video consultations

There is no video calling inside Tabs. Each practitioner stores their own Zoom, Teams or Meet link, which patients receive with a telehealth appointment — the call itself happens in your tool, on your standing meeting room.

SMS or WhatsApp messaging

Patient communication is email today. WhatsApp is built but not switched on, because it needs Meta's approval of each message template first.

A live accounting integration

You export a journal file for Xero or Sage and your bookkeeper imports it. There is no continuous two-way sync with an accounting package.

Card refunds through the processor

Because a card payment settles straight into your bank account rather than ours, Tabs cannot reverse it through the card processor. You repay the patient by EFT and record the refund in Tabs, which keeps the invoice and the audit trail correct.

Deposits or automatic no-show fees

You can set a cancellation-notice policy and see no-show rates in reports, but Tabs will not take a deposit up front or automatically charge a penalty.

Importing your full history

Patients and past appointments import from CSV. Old invoices, clinical notes and documents stay in your previous system — most practices keep it read-only for reference.

Want to see it on your own diary?

Half an hour, your real workflow, no slide deck.