Getting started
This guide walks you through setting up a brand-new clinic on Cradlen and taking it all the way to a booked, examined, and paid visit. Follow the steps in order — a couple of them depend on earlier ones being done first.
The short version
Register → create your organization → review settings → add staff → add services and a default price list → book a visit → run the visit → take payment.
Set up your clinic, step by step
Create your account
Sign up at /sign-up with your name, email, phone, and a password, then confirm your email. This creates the personal login you'll use to manage the clinic.
Create your organization and first branch
On /create-organization you name the organization, create its first branch, and set your owner profile (including your specialty if you practice). Cradlen creates the organization, the branch, and your owner profile, then drops you into the dashboard for that branch.
Review settings
Open Settings from the sidebar. Confirm the organization profile, the branch details and the specialties it serves, and your subscription plan — the plan sets your limits for staff, visits, and invoices. You can add more branches here at any time.
Add your staff
Go to Staff and invite team members by email. For each person assign a role (owner, staff, or branch manager) and a job function (doctor, receptionist, or accountant). For staff with the doctor job function, set the specialty and subspecialties and a weekly schedule (the working days and hours). Invited staff accept from the email link and appear on the team.
Add services and a default price list
In Financial → Services, build your service catalog (consultations, procedures, lab tests, imaging, and so on). Then create one price list and mark it as the default — bookings and invoices read their prices from it. Finally, on the Authorizations tab, authorize each doctor for the services they deliver. You can layer per-doctor or per-branch price overrides later.
Book a visit
From Visits, open the booking drawer and choose specialty → doctor → subspecialty, select or create the patient inline, pick a service, and set the date and time. Submitting creates the visit and a draft charge for the booked service.
Run the visit and examination
Open the visit to load its examination workspace. The form adapts to the visit's subspecialty. The doctor records the exam, adds any extra charges as care is delivered, and marks the visit completed.
Bill the visit and take payment
In Financial → Invoices, turn the visit's pending charges into an invoice, then record the payment (cash, card, and so on). The invoice moves from draft to issued to paid as money comes in.
Before you can book
Services and a default price list come first
Booking looks up a price when you pick a service, so your service catalog and a default price list must exist before you book your first visit.
Doctors need a specialty and a schedule
Booking filters doctors by specialty and checks availability against their schedule. Add at least one doctor with a specialty and an active weekly schedule before booking.
Doctors must be authorized for their services
A doctor can only be booked for a service they're authorized to deliver. Authorize each doctor for their services under Financial → Services → Authorizations before booking.
Where to go next
- Visits — the full booking-to-examination flow.
- Financial & billing — services, price lists, invoices, and payments.
- Roles & permissions — who can see and do what.
Still stuck? The Help Center answers the most common questions.