Appointments for a professional are captured and placed on an "electronic" waiting list (e.g., database of scheduled appointments) in an appointment system. When available, the professional (e.g., a physician) communicates with the appointment system and announces his availability. The appointment system begins contacting individuals (e.g., patients) on the waiting list (e.g., in an order specified by the professional), and then bridges the physician and patient for the appointment. The communications are preferably telephone calls, but may be telephone, electronic chats, e-mail, pages, etc. The appointment system includes a billing interface that charges the patient/patients insurance for the appointment. The Appointments themselves may be scheduled, for example, via a touch tone phone response system, a web interface, or other communication devices, etc.