Systems and methods are provided for establishing a bi-directional communication link with an implantable medical device. The systems and methods include an implantable medical device (IMD) and an external instrument configured to establish a wireless bi-directional communication link there between over a wireless protocol. The wireless bi-directional communication link is established based on a scanning interval. The external instrument includes one or more processors electrically coupled to a radio frequency (RF) circuit and a memory device. The one or more processors are configured to define the scanning interval based on an advertising schedule received from the IMD.