Open Dental Forum

I'm trying to get our systems down a little better.

1) Is it possible to automatically make any patient who has not been in for an appointment, say within the last 18 months or some other time frame inactive? If so, is it possible to eliminate them from recall lists/planned appointment lists?

2) Same thing with collections/bad debt patients. Is it possible to automatically eliminate bad debt/collections patients from the recall lists etc.?

3) When we run recall, I'd like to run it for all active/good paying patients. I guess I need to run it for the last, say 12-18 months, not just the current month? How do I catch the patients that have been seen for a complete exam/films but have not been in for prophy/perio? Do I catch them on the recall list or the planned appointment list?

4) Is the planned appointment list the best way to keep track of treatment not completed? We just started using this feature so it might take a while for it it cycle through.

Sorry for the lengthy questions, but what reports do you run and when? Specifically with regard to patient management. I feel like we have a lot of patients slipping through the cracks and what to make sure we catch them all. Also, what's the usage of the treatment plan finder? How is it different from the planned appointment tracker? How does the unscheduled list fit into all this?

-sanders

1. A tool to set patients inactive would be a feature request.
2. As you set their billing type to bad debt, you should also be setting them inactive.
3. If they had an exam, then they won't show up on your recall list for another 6 months. 6 months isn't very long, so they won't permanently fall through the cracks. For better tracking, that patient should have a prophy as their planned appointment before they leave.
4. Yes. Until you get better at it, you can use some reports to track treatment not completed.

Unscheduled list should be kept very short. Maybe just appointments for the last week or two. Before you remove them from the unscheduled list, make sure they have a planned appointment. Are you using version 6.4 yet? It has more intensive recall that will keep less people from falling through the cracks.

." If they had an exam, then they won't show up on your recall list for another 6 months. 6 months isn't very long, so they won't permanently fall through the cracks. For better tracking, that patient should have a prophy as their planned appointment before they leave."

I thought recall wasn't supposed to be done through the planned appointment feature?

Only if you know that they will show on the recall list. If you know they won't, then you have to use the planned appt.

Okay.

Let me make sure I got this.

1) We've been using the planned appointments for about 2 months. I like it. All new patients in my office are seen by me first for an exam, films, treatment plan, etc. Before they leave, they are given a planned appointment for a hygiene appointment, and one for treatment (if needed).

2) For patients that will not be seen by hygiene, denture patients for example, should we disable the recall?

3) As long as we continue to utilize the planned appointments feature, we shouldn't have anyone slipping through the cracks? Correct?

4) The ASAP list is for patients that already have a scheduled appointment who would like to come in sooner, if possible?

5) The unscheduled list is for patients who had a scheduled appointment and broke it for whatever reason? How long should we keep them on the unscheduled list?

6) We have a number of patients who don't want to schedule recall 6 months in advance, but want to be called closer to their recall time. I guess the recall list is the best way to keep track of these patients?

Thanks.

Sounds like you understand the system well.
2. Probably.
4. Yes.
5. No more than a few weeks while you try to contact them.
6. Yes.

2) For patients that will not be seen by hygiene, denture patients for example, should we disable the recall?

To handle edentulous patients, I setup a separate recall type called "Edentulous" and under the recall setup selected it to show on the recall list. I added additional exam codes just to be used for Edentulous patients and set them as triggers for that recall type. I set the recall frequency to 12 months. So far it's been working flawlessly.