Api Request: Same for Entire Family in the Patient Update

[manish.bhalodi.tech9]

Hello Open Dental Team,

In the Open Dental Patient UI, there is a very helpful feature called "Same for Entire Family". When updating patient details such as:

Address
Phone
Phone Notes
Email
Billing and Provider(s)

…the system allows the changes to automatically propagate to all family members linked to that patient.

Currently, the Patient PUT Update API (/patients) does not provide a way to perform these updates across the entire family. Each family member’s record must be updated individually via separate API calls. This not only adds overhead but also increases the chance of inconsistencies if a family member’s data is missed or updated incorrectly.

Request:
Extend the Patient Update PUT API to support a flag or parameter (e.g., sameForEntireFamily=true) that would apply provided field updates for Address, Phone, Phone Notes, or Email to all family members in the same guarantor/family group.

Important Consideration:
Just like the current Patient API behavior, if a field is null or not provided in the request, it should not be updated (nor cleared) for any family member. Only explicitly provided fields (e.g., new Address) should propagate when sameForEntireFamily=true is set.

Benefits:

• Reduces multiple API calls into a single action.

• Ensures consistent family data across the system.

• Aligns the API functionality with what is already available in the UI.

• Maintains existing API behavior of ignoring null/unprovided fields.

This would be a very useful enhancement for integrations and third-party applications relying on the Patient API.

Thank you for considering this request!

[justine]

Hello Open Dental Team,

In the Open Dental Patient UI, there is a very helpful feature called "Same for Entire Family". When updating patient details such as:

Address
Phone
Phone Notes
Email
Billing and Provider(s)

…the system allows the changes to automatically propagate to all family members linked to that patient.

Currently, the Patient PUT Update API (/patients) does not provide a way to perform these updates across the entire family. Each family member’s record must be updated individually via separate API calls. This not only adds overhead but also increases the chance of inconsistencies if a family member’s data is missed or updated incorrectly.

Request:
Extend the Patient Update PUT API to support a flag or parameter (e.g., sameForEntireFamily=true) that would apply provided field updates for Address, Phone, Phone Notes, or Email to all family members in the same guarantor/family group.

Important Consideration:
Just like the current Patient API behavior, if a field is null or not provided in the request, it should not be updated (nor cleared) for any family member. Only explicitly provided fields (e.g., new Address) should propagate when sameForEntireFamily=true is set.

Benefits:

• Reduces multiple API calls into a single action.

• Ensures consistent family data across the system.

• Aligns the API functionality with what is already available in the UI.

• Maintains existing API behavior of ignoring null/unprovided fields.

This would be a very useful enhancement for integrations and third-party applications relying on the Patient API.

Thank you for considering this request!

Hello manish.bhalodi.tech9,

The “Same for Entire Family” option in the UI is a convenience feature specific to how Open Dental’s internal logic handles family relationships. The API doesn’t currently provide a single-call equivalent. To maintain consistency, each family member record must be updated individually through the patients endpoint.

At this point we don’t plan to extend the API to duplicate this UI behavior. The API is designed to provide access to the underlying data, while leaving it to integrators to implement higher-level workflows such as “apply this update to every family member.” This keeps the API surface more stable and avoids layering in the same business logic that already exists in Open Dental.

You can achieve the same outcome by using the patients endpoint, filtered by Guarantor and/or SuperFamily and then making the appropriate updates for each member. That way you can control exactly which fields propagate and when, based on your integration’s needs.

Thanks!