In Dentrix, patient files are organized by family. When you add new patients, you must first enter the head of household or guarantor, even if that person is not a patient. After entering the head of household, you can add other family members.
To add a new family account
1. In the Family File, click File, and then click New Family.
The Select Patient dialog box appears.
2. Enter the family's last name to verify that the family is not already entered in the system.
3. Click New Family.
The Head-Of-House Information dialog box appears.
4. Under Name, specify the following information:
Note: An asterisk indicates mandatory information.
· Last, First, MI - Type the head of household's full name.
· Preferred - Type the head of household's preferred name or nickname.
· Salutation - Type a salutation for a letter, such as Dear Smith Family.
· Title - Type the head of household's title, such as Dr., Mr., Mrs., or Ms., to include it on letters.
· Print Title on Stmts - Select to print the head of household's title on billing statements.
Note: To use the proper greeting for your merged letters, Dentrix first tries to use the salutation. If no salutation exists, Dentrix inserts the title followed by the last name. If no title exists, Dentrix inserts the preferred name. If no preferred name exists, Dentrix opens the letter with the first name.
5. Under Status, specify the following:
· Select the patient's activity status:
· Patient - An active patient.
· Non-patient - A family member who is not an active patient (such as a head-of-household guarantor or insurance subscriber).
· Inactive - A former patient of the practice who has not been seen in a period of time.
· Select the patient's gender: Male, Female, or Unknown.
· Select the patient's marital status or family position for insurance purposes: Married, Single, Child, or Other.
6. Under Personal, specify the following:
· Birthdate - Type the head of household's date of birth.
The head of household's age is calculated automatically.
· SS# - Type the head of household's Social Security number.
Tips:
· Hyphens, spaces, or slashes are automatically added to dates, phone numbers, and Social Security numbers. In addition, Dentrix automatically capitalizes patient names, cities, and street names after you enter them. In the case of names that contain more than one capital letter (such as LaMarr), you must enter the proper capitalization manually.
· You cannot use a patient's Social Security number for another patient. If you receive an error indicating that a patient's Social Security number is invalid, and you entered the SS# correctly, use the By SS# option in the Select Patient dialog box to find the patient with the duplicate number and make any necessary changes or corrections. If you need to enter a patient twice for insurance or other reasons, leave the SS# field empty on the inactive account.
· Other ID - Type an identifier that you want to use with specific insurance claim formats.
· Driver's License # - Type the head of household's driver's license number.
7. Type the head of household's street address, city, state, and ZIP code.
Notes:
· Look up ZIP codes or the cities that you entered previously.
· To avoid the possibility of a claim being rejected, type the patient's ZIP + 4 ZIP Code. You do not need to type the hyphen. Dentrix inserts it automatically.
· If a family member's address is different from the head of household's, change the address in the family member's patient information.
8. Type the head of household's email address.
9. Type the head of household's home and work phone numbers; work extension; best time to call; and fax, mobile, and other numbers.
10. Under Referred By, click the double-chevron button, and then from the Select Referral Type dialog box, do one of the following:
· Patient - Select and click OK. From the Select Patient dialog box, select the appropriate patient. Click OK.
· Doctor/Other - Select and click OK. From the Select Referred By dialog box, select the appropriate referral source, or type the referral source's name under Enter Name. Click OK.
11. Under Office, specify the following:
Note: An asterisk indicates mandatory information.
· To select a primary provider, click the Prov 1 search button.
· To select a secondary provider, click the Prov 2 search button.
· To attach a fee schedule, click the Fee Schedule search button.
· (Optional) To assign a chart number to the head of household manually, click the Chart search button to view a list of previously assigned chart numbers, and then type a six-digit alphanumeric chart number unique to the head of household. Otherwise,a chart number is assigned automatically. This number is used as the account number on billing and walkout statements.
· To specify a consent date other than the current date, type the date the head of household completed and signed consent for services and release of information forms. Patients are assumed to have completed and signed these forms on their first office visit.
12. Under Privacy Requests, select one or more of the following to protect the head of household:
Note: When you select any of these options and click OK, you are prompted to create a patient alert for these requests. In the Family File, the term "Privacy Requests" appears in red and on the title bar of other modules so you can quickly identify patients who have privacy requests.
· No phone calls - Select to prevent the head of household's phone numbers from being displayed or printed; <PRIVATE> appears instead.
· No correspondence - Select to prevent letters, email, or other correspondence being sent to the head of household through either Dentrix or DXWeb.
· Disclosure restrictions - Select if the patient does not want information submitted via the internet when referred to another doctor.
13. If necessary, under Visits, you can change the following information:
· First Visit - This date is set to the current date. You can change the date.
· Last Visit - This date is generated automatically when you enter a transaction in the Ledger or the Patient Chart and set the procedure to complete.
· Last Missed Appt - This date is generated automatically when you set and later break an appointment.
· # Missed - This number is updated automatically when you break an appointment.