Handling duplicate patients

In the event that there are duplicate patients in your organization's database, you can mark one or more patient records as duplicates. A duplicate patient's record is not accessible from the search boxes that are available throughout Dentrix Ascend. However, you can verify if a patient has duplicates associated with him or her by accessing that patient's record. To mark a patient as a duplicate and to change the status from Duplicate to another status, you must have the security right to manage duplicate patients.

To mark a patient as a duplicate

1. How to get there

   1. If the correct patient is not already selected, use the Patient Search box to access the patient's record.

      Note: You can include inactive patients in the search results by setting the Include inactive patients switch to On.

   2. Do one of the following:

      • On the Patient Information ribbon, click (or tap) the Edit Patient Information button . If the ribbon is not visible, click (or tap) the arrow button below the Patient Search box .

      • On the Patient menu, under General, click (or tap) Patient Information.

      The patient's Patient Information page opens.

   On the Basic Info tab of the Patient Information page for the patient whose record is a duplicate, change the patient's Status to Duplicate.

   

   Note: You cannot save a patient as a duplicate if the patient has future appointments, has a balance, has any pending insurance claims, or is a primary contact or primary guarantor for another patient.

2. Click (or tap) Save.

   The Save Changes dialog box appears.

   

   If certain information is attached to the patient being marked as a duplicate, a warning message provides a count of each type of data and any action that will occur:

   • Clinical notes - No action will be taken.

   • Recare - This will be deleted.

   • Documents - No action will be taken.

   • Procedures (except voided) - No action will be taken.

   • Prescriptions (except voided) - No action will be taken.

   • Medical alerts (except expired) - No action will be taken.

   • Perio exams (except voided) - No action will be taken.

   • Active insurance plans - Coverage for those plans will be ended (using today's date) for this patient and for any of the dependents for whom this patient is the subscriber of those plans.

3. In the Specify original patient box, search for and select the patient whose record you want to keep as the correct one. The duplicate patient's record will be associated with the specified original patient.

4. Click (or tap) Save.

   The only place that you can access the record of a patient that has been marked as a duplicate is from the record of original patient specified in step 3. To open a duplicate patient's record, on the Basic Info tab of the original patient's Patient Information page, click (or tap) Duplicate patient(s) to view the associated duplicates, and then click (or tap) a patient name link.

   

   Note: While viewing a duplicate patient's record, a warning message appears at the top of patient's record to indicate that the patient whose record you are viewing is a duplicate.