Dentrix Enterprise stores general default settings (for all patients) for each continuing care type. However, when you assign a continuing care type to a patient in Family File, using the general defaults, and then customize the settings, you can choose to add those custom settings as patient overrides. You can also set up patient overrides for a particular continuing care type before you assign it to that patient.
Note: Accessing and setting up a patient's continuing care defaults require the "Continuing Care, Edit Patients" security right.
To set up a patient's continuing care defaults
With a patient selected in Family File, on the Edit menu, click Continuing Care Defaults.
If applicable, do one of the following:
If the Password - Continuing Care, Edit Patients dialog box appears, user verification has been assigned to the "Continuing Care, Edit Patients" task. Do one of the following:
If your user account has been granted the "Continuing Care, Edit Patients" security right, enter your credentials in the User ID and Password boxes, and then click OK.
If your user account has not been granted the "Continuing Care, Edit Patients" security right, have a user with permission temporarily override this restriction so you can access a patient's continuing care defaults this one time. The overriding user enters his or her credentials in the User ID and Password boxes and then clicks OK.
If a message appears, informing you that you do not have rights to this operation, your user account has not been granted the "Continuing Care, Edit Patients" security right. To have a user with permission temporarily override this restriction so you can access a patient's continuing care defaults this one time, do the following:
On the message, click Yes.
In the Password - Continuing Care, Edit Patients dialog box, the overriding user enters his or her credentials in the User ID and Password boxes and then clicks OK.
The Continuing Care Defaults dialog box appears and lists all available continuing care types.
Note: For each continuing care type that has at least one patient override, the ? column has an "X."
Select a continuing care type.
Do one of the following:
To clear the patient overrides for the selected continuing care type, click Clear. On the confirmation message that appears, click Yes.
To set up the patient overrides for the selected continuing care type, do the following:
Click Edit.
The Edit Continuing Care Type Defaults dialog box appears.
For each setting, do any of the following as needed:
If the corresponding Patient Override checkbox is clear, to apply a patient override, change the setting. Dentrix Enterprise selects the corresponding Patient Override checkbox automatically.
If the corresponding Patient Override checkbox is selected, to edit the patient override, change the setting.
If the corresponding Patient Override checkbox is selected, to remove the patient override, clear the corresponding Patient Override checkbox.
The following options are available:
Initial Status - The status of this continuing care type for this patient. Statuses are relevant primarily when you generate continuing care lists. Do one of the following:
To not assign a status, select [None] from the list.
To assign a status, select one of the statuses from the list.
Note: For details about setting up continuing care status options, see the topic about adding continuing care statuses to the practice definitions.
Interval - The amount of time that may elapse between the patient's continuing care visits of this type. Enter a number in the box, select Days, Weeks, Months, or Years from the list, and select the +1 Day checkbox if you need to extend the interval an extra day to prevent insurance billing problems for patients with strict interval requirements.
Provider - The provider of appointments for this continuing care type. Select one of the following options:
Prov1 - The patient's primary provider.
Prov2 - The patient's secondary provider.
Default Appt. Time - The amount of time that this patient will need for appointments with this continuing care type attached. Do one of the following:
To clear the number of scheduling units and the appointment time pattern, clear the Time? checkbox.
To change or specify the number of scheduling units and the appointment time pattern, do the following:
If the Time? checkbox is selected, click Set Time; otherwise, select the Time? check box.
The Appointment Time Pattern dialog box appears.
Do any of the following:
Drag the slider left or right to decrease or increase the time.
Click the left arrow button to decrease the time one appointment unit at a time (the length is determined by the clinic's time block size).
Click the right arrow button to increase the time one appointment unit at a time (the length is determined by the clinic's time block size).
Click between the slider and the left arrow to decrease the time 30 minutes at a time.
Click between the slider and the right arrow to increase the time 30 minutes at a time.
To specify a time pattern, for each box below the slider bar, click the box as needed to switch between chair (blank), assistant (/), and provider (X) time.
Note: Specifying a time pattern can help you make use of all operatories when scheduling appointments and maximize your productivity.
Click OK.
Click OK.
The patient's continuing care settings for this type are updated in the Cont. Care block if this type is already assigned to the patient. If not, when you assign this continuing care type to the patient, Dentrix Enterprise will use the patient overrides.