You can create letters by merging information in Dentrix Enterprise with document templates.
To create letters
Open Microsoft Word®, and minimize the program so that it appears on the Windows taskbar. Also, make sure that you do not have any documents open in Word.
Access a letter category's patient report views (the name of the dialog box varies according to the category):
Birthday - The Birthday Letters dialog box appears. You can produce birthday letters for patients within a specified birth date range.
Do the following:
Click
the Birth Date Range search button
.
The Select Birthdate Range dialog box appears.
Do one of the following:
Enter the Beginning birth date (Month, Day, and/or Year) and/or the Ending birth date (Month, Day, and/or Year).
To clear all criteria from this filter, click Clear.
Click OK.
Continuing Care – The Continuing Care Letters dialog box appears. You can produce continuing care (recare) notices for patients within a specified date range.
Referral - The Referral Letters dialog box appears. You can produce letters for referrals within a specified last referral date range.
Do the following:
Click the Last
Referral Date Range search button .
The Select Last Referral Date Range dialog box appears.
Do one of the following:
Enter the Beginning Date (in a mm/dd/yy format) and/or the Ending Date (in a mm/dd/yy format).
To clear all criteria from this filter, click Clear.
Click OK.
Collection - The Collection letters dialog box appears. You can produce collection notices for patients within a specified last payment date range.
Do the following:
Click the Last
Payment Date Range search button .
The Select Last Payment Date Range dialog box appears.
Do one of the following:
Enter the Beginning Date (in a mm/dd/yy format) and/or the Ending Date (in a mm/dd/yy format).
To clear all criteria from this filter, click Clear.
Click OK.
Inactive Patient - The Inactive Letters dialog box appears. You can produce notices for patients within a specified last visit date range.
Do the following:
Click the Last
Visit Date Range search button .
The Select Last Visit Date Range dialog box appears.
Do one of the following:
Enter the Beginning Date (in a mm/dd/yy format) and/or the Ending Date (in a mm/dd/yy format).
To clear all criteria from this filter, click Clear.
Click OK.
Welcome - The Welcome Letters dialog box appears. You can produce welcome letters for patients within a specified first visit date range.
Do one of the following:
Click the First
Visit Date Range search button .
The Select First Visit Date Range dialog box appears.
Do one of the following:
Enter the Beginning Date (in a mm/dd/yy format) and/or the Ending Date (in a mm/dd/yy format).
To clear all criteria from this filter, click Clear.
Click OK.
Misc – The Misc. Letters dialog box appears. You can produce a custom letters.
In the Select Letter list, select a patient report view.
Click Create/Merge.
The Create/Merge Options dialog box appears.
Select one of the following options:
Create Data File and Merge Letters - To re-create the data file and perform the merge.
Merge Letters using existing data file - To perform the merge using a data file that was created previously.
If you want an entry to be added to each patient's Office Journal record, indicating that a letter was sent to the patient, select the Add to Journal checkbox.
Note: This option is not available if the Create Data File ONLY option is selected.
Click OK.
If you are creating a data file and performing a merge, a message appears, stating that creating a data file for a large number of patients may take a while, click Yes to continue.
If you are merging from an existing data file, the Merge Letters dialog box appears.
Note: To review the data file before performing the merge, click View Data File. When you are done, close the word processor or text editor program.
Verify that the names of the data file and document template are correct.
Click Merge.
Word becomes the active window and merges patient information into the document template to create letters for each applicable patient. If Word is not open when the merge begins, Dentrix Enterprise attempts to open it.
Notes:
At this point, Dentrix Enterprise does not have control of the merging of the data file with the document template. Any problems that occur in Word must be corrected in Microsoft Word.
If Word does not open or become the active window (you may see flashing button on the Windows taskbar), there is an error condition in the data file and/or document template. Maximize or restore Word to view the messages that describe the problems. If the issues are too significant to remedy in Word, close the document template (without saving it), fix the problem, and then restart the letter merge.
During the merge, an Abort Query progress indicator appears with a count of the number of records read and selected. If you want to stop the merge, click Abort.
When the merge is finished, you can print the letters.
Close Word.
When a message appears, asking if you want to save the changes, click No or Don't Save.
Notes:
If you click Yes or Save, the patients' names will be permanently saved in the document template, rendering the template unusable.
It is not necessary to save each letter that you create.
To save a permanent copy of the letter, save it with a different name in a different location.