How to Get Your Patients to Leave Positive Online Reviews

Let your patients know how awesome they are!

Patients see online reviews as essential. For many new patients, your online reviews will make or break their decision to visit your office. 

Most offices try to get reviews from everyone, but this can sometimes come across as spammy or impersonal. You want your patient outreach to be genuine and personal. 

Here’s the thing. When you get a patient who enjoyed their visit, tell them how awesome it would be if you had a million patients just like them! Then, ask for permission to text them a link to review your practice online. And if they’re really enjoying their visit, you might even mention it while they’re in the chair: “Susan, you are an amazing patient, do you know that? After your visit, I’d like to text you a link to review our office. I want our new patients to see what you write!”

Then, after their visit, open your Patient Engage portal and scroll to the bottom of the page. There, you’ll see “Today’s Follow-Up Actions” where you can click to text them a link to review your office. It’s as simple as that!

You’ll find that most of your patients are already your biggest fans!

Note: On the rare occasion that you get a disgruntled patient, you’ll still want them to know that you care. So, give them a paper review slip for any feedback they want to share before they leave your office. Let them know that you try to take time each week to review this feedback with your team. Sure, they can always review your office on their own, but they’ll be less likely to leave a negative review if they feel that you listened and that you care.

Additional Information

• Read Sending a Review Request for step-by-step instructions on how to text a review request link.
• If you're not currently using Patient Engage, visit www.Dentrix.com/PatientEngage or call 833.232.3182. Your account executive is ready to help answer your questions.

Insurance Claim Information that Sticks With the Patient

From time to time, you will encounter patients who have a permanent or semi-permanent circumstance that should be reported on their insurance claims. For example, a college student will likely be a student for several years. Or a patient may have a temporary or long-lasting disability. 

These situations can be documented on individual insurance claims by opening the claim in the Ledger, double-clicking the Claim Information block, selecting the necessary checkboxes, and typing in dates, names, etc. in appropriate fields. However, this changes the information only for the individual claim.

For patients with ongoing conditions, it may make better sense to edit the patient’s basic insurance claim information so that this information will automatically be included on all future claims. That way, you won't need to remember to edit each claim when you create it.

There are two ways to update a patient’s insurance claim information: 

• In the patient’s Family File, open the insurance block and click the Insurance Claim Information button.
• Or, in the Appointment Book, right-click the patient’s appointment and select Info for Insurance.

In the Insurance Claim Information dialog box, make the necessary changes and click OK. Later, when the time comes that these conditions change or no longer apply, return to this window and change the information or click Clear at the lower left.

For additional information, including the steps to accomplish the task, see the following topics in Dentrix Help:

• Setting Default Claim Information
• Changing Claim Information

If You're New to Online Booking, Start with the Templates

Phasing into online booking can be easier when you start by offering appointments that are predictable in length and experience. 

Patient Engage provides Online Booking templates for the following appointment reasons: New Patient Exam, Cleaning and Checkup, and Emergency Exam. These treatments are more straightforward for patients to book on their own, and they often lead to future treatments that you can schedule in the office.

Note: You’ll want to plan ahead since emergency exams often lead to same-day treatment. Consider offering those treatments earlier in the day for online booking, so you have time to schedule same-day treatments. 

These templates are easy to set up and activate. Just edit a few settings and then toggle the switch to ON.

For example, you may want to offer the appointment type labeled Check Up & Cleaning. 

1. Click Edit next to that appointment type.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Edit the available times, providers, operatories, and special instructions to fit your office's needs.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Select Sync back bookings from patients directly to my management system.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Click Save.
   
   

Additional Tips

• Watch this recorded webinar to learn more about How to Get Started with Online Booking.
• For help setting up Online Booking, call 866-739-7695 to speak with a certified trainer.
• Visit our Online Booking Quick Start for more valuable articles and videos.

Understanding the Treatment Plan Estimate

Have you ever looked at the estimates on a patient's treatment plan and wondered how those figures are calculated? When the patient has two of the same procedure codes in the same plan, why do they show different estimated amounts? Is there a deductible owed? Is there a payment table override? Has the patient exceeded their maximum benefits?

Dentrix G7.5 has an explanation for you!

Register for our new features webinar on September 28 at 3pm MDT to learn more about the features in Dentrix G7.5 and prepare your team for the upgrade.

After installing Dentrix G7.5 Update 2, you'll notice that the Treatment Planner includes a small triangle to the left of each procedure. Click that triangle to expand additional information about how the insurance benefit is calculated for that procedure.

Here are some examples of messages you may see in certain scenarios:

Payment Table

• Payment Table Paid amount is used will display when the procedure is listed in the Payment Table and that amount will be used as the insurance estimate. 

Deductible

• An estimated deductible is owed will display for the procedure where the deductible will be subtracted from the estimate.
• The deductible is estimated to be met; no deductible is applied will display for the other procedures.
• Use Dental Plan Maximums and Deductibles is not selected will let you know that the Treatment Planner is not displaying deductibles because the feature is turned off.

Maximum Benefits

• The individual or family maximum benefit is estimated to be reached. Estimate is reduced displays with the procedure that tops out the patient's maximum benefits.
• The individual or family maximum benefit is estimated to be reached displays for procedures not receiving payment after maxing out the benefits.
• No secondary insurance coverage. Estimate = 0.00 displays if a patient does not have secondary insurance coverage.

Dentrix will also indicate the mathematical formula being used to calculate that procedure's estimate. Here are some examples:

• Primary Estimate = Fee * Coverage %
• Payment Table Paid amount is used.

Additional Information

• The explanations and messages mentioned above will only appear onscreen in the Treatment Planner. They do not print on any reports.
• You can expand or collapse all explanations at once by changing the setting under View > Show Treatment Plan Insurance Help Text.
  
  
  
  
  

• Register for our new features webinar on September 28 at 3pm MDT to learn more about the features in Dentrix G7.5 and prepare your team for the upgrade.

Changing the Default Coverage Table in Dentrix

When you add a new insurance plan in Dentrix, you have probably noticed that a default coverage table is automatically assigned to the plan. You can easily view it under the Coverage Table tab in the Dental Insurance Benefits and Coverage window. 

The default coverage table includes a set of coverages (a range of codes covered at certain percentages and assigned to a deductible category) that might have been standard a few years ago, but today may be a little dated based on modern insurance plan offerings. For example, procedures in the Diagnostic/Preventive category may now be covered as Preventive under Deductible.

 

Did you know that you can edit the default coverage table’s values? That way, each new insurance plan you add to Dentrix will receive the starting values that are as close to “normal” as possible. If new plans start with the most common coverages, you'll save time editing coverage tables for individual plans in the future.

 

To edit the default coverage table values, in the Office Manager click Maintenance, point to Reference, and then click Dental Ins Coverage Tables.

Dentrix offers five different default coverage tables here. The number 1 table (usually named Default Coverage Table) is the coverage table that all new plans are assigned automatically. Select this first coverage table, and then click Edit.

A window opens that gives you the same Add, Edit, Split or Clear options that you are familiar with using to edit coverage tables within the Dental Insurance Benefits / Coverage window for other insurance plans.

Double-click the corresponding fields to change deductible categories for each range of codes to match what is common in the industry or edit coverage percentages for each range. Split ranges up if it is common for some codes within the range to be covered at a different percentage or enter 0% if those codes are not covered at all.

 

Be aware that as you can make changes to this table, these values will to be used for all new plans you may add in the future. So be general and enter values that will apply to a majority of plans - you'll make the customized changes to individual plans later within their coverage table windows.

 

But what about the default coverage table for existing plans?

 

The changes you make to the default insurance coverage table only apply to new plans added in the future. But you can still apply these defaults to an existing plan if needed.

 

Open an existing plan's coverage table. You can do this from either the Insurance Maintenance window in Office Manager or through the Family File of a patient with this insurance coverage assigned. Select the Coverage Table tab, and on the right side of the window, in the Standard Coverage Table drop-down list, select the Default Coverage Table (or any of the other four, if applicable).

When you select a coverage table from the list, a warning message appears to let you know that any current entries in the coverage table will be replaced by the one you have selected. Click Yes to make the change.

 

For additional information, see our previous tip titled, Save Time Entering Insurance Coverage Information.

For more information about the Dental Insurance Benefits and Coverage window introduced in Dentrix G7.4, read the following articles in Dentrix Magazine:

• An Easier Way to Manage Patient Insurance Details
• Dentrix G7.4 Insurance Enhancements Office Managers are Excited About

Register for our new features webinar on September 28 at 3pm MDT to learn more about the features in Dentrix G7.5 and prepare your team for the upgrade.

Ordering Procedures By Visit

Dentrix Virtual Workshops provide you with the benefits of a live, trainer-led class without the time and expense of travel. You’ll get live feature demonstrations, hands-on practice time, and a workbook with step-by-step instructions. Best of all, you can attend a virtual workshop at a time and place that fit your schedule—all you need is two hours, a phone, and a computer with an internet connection. 

One of the workshops offered is titled, Treatment Planner Basics. In this workshop you'll learn how to create and organize treatment-planned procedures into cases, link related cases, set up alternative treatment options, and set a recommended case.

One of the topics covered in the course is how to organize treatment-planned procedures into separate visits.

When a patient has an extensive treatment plan, you can organize the individual procedures within a case into visits. By ordering the procedures within the treatment plan, you can make it easier for the patient to understand the treatment and make it easier to schedule procedures in the order they need to be completed.

For example, let’s say you have a patient whose treatment plan includes a root canal and crown on tooth 17 and two fillings on anterior teeth. You can assign these procedures to different office visits based on when the procedures need to be completed. Tooth 17 needs immediate attention, so you want the first visit to include the procedures for the root canal and the crown build-up, the second visit to include the procedure for the crown placement, and the third visit to include the fillings.

1. In the Treatment Planner, expand the treatment plan case that contains the procedures to be assigned into visits.
2. Select the procedure(s) to be included in the first visit and click the Create Visit button.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Repeat step 2 for procedures to be assigned to the next visit. As visits are created, the number of the visit increases chronologically.
   
   
   
   
   

Additional Tips

• After you have ordered procedures by visit, you can make edits to the different visits as needed. Right-click the procedure(s) you want to change, and select an appropriate Move to Visit __ option from the list.
• To remove a visit from a procedure, right-click the procedure and click Delete Visit.
• Read the Assign Treatment Plan Procedures to Visits article in Dentrix Magazine.
• To learn more about this and other topics related to treatment planning, register for and attend Treatment Planner Basics.
  
  
  

3 More Best Practices in Patient Engage

Communicating with patients, marketing your practice, and keeping on top of patient forms is a lot to manage. Last week we shared four tips to help you stay on top of patient communications. This week we have three more tips for getting the most out of Patient Engage. 

Be sure to check out the on-demand webinar titled, “How to Get Started With Patient Engage Online Booking.” Click here to view.

1. Create reminders with special instructions before procedures.

Reaching out to remind patients of procedure-specific instructions shouldn’t take a lot of time. In fact, with automatic reminders, they don’t take any time after initial setup. To create reminders with specific instructions, go to the Appointments tab and click Reminder Settings. From there, you can create a custom plan to remind patients to pre-medicate or bring specific information with them to their appointment. 

Click here to learn more about appointment reminders. 

2. Respond to reviews.

Online reviews can be an emotional roller coaster full of praise or complaints. Regardless of what your patients say, we recommend maintaining that dialogue by responding to reviews. As always, you’ll want to be respectful and courteous when responding, so make sure you’re in a positive mental space before you dive in. To view and respond to reviews, open the Reputation Management tab and click Reviews.

Click here to learn more about responding to reviews. 

3. Use a mobile check-in process.

A good mobile check-in process can save you time and reduce the administrative burden on your staff. We recommend sending patients a link to fill out forms from their phone. Instead of waiting for patients to fill out forms in the lobby and trying to decipher their handwriting, you can import the digital forms and then move on to the next portion of the patient visit.

Click here to learn more about sending a check-in link.

Click here to learn more about configuring mobile check-in forms. 

Learn More About An All-In-One Solution

• View our on-demand webinar titled, “How to Get Started With Patient Engage Online Booking.” Click here to view.
  
  
• If you’re not currently using Patient Engage, visit www.Dentrix.com/PatientEngage or call 833.232.3182. Your account executive is ready to help answer your questions.