Clearing the Data from a Previous Perio Exam

When you open the Dentrix Perio Chart, the patient's last saved exam information is shown in light-colored text. This option was included as a convenience so that you can use this saved exam as a starting point for a new exam by only changing the measurements and data that is different from the last visit.

 However, some examiners find it confusing to type over the old information with new measurements and would prefer to start with a clean slate. If this is your preferred way to record a perio exam, here is an easy way to sweep the screen clean and conduct the exam without displaying the previous exam measurements.

 Type the number "1" in the first site.

Click Save (or press CTRL+S on the keyboard). When prompted, choose to save New Entries.

The exam is saved, and previous entries are cleared. Press the Undo button (or press CTRL+Z on the keyboard). You now have a fresh start. Conduct the perio exam as normal.

 

For additional tips about the Dentrix Perio Chart, read the following:

• Creating a New Perio Exam Using Previous Measurements
• Comparing Perio Exam Information
• Customizing Perio Navigation Scripts
• Documenting Perio Measurements Greater than 9mm

Entering Allergies into ePrescribe

Dentrix ePrescribe helps automate the process of writing and electronically transmitting prescriptions to pharmacies, while helping to detect potentially dangerous drug-to-drug interactions, drug allergies, dosage errors, and other problems. For example, if you know that a patient is allergic to sulfa-based antibiotics, you wouldn't knowingly prescribe Sulfadiazine for that person. ePrescribe automatically flags such dangerous interactions before you can complete the prescription process, but only if the allergy has been entered into ePrescribe.

Use these steps to enter a patient's allergies into ePrescribe:

1. As an authorized ePrescribe user, in Dentrix, select the patient for whom you want to enter an allergy.
2. Click the Prescriptions button.
3. Click the Electronic Rx button.
4. In the Act. Allergies line, click None entered. (Or, click any allergy that displays in the line, as previously entered for the patient.)





5. Click Add Allergy.
6. Search for a class of medications or a specific medication by selecting either Class or Medication.
7. Enter a class or medication in the search field and click the Go button.
8. Select the class or drug name from the resulting list.






9. Enter a date when the allergy was first noticed or reported if different from today's date.
10. Select as many sensitivity types as needed by clicking either Allergy or Intolerance, and then select the applicable sensitivity. 
11. Click Save.
12. Repeat steps 5 - 11 to add more allergies.
13. When all allergies have been entered and saved, click Back to return to ePrescribe's main page.

After entering the allergies for the patient, they appear in red text on the Act. Allergies line as a reminder of the patient's allergies when you prescribe medications.

If there are any contraindications between the drug(s) you are attempting to prescribe and the patient's allergies, ePrescribe displays a warning message. 

Bonus Tips

• While you can also enter and save a patient’s allergies as part of a patient's Health History in Dentrix, these items are NOT transmitted to ePrescribe — you must enter them manually!
• It's good practice to enter your patient's allergies into ePrescribe before creating electronic prescriptions for them. Doing so enables ePrescribe to use the information to check for dangerous drug interactions with the patient's allergies.
• Before any allergies are entered for a patient, ePrescribe highlights the Act. Allergies line with None entered in red text to remind you to ask the patient about any allergies that they might have. If you discuss and confirm with the patient that they DON'T have any known allergies, select No Known Allergies in the Act. Allergies window. If this line is left as None entered, it leaves the allergy question open to whether the provider verified any allergies with the patient.
• It's also good practice to periodically confirm the listed allergies, and any new allergies, with your patients while creating electronic prescriptions.
• As an alternative to listing a medical reaction to a drug (or class of drugs), you can enter a patient's intolerance to it instead.
• If the patient's sensitivity is not listed in the Act. Allergies reaction list, you can enter it manually.
• You cannot enter both reactions and intolerances to the same drug in the same Act. Allergies window. If you need to enter both, create an allergy and a reaction and then and save it. Then, open another Act. Allergies window and create an allergy and an intolerance to the same drug and save it.

Additional Information

• Be sure to view the ePrescribe Quick Start, which includes helpful articles, videos, tutorials and documentation.
• Read our previous tip titled, Updating Patient Information in ePrescribe.

Setting Up a Payment Agreement from the Collections Manager

When you use the Collections Manager to generate a list of patients with overdue balances, there may be times when you need to set up a payment agreement with the patient. A payment agreement is a financial arrangement you set up with patients in which they agree to pay off their balance through regular payments instead of in one lump sum.

From the Collections Manager you can set up and track payment agreements, amounts, and due dates; print payment coupons; and even set up interest rates for the agreement. Because payment agreements are set up by guarantor and not by patient, Dentrix allows only one payment agreement per account.

1. From the Collections Manager list, double-click the patient you want to set up an agreement with. A message appears asking if you want to create a payment agreement for the patient. Click Yes to set up the agreement and open the Billing/Payment Agreement Information dialog box.





2. Use the drop-down list to select an Interval at which the payments should be made.
3. Click Agreement Templates to choose the settings for the agreement from the list of options. To learn how you can set up your own templates, read this past tip.
   Note: Selecting a payment agreement template will automatically fill in the Annual Finance Charge, Annual Late Charge, Minimum Late Charge, Grace Period, and Minimum Balance to Charge fields for the agreement.
4. The patient's outstanding balance appears in the Total Agreed Amount field. Edit the amount as needed for the agreement.
5. In the First Payment Due field, enter the date the first payment for this new agreement is due.
6. Enter the dollar amount for each payment in the Payment Amount field. Dentrix will automatically calculate the # of Payments based on this amount.
7. Click Print to print a truth in lending disclosure statement, amortization of payments and finance charges, and/or a coupon book for the scheduled payments.
8. You can update the patient's billing type (if needed) by selecting an option from the Billing Type drop-down list.
9. Click OK to save the payment agreement and return to the Collections Manager list.

Additional Information

• You can also set up a payment agreement from the Ledger by clicking the Billing/Payment Agreement button or from the Family File by double-clicking the Account/Billing Type group box.
• Dentrix calculates the total number of payments necessary and puts that number in the Total # of Payments field. Conversely, you can enter the number of payments and have Dentrix calculate the Payment Amount of each payment.
• The Truth in Lending Disclosure Statement lists the terms of the agreement. It includes the annual percentage rate, finance change amount, total amount financed, and total amount paid at the end of the agreement.
• The Amortization of Payments and Finance Charges is a schedule listing the interest accrued on the remaining balance for each payment interval.
• The Coupon Book for Scheduled Payments is a group of payment remittance coupons for the patient. Select the check box for Pre-Printed Form to print the information on pre-printed coupons. Select Plain Form to print the form and information on blank coupons.

To learn more about using the Collections Manager, attend the Maximizing Collections and Cash Flow virtual workshops. For more information about dates, times, and other workshop topics, click here.

Understanding Procedure Code Treatment Area Flags

For some treatments, different procedure codes should be used if the procedure involves one, two, three, or four surfaces. Likewise, the same treatment might use a different code for primary and permanent teeth, for anterior and posterior teeth, for maxillary and mandibular arches, or for multiple roots. 

There are so many variations of procedure codes for the same treatment option that keeping track of which one to use for each situation can just be too much! Not to mention, if you had to create a procedure button for each of these codes, the Patient Chart would become overloaded with individual buttons.

Fortunately, Dentrix has a built-in system to help you. The standard set of procedure codes comes pre-programmed to adjust accordingly if it is applied to the wrong treatment area. But if you have created your own codes (as some offices do for insurance or continuing care interval reasons), you'll want to know how this works so that you can also apply this feature to those codes too.

In the Office Manager, click Maintenance > Practice Setup > Procedure Code Setup.

Select a procedure code and choose Edit.

In the Procedure Code Editor dialog box, near the bottom-left, use the Treatment Area drop-down list to select an area that applies for the procedure code you’re editing. This setting determines what additional information is required when you treatment plan or complete the code. Choose from the following options:

• Mouth is a general setting that requires no additional information.

• Tooth will require a tooth number.

• Surface will require a tooth number and a surface.

• Arch will ask if the code applies to maxillary and/or mandibular.

• Root will ask for a tooth number.

After selecting the Treatment Area, click the small Flags button immediately to the right. This opens a new window where you can apply alternate options that apply to the treatment area that you selected. 

With these flags set up, you can now create one procedure code button in the chart, and when you use that button, Dentrix will adjust the code to use the appropriate one for the situation.
Additional Information

• Learn more about setting treatment area flags in Dentrix Help.

• If you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to post a certain code but Dentrix insists on changing it to another code (such as when a Class 5 surface is involved), you can force the code to post this one time by entering it from Ledger > Transaction > Enter Procedure. After choosing the procedure code, select the checkbox Override Proc Flags. 

• Each workstation can be set to suspend the use of treatment flags for all patients and all circumstances in Office Manager > Maintenance > Practice Setup > Preferences > General Options.

Customizing Perio Navigation Scripts

We all have individual tastes and preferences, which might even include how you conduct a perio exam.

Dentrix gives you the flexibility to create your own customized perio navigation scripts. A script instructs Dentrix to move the data entry cursor from site to site and tooth to tooth. Your custom script will move the cursor to follow your way of examining a patient.

In this video, you'll see how simple it is to sketch out a plan and then turn that plan into a navigation script.

Learn more about using the Dentrix Perio module in this series of Quick Start Videos for Dentrix Perio.

5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Patient Engage Mobile

Timely communication with patients is essential to your practice. Practices using Patient Engage and Dentrix can now do that more effortlessly than ever with a mobile app. 

Patient Engage Mobile brings critical communication tasks to your fingertips, helping you respond to patients and manage tasks when you’re away from the office. Watch the Patient Engage Mobile overview video to see how it can benefit your office.

Patient Engage Mobile will help you:

1. Stay Up to Date with Real-time Notifications
2. Use Appointment Requests to Fill your Schedule
3. Improve Patient Satisfaction with Two-way Texts
4. Search and Filter Weekly Appointments
5. Access Patient Information On the Go

Stay Up to Date with Real-time Notifications

With Patient Engage Mobile notifications, you receive immediate alerts when patients confirm appointments, submit appointment requests, and send two-way texts. Clicking on notifications can reduce the time needed to respond and complete essential tasks because it takes you directly where you need to go in the app.

  

Read the Patient Engage Mobile overview topic for more information about the types of notifications you’ll receive.

Use Appointment Requests to Fill Your Schedule

More and more patients prefer self-scheduling and wait-listing to on-the-phone conversations. You can fill openings in your schedule by accepting appointment requests from existing and prospective patients right from your phone. 

 

The Patient Engage Mobile Appointment Request feature allows you to confirm requests from your patients. The app notifies you immediately when someone makes a request, and the patient’s information will be available on your phone. Read this Help topic to learn more about accepting appointment requests.  

Improve Patient Satisfaction with Two-way Texts

For many people, speed is the most critical communication factor that influences their satisfaction. You can respond more quickly to your patients using Patient Engage Mobile in real-time with two-way texting. 

Click here to read more about using text messages in Patient Engage Mobile.

Search and Filter Weekly Appointments

Did you know that you can search the weekly appointment requests for specific patient names and filter by status, provider names, and appointment date? Only the requests that meet the search criteria will appear in the results list. 

Searches and filters are ideal if you are trying to see all the upcoming appointments for a specific provider or if you want to see all the upcoming appointments that still need to be confirmed. 

Click here to learn more about searching and filtering weekly appointments.

Access Patient Information On the Go

In Patient Engage Mobile, you have instant access to your patient’s contact information, even if you are away from the office. You can easily search for a patient in the Patients tab. From there, you have all the information you need to contact the patient. You can also view past email and text communications and your patient’s communication preferences

.  

Read this Help Topic to learn more about accessing patient information. 

Download Patient Engage Mobile

If you haven’t already, you can learn how to download the Patient Engage Mobile App here.

If you’re not currently using Patient Engage or Patient Engage Mobile, visit www.Dentrix.com/PatientEngage or call 833.232.3182. Your account executive is ready to help answer any questions.

Combating COVID - Documenting the Codes

In the effort to combat the current global pandemic, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has now authorized dentists to administer COVID-19 vaccines to patients! This exciting new development has left some office administrators questioning how to document the procedure in Dentrix. 

 The American Dental Association has recently authorized eight new procedures codes that cover vaccine administration and COVID testing. Visit the Dentrix Resource Center (www.dentrix.com/resource-center) and search for Knowledgebase Article 55640 to learn what the codes are. 

To add those codes to Dentrix from any computer: 

1. In the Dentrix Office Manager, click Maintenance > Practice Setup > Procedure Code Setup.
2. With the ADA-CDT Codes tab selected, click New.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Enter a Description that will be used on patients' billing statements.
4. Enter a Patient Friendly Description that can be used on treatment plan printouts. This is generally a longer, plain-spoken explanation of the procedure.
5. In the ADA Code field, enter the American Dental Association's code name.
6. In the Abbrev Desc field, enter a short description that will be used if this procedure is scheduled in an appointment.
7. For the vaccine administration procedures, change the Procedure Category menu to Preventive (or Diagnostic for the testing procedure.)
8. Change the Treatment Area menu to Mouth. (Mouth is the setting used for procedures that do not need any additional tooth, surface, arch, or root information).
9. Optional: If you would like this procedure to be available in the procedure listing panel of the patient chart, under Treatment Flags select Show in Chart. (See also our past tip titled Understanding Treatment Flag Options to learn more about this option.) 
10. Optional: If you are allowed to charge a fee for this service, enter the amount under Fee Schedule section at the right. 
11. Optional: If you do not want to count this as a “visit” for the patient, select Do Not Update Patient Visit Dates. (See our past tip Do Not Update Patient Visit Dates for more information about this option.) 
12. Save your changes and Close the Procedure Code Editor.

After adding new codes, you will need to close and reopen all Dentrix modules on each computer. Then you can begin using the new codes right away. 

Additional Information

• ADA Announcement: Dentists, dental students among providers now authorized to administer COVID-19 vaccine nationwide (ada.org) 
• Visit the Dentrix Resource Center (www.dentrix.com/resource-center) and search for Knowledgebase Article 55640 to learn more. 
• You can also have these new codes save you note-writing time by automatically inserting text into the patient’s clinical note when completed. See our past tip titled Copying Procedure Notes to Clinical Notes to learn more.