Need help filling your schedule in a post-COVID-19 world? We can help with that.
As we move past the events of 2020, have you thought about how you can prepare your clinic to be more productive this year? What does your organization hope to achieve in the coming months? What actions are you taking to help your clinic get back to normal production? In most clinics before COVID-19, any patients that were 18 months or more overdue for an appointment were considered inactive. After the events of 2020, now is the time to reactivate any patients without a current appointment and get them on the schedule.
A full schedule is now more important than ever. Over the last year, we have written many blog posts with helpful information on keeping your schedule full and productive. Here are just a few blog articles that can help as you move forward to a more productive year in 2021.
Filling Open Time in Your Hygiene Schedule
If the shutdowns in 2020 left you with holes in your schedule, you need to find any patients who are overdue for their 6-month hygiene and perio visits. Dentrix Enterprise provides you with helpful tools such as Appointment Lists, like the ASAP list and Unscheduled list, which can help you find patients with broken appointments or with a status of Wait/Will Call. You can also set up a new continuing care view in the Appointment Book to help you track down patients who are overdue for perio maintenance or prophy cleaning. Another helpful tool for finding overdue patients is the Scheduling Assistant, which combines all your appointment lists in one window and helps track down patients with treatment requests.
- For more information, see the following blog post: Fill Open Time in Your Hygiene Schedule
Following Up on Your Unscheduled Treatment Plans
If you want to find treatment plans that have been added to the Chart but have not yet been scheduled, use the Unscheduled Treatment Plan Report inside Dentrix Enterprise. This report can help you schedule patients for their previously planned treatment.
- For more information, see the following blog post: Following Up on Your Unscheduled Treatment Plans
Generating a List of Active Patients
If you need to close your practice or make changes to your schedule, you need a way to contact and inform your patients. The Patient List and Letter Merge features help you access a list of your active patients so you can contact them about any updates or changes to your office schedule.
- For more information, see the following blog post: Generating a List of Active Patients
Don’t Rely on Your Memory – Use the Appointment Checklist
When a patient checks in for their appointment, it’s important to make sure you collect accurate information so that your billing processes will run smoothly. Dentrix Enterprise provides you with a helpful appointment checklist on each appointment that can help you collect all the necessary patient information so the patient and your practice are ready for their appointment.
- For more information, see the following blog post: Don’t Rely on Your Memory – Use the Appointment Checklist
Adding Patient Screening to the Appointment CheckList
You can use the customizable appointment checklist in Dentrix Enterprise to add additional patient screening information in the Appointment Information window. Adding new screening procedures to your appointments can help you create a safe environment for your patients and help your staff stay organized during patient check-in.
- For more information, see the following blog post: Adding Patient Screening to the Appointment Checklist
Keeping a full schedule is instrumental to keeping your organization moving forward. At the time of writing in 2021, the field of dentistry has already begun to pick up speed, and we’re here to help you keep your schedule as full and as productive as possible for a great year ahead.
