Dentrix Ideas

We are all still waiting for this PMS to actually function with the function and flow of a dental office. With today's digital age and all the issues surrounding follow-up with unscheduled treatment, collections, continuing care, and staffing, we need a real integrated task list and reminder system which flows through the Dentrix modules and is user/roles/permissions based. See MS Office 365 for Business for their task sytem. Need one integrated with Dentrix that follows the work flow, from scheduling, to treatment plan presentation and following up with unscheduled treatment, to continuing care followup, to referral to specialists followup, to labcase manager/tracker followup, to billing and collections followup, to other office duties. Should be able to assign tasks with patients for a staff member to followup, etc. All should be centrally located within its own module but allows writing notes to all modules (except for the dental chart) and due dates that appear on a daily To-Do or Follow-Up list per staff member.

This would be a GREAT integration, especially if managers could push tasks out to staff and track completion! Come on Dentrix, let's get this one going and help us all work more efficiently!!!

It is suggested that we use Office Journal for reminders and as a "to do list" but the date field can not be changed. So, if I have a reminder to do something and need to change the reminder date or suspense date, I can't change the date field, I have to delete the reminder and then re-enter it for the date I want. Should be a simple matter to just change the date if needed.

It would be nice to have an alert pop up at the end of the day to check the pinboard. Appointments sometimes remain pinboarded even after they've been dragged to an appointment spot. Maybe there could be a pop-up that alerts everyone if the same appointment has remained on the pinboard for a certain amount of time.

We have had appointments deleted off the pinboard, then learned that the appointment had previously been dragged to an appointment spot but still remained pinboarded. The appointment gets deleted off the pinboard AND from the appointment book. Scary!

If the Office Journal would be able to compile a list of patients that need to be followed up on. For example, if there are several patients who left without their next treatment appointment, a team member could go into 'their' office journal and compile a list of patients who need to have a follow up contact to schedule their treatment and / or hygiene appointment.

the Dentrix Journal icon would be far more effective if it were to automatically prompt the user for specific reminders for specific times.

A module specifically for the providers/staff. It will include alerts for any given day, reminders, alerts for patients seen today, continuing care people that are due without appointments that day. It's the one spot you can get all the information which would take several reports and time to get. Like a day at a glance, notes, reminder, to be prepared for the next day, and see all about the patients there today.

We would like to have a calendar within Dentrix for our front office to use that we can put our tasks or reminders into, and that I as the office manager can monitor other users to make sure tasks are getting completed. We are currently using MyWorkboard.com. We are not interested in using the Journal at all.

This was my idea originally as we already have this through MS Offiice. I have requested this be an integrated piece within Dentrix for a few years now. There is no way to properly track and manage workflows within the dental practice. Need the Task Manager to "Manage" the work flow, from check-in, to treatment plan presentation, scheduling, lab case follow-up, follow-up with unscheduled treatment, to billing and claims, etc. all should be assignable and managed by supervisors, managers and owners to track and age the work flows. Even our payroll and hr online service we use have a Task Manager.

And view by assignee

I think the best place for the task list is right next to the Note button at the top left of the appointment book. Currently we use the Note feature for each day to keep our task list. But I would like check boxes, option to assign to team member, reminders, a way to list unchecked tasks (or just auto-append them to the next day if unchecked).

In the new DENTRIX magazine that was just released: Vol. 28 issue 4 - Winter 2016..Scheduling Task Reminders In Appt. Book - great Idea except it should be used and seen by ONE user only. The whole office shouldn't have to see your personal schedule. Especially when adding reminders like (ex. Call Robert Smith) violating HIPPA. Plus,each user can have there own To-Do lists on the schedule, for their eyes only.

Office Journal Reminder that is attached to a patient needs alert needs an ALERT feature for a reminder. Much like MS Outlook.

When going over a treatment planner i think it would be helpful to have a option for a call back reminder in one week 3 weeks ETC and it actually lets us know when its time to call the patient back to follow up on their treatment plan as to why they didnt schedule and see if their ready at that time. if that makes sense..

Eagle Soft has a task manager that an employee can print out that allows an employee to put in any follow up work, appointment reminders...etc for any patient in the the future, Dentrix needs this! Everything is tied to the patient but it is on one list for the employees to see what has to be done / completed today.

Easier way to make school/work excuses. Not having to go through so many steps on everything

As most insurance plans have one of three frequency limitations for check ups: Once every 6 months Twice every 12 months Twice every Benefit period It would be a great if the Dentrix software added a type of fail safe to prevent a user from scheduling a patient too soon.

I have been an Eaglesoft user for 8 years. Eaglesoft messenger was essential to quick communications from workstation to work station and the task manager was the best way to leave notes for specific team members in regards to patient treatment questions, referral follow-ups, implant treatment coordination, and ongoing care issues that were not urgent matters. This created an efficient means of communication between team members that did not require physical conversations and allowed for the patients chart to be attached directly to the concern, ergo illuminating the need for superfluous programs and charting. Please incorporate something like this into your system. It is very efficient and allows for the most accurate communication and charting reference that keeps the staff continually in touch and up to speed. I feel crippled without this functionality to be honest.

We use a program called Spark for our office communications between operatories. It works great! The chat window always comes up on top of every other tab opened at the moment so you can't miss it.

ON CONTINUING CARE THERE SHOULD BE A RANGE FOR DATES SO AFTER YOU CALL THE PT AND WRITE YOUR NOTE IF THEY DO NOT SCHEDULE THEY WILL NOT COME UP ON YOUR CONTINUING CARE LIST TILL THE DATE THAT YOU GENERATED ON THERE CHART ( PRACTICE WORKS DOES USE THIS WITH THERE SOFTWARE )

We are constantly having to remind the doctors to get the age information on certain procedures such as crowns, bridges for insurance purposes. Is there a prompt we can add when tx planning to ask the age questions on certain procedures? Similar to the prompt asking for tooth number, surface, so forth?

A reminder area added to the journal that allows you to remind yourself to complete a task on a specific date. It should have the ability to track and print reports with a reminder as well

pop up notes for the appointment book itself,to let us know holidays, special alerts

this is a good one. essentially, we are asking for a CRM component similar to Salesforce. it would also be helpful to be able to set reminders/tasks for other people - i.e. doc needs to call this patient tomorrow or asst needs to follow up with specialist. We are currently using Outlook calendar and email to do this, but have to be very careful to maintain hippa compliance.

We would like to have a pop-up on all terminals in the morning that can be a window that we can minimize or a list to print for people who are put on a waitlist that want a specific day and week with hygentist/and or dentist. So if we have cancellations this week, a list would come up for people who are waiting for this week with any specific info, like day, time, hygentist, dentist, type of appt, time needed.

This was the best feature in Eaglesoft. We really miss this feature since going to Dentrix.

Tasks should also be searchable by patient, staff member, category, due date, priority level, etc. You don't even need to invent it, just copy the Eaglesoft Task Manager. See the video at https://pattersonsupport.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7887/kw/tasks/session/L3RpbWUvMTQ0OTg0ODE3OC9zaWQvLVZFdEtJRG0%3D This Task list needs to be moved to the top of the enhancement list. PLEASE VOTE people!!

We would like to have a decent recall quick call list. We have tried to work with the ASAP list and it doesn't work. Instead we have to write on A PIECE OF PAPER who needs to get in with hygiene on a short call list. Which is ridiculous in this day and age. Please refer to Softdent-it's an excellent example.

How can I make a list/ search "notes" / reminders that are entered in the schedule? We should be able to add reminders and be able to recall/search the reminders we enter so they are not forgotten!

Our previous Practice Management Sofware had this feature called a "tickler". Each tickler reminder was assigned to a patient, assigned a reminder date & had a note field for the specifics (call for payment, follow-up after oral surgeon visit, treatment decision, Dr. XYZ call specialist about patient, etc.) These reminders popped up on an initial screen when you logged in for viewing. You could minimize & go onto other features or address & check off the reminder. But, the reminders stayed in chronological order until they were managed. Helped keep us accountable because everyone saw if you were ignoring the reminders & allowed for part-time staff to have someone else manage time-sensitive issues on their off days. My doctors & staff are benning for Dentrix to do this!

Our previous Practice Management Sofware had this feature called a "tickler". Each tickler reminder was assigned to a patient, assigned a reminder date & had a note field for the specifics (call for payment, follow-up after oral surgeon visit, treatment decision, Dr. XYZ call specialist about patient, etc.) These reminders popped up on an initial screen when you logged in for viewing. You could minimize & go onto other features or address & check off the reminder. But, the reminders stayed in chronological order until they were managed. Helped keep us accountable because everyone saw if you were ignoring the reminders & allowed for part-time staff to have someone else manage time-sensitive issues on their off days. My doctors & staff are benning for Dentrix to do this!

Our previous Practice Management Sofware had this feature called a "tickler". Each tickler reminder was assigned to a patient, assigned a reminder date & had a note field for the specifics (call for payment, follow-up after oral surgeon visit, treatment decision, Dr. XYZ call specialist about patient, etc.) These reminders popped up on an initial screen when you logged in for viewing. You could minimize & go onto other features or address & check off the reminder. But, the reminders stayed in chronological order until they were managed. Helped keep us accountable because everyone saw if you were ignoring the reminders & allowed for part-time staff to have someone else manage time-sensitive issues on their off days. My doctors & staff are benning for Dentrix to do this!

One button to push to generate the office's customized end of day paperwork. In the correct order, with the correct settings.

Please create a way to generate a daily report on patients who need to be called on a premed list to stop meds prior to appointment. This reporting feature would be valuable in quicker identification of patients to be called.

We often run repetitive reports for each day at a time. How nice it would be not to have to create the report each time. Defaults are great, but they don't pertain to the date range.

Like this idea, please do not add to the journal...takes too long to load. Maybe this could be a feature in the new EDex? However, it would be nice to be able to pull up an EDex when selecting patients from another open module (such as appointment, chart, ledger, family file, etc.). I will add this as an enhancement request as well.

This would be a great place to put a note on the specific patient. Then when you select Reminder, have the option to put a date in and then be reminded on that date. Reminder: call pt today to sch next recall, follow up on billing (pt getting pd today), reminder to follow up about referral, etc.

This would totally help our office!! LOVE this idea! It would help eliminate missed tasks. Everyone would be responsible for their individual tasks. The reminder chime or beep is genius and also the option to have periodic reminders! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make this happen!!

I find that it is best to have a list other than using the day sheet one as if something doesn't get done it gets lost when the day has ended, also you can't print a "list" of things. The day sheet reminder is wonderful for patient's that want in on a specific day or specific day task.

Not sure if this is helpful to anyone but we use the appt day note area for our to do- reminder list and then just clear it off as the items get done-

It would be helpful to be able to change the date of a reminder,

I couldn't agree more. This is a much needed feature for various uses. It could also be tailored to allow individual users to see and manage their own task lists for the day. Anything that gets checked off could go into a log, set as complete on the day it was completed. Anything that is still pending and doesn't get checked off on a given day could carry over to the next day so that nothing every gets lost of overlooked. Ideally, you could create tasks and assign them due dates so that they come up on the day they are needed and then remain visible until you either defer or complete them. We all have tasks that need getting done in a busy office. Why not allow your practice management tool - Dentrix - help you manage those tasks to be more productive?

Love this, but I would suggest on in the OJ...maybe some where on the appointment book. For front office that is what is up more often than OJ.

Just called about this myself...would love to have something alert me other than me writing in a notebook the things that I need to do in the future, because I never end up doing them till way later. Hope they decide to add this feature!

SOMETIMES PATIENTS WHO WANT A SHORT NOTICE APPOINTMENT CAN'T/WON'T SCHEDULE A TIME, WHICH MEANS WE CAN'T USE ASAP FUNCTION. WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO LIST ON DATE REQUESTED FOR THOSE TIMES WHEN PATIENT'S WILL BE HOME OR IN TOWN FOR ONLY ONE DAY, THAT IS EASILY SEEN IN THE APPOINTMENT BOOK ON THAT DAY.

The ability to search the note section would be very helpful. This would eliminate duplicate notes from other office personnel.

I would love a task list reminder. There is so much to do and only 8 hours in a work day. And my memory chip does not hold enough memory running the front desk by myself. This would be a nice feature. We can all use a little reminder.

needs to have a chime or beep to alert the staff that a patient has arrived in the office rather than just the change in status color which is of little value as i cannot see the change while i am working yet a chime would immediately alert me that a change has occurred

Yes a to-do list would be beneficial....our office currently uses the events for our reminders in the appt book(right click) but a separate area would be better.

Yes a to-do list would be great!

A) We follow up with patient procedures by adding a "Scheduled Event". It would be great to be able to add a patient (along with phone number info)on a scheduled event. This way we don't have to go to 2 different places for phone number(s). B) Make it easy to add this info to the paitent's clinical notes.

This is a great idea. Although we have a smaller office, we each have jobs that need to be completed daily and special tasks that come up beyond those. It would be beneficial to us if new tasks could be added at any point, and with due dates, to be able to alert the provider if things have not been completed in a timely manner.

Our office have been using EVENTS for our reminders.. it has been pretty great for us it is just a right click, then just under the new apt it says event. and from there we just put our own little note in for a reminder and our initals to know who needs to do it..

Please don't forget to include a manager's view which shows various team members task status -specifically, show tasks that are due or overdue viewable by date and / or team member.

it would be nice for reminders to function similar to task reminders in Outlook. We don't care for the notes section of the appt book because it's easy to forget it (out of site/out of mind). When we need call reminders, we usually schedule events in our "extra" column, but having a 'pop up' would help keep folks on task. Let's face it, days can get busy and it's easy to get pulled in multiple directions that contribute to those 'reminders' being forgotten.

I use the Notes section on the appt book, which I also print to the Appointment book view (prints below the schedule) and highlight to remind myself of all the to-do's. I keep a hard copy of the schedule beside my desk in case of a power outtage, when you wouldn't be able to access the schedule otherwise. Just a fail safe for me. At the end of the day, the doctor gets the copy with the production and collection on it for easy reference. PracticeWorks post-it's were great, too. Yes, I miss them.

Check out Weave Communications (www.getweave.com). We will be launching something very soon that will provide all of this functionality and more. It will be integrated with a phone system/texting/emailing system that will allow you to set reminders to call/text/email patients. When the pop-up appears, you can just click the "call" button on your computer screen and it will automatically make your phone on your desk call your patient. Feel free to contact me personally if you would like more information. My email is brandon@getweave.com.

This sounds very similar to the option that I am requesting

I would like the Dentrix program to be able to keep a log of all correspondence with patients when you are trying to follow-up and get a pt in for treatment. For example, let's say I called the pt last month to sched and he gave me an excuse why he can't come for treatment. I want to be able to follow up in another 2 weeks or later and I want these notes to pop up on the day that I need to follow up again and it needs to show all previous correspondence and dates. I'm really very disappointed in the fact that this program does not have this feature. I worked at another dental office and they had a program called "Dr Dean" that had this feature. I would be really grateful if you would consider this matter. Thank you.

We were with Practice Works years ago and they had a post-it note option. When we switched to Dentrix in 2006 we requested they work on a similar option. To date, no luck with that! It may seem a minor thing, but those little tweaks are what keep us happy. I don't know what the hold up is. Dentrix better get with it or some of the other systems out there will be taking their market share.

I would love to see this feature available in the appointment book. Awesome idea.

We schedule an event for this purpose. If it is something you want to remember to do monthly or every Monday for example you can schedule an event one time and have it post to the dates you want it to show up. This works GREAT for us. Then after the event is completed we just change the color to gray (like setting an appt complete).

Wow can't beleive this has been "in the works" for almost 2 years! Whats the hold up. This would be a great feature. We just talked about the need for this again, recently. Please lets get a move on this one!

CHECK OUT HOW ACT! WORKS. I have used for many many years a program called ACT! It is BRILLIANT for taking care of these kinds of things. It's contact-centric (in the dental office patient-centric). It would be PHENOMENAL to add this kind of functionality to Dentrix. Not only for keeping track of things that need to be done, but keeping it all attached to the patient so you can easily see the history. It's far more high-powered than putting items in a task list. The approach is about managing the patient relationship, so you schedule what needs to be done when for the patient....and then it just automatically throws them on the calendar when things need to be done. I LOVE IT!

This would be a great feature. We changed from Patient Base to Dentrix and really miss this feature.

We recently changed from Eaglesoft to Dentrix and I was suprised to see that Dentrix didn't have a Task Manager. This is something that is very useful in a dental office, or any business office for that matter. Being able to customize weekly, monthly, yearly, or daily reminders that are customizable and can flash up when a user logs into their workstation. This was a great feature and Dentrix should really consider doing something like this to be a leader in Dentrix software and offer the leading technology. Karlie

Would like this also for a reminder to run a credit card monthly, weekly, etc. I have used the note on the appointment book, but you have to remember to put it on the next month each time. Would be nice to set it up and forget it. Eaglesoft has a task list that works well. You can specify which employee it is for and whether it is high priority or not also. When you sign on each day it should pop up. You should not have to remember to go look at it. Thanks!

When we first got Dentrix, we were told by Dentrix to put personal info about the pt into the patient notes section in the family file. So that's what we do, and it works great!

We have used G3 for 18 months and are still mastering the use the office journal for this function. We are a specialty office (perio) and our communications are crucial. WIthout the paper chart anymore and all digital, we rely on the correct use of the OJ. Specifically, we use the reminder (Red exclamation point) from within the patients OJ, flagging the person that needs to do something (call, write, email, reschedule). Everybody's job depends on the correct use of the OJ. Keeping ot cleaned up and current, means printing it every few days and putting a paper copy in somebody's in box. They can work on items without having to open it. The biggest limitation is that from a dentists OJ (with his Red exclam. reminders) they can't jump to a patients doc center, back and for completing tasks and updating (deleting) items on the OJ. In general, handling communications (all the forms) with minimal steps is the limiting feature of dentrix at thsi point.

SoftDent has a similar capability and it allows not only the individual who logged the task to see it, but the whole office see it. Having said this, it allows management to track what is getting done timely and what is not. Also, if your staff member that is assigned the task is out sick or no longer employed, it allows continuity with the patient.

Seems like everyone wants a Microsoft Outlook look-alike type 'to do' list. It would be user specific, date specific, could be patient or account specific and cross reference or post to the office journal and would always give you an overdue reminder until the item is marked as completed or removed from the list. This to do list may be patient related, task related or even non-office related that could help team members stay organized. I am a new user to dentrix and this is one of the major deficiencies my entire team has noted.

We use our Appointment Book Day Note area. Works great!

I use my Microsoft Calender. OR you can sch an event as a reminder. Just ideas for now.

Yes this is something I would definately use A LOT. Very helpful!!! Lets do this! Sooner than later please

Yes a list where any tasks needed to do after the patient leaves. Such as patient emails to labs or specialists. Work up treatment plans etc...

This would be a great feature. I've used the journal as a reminder, but it really gets cumbersome as it populates all the information under your name.

We use the patient notes section in the family file for that and it works really well. Every morning when we have our morning hudle we go over the notes section and it works really well - we can put very detailed notes in there regarding patient. You might want to try that - it works for us!

That would be awesome if we could have a task list. As of now we create appointment for a patient of what we need to call them for recall, check on their healing from a surgery, etc....

A time clock on this would be great, so if on Sept 1 I need to do something, I will be reminded.

We use the office journal all the time for many tasks however a to do list would be great for things that are not person specific ie patient or team member. Also the office journal can be a little out of site out of mind. It would be nice to have something that is easily noticed by any team member at any work station that there are things on the to do list to be completed through out the day and not just flashed up when you log in early in the morning and are in a hurry to get ready for your day

This is a good idea...couldnt you just put it in the pt notes box in family file or even create a flag with the info and tag it to open with the pt chart?

also need it to with option to write any completed task to office journal-NOT automatic, just a box to check to post to office journal, chart, etc.

JUST NEED TASK MANAGER LIKE OUTLOOK IN DENTRIX. NEED FUNCTIONALITY TO INCLUDE SECURITY FEATURES FOR MANAGEMENT ACCESS.

A lot of business's (especially beauty salons) use this to make client comfortable and feel important because you remembered them.

A Task reminder system(Like the feature Open Dental software has) can be used to remind staff of tasks that need to be done daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. The tasks can be pre-set with a date and time and when the reminder is due, it will pop up and appear in the task list. You'd then mark the reminder done to make it disappear until its next due date. Each staff member has their own task list unique to what they need to do. You can even attach a patient to a specific task as a reminder to follow etc.. You can assign task to any staff member and respond to each other on the progress of each task. When a task is associated with a patient, once task is completed it automatically saves in patient journal. THIS WOULD BE SUCH A GAME CHANGER AND UTILIZED IN ALL OFFICES BY ALL STAFF MEMEBERS!