If your office is using patient alerts, then you are probably familiar with the pop-up messages that go along with them. But are you really reading them, or just clicking OK to get on with the task at hand?  If you aren’t reading them, is it because they are constantly popping up every time you try to perform a task in Dentrix, and they are more of a nuisance than they are informative?

Today’s tip will help you make these pop-up alerts more effective. It’s all about how you set them up. The key to using Patient Alerts effectively is setting them up to only appear when they are relevant and necessary. In the steps below you’ll find insight (noted by an asterisk * and in italics) about key settings that will make this feature more effective in your office.

How To

  1. In the Family File, select the patient for whom you want to make an alert.
  2. Click the Patient Alerts button.
  3. In the Select Date group box, enter the Start and End dates that you want the alert to be active, or check Always to permanently activate the alert.
    *If the alert is only going to be relevant for three weeks, enter a starting and ending date. That way the alert will stop popping up after the information is outdated.
  4. If desired, in the Options group box, check Show Symbol on Appointment to display a flag on the face of the appointment.
  5. Check Display Aged Balance with Note to display the patient’s balance at the bottom of the patient alert pop-up window.
    *If you are setting up the alert for a financial reason, such as the need to collect payment at time of service, then check this option so you can see at a glance what the balance on the account is without having to switch to another module.
  6. If you want the note to be applied to one or more family members, check Also apply Patient Alert to and then either select All Family Members to apply the patient alert to all members of the selected patient’s family, or Select Family Members to select the individual family members you want the alert to apply to.
    *Be judicious when using this option. If the alert really only applies to the guarantor, then don’t use this option and have it popping up for every family member.
  7. Enter a brief Description for the alert, such as Collections or Pre-Medicate.
  8. Enter a detailed description for the alert in the Note field.
    *Be sure to include enough information that the reason for the alert is clear to anyone who reads it.
  9. In the large pane on the right, select the areas of Dentrix where you want the alert to display.
    *This is the most important thing to consider when creating alerts, and the most often misused. Think about the alert you are creating, and in what areas of Dentrix this alert is relevant. For example if your alert has to do with not scheduling an appointment for John Doe until his outstanding balance is paid off, then you should really only set the alert to show when you are performing the scheduling tasks–Create New Appointment, Edit Existing Appointment, or Move Appointment. You don’t need to see this alert any other time. Think about the tasks listed here and only select the ones that directly pertain to the alert you are creating.
  10. Click OK to save the settings for this alert, and then click Close to return to the Family File.

Patient alerts are meant to alert you to certain situations concerning your patients, and if you aren’t reading them because they are popping up too often or unnecessarily, then they are ineffective. Make them work for you. Set them up according to the information given above, and edit those that are currently in use to be most effective for you.