Consistent care is an important part of your patient’s oral health and a significant contributor to the financial health of your practice. You’re the expert on caring for your patients. In this post, we’ll provide some expert advice on the tools in Open Dental that will help you manage the recall process efficiently and effectively so you can keep your focus where it belongs: on patient care. 

  If you like to watch and learn, here’s a 20-minute Managing the Recall List Webinar.

Recall Setup: Proper setup is critical

1. Setup > Appointments > Recall Types: the triggers

Settings here determine:

• Which procedures trigger Recall
• When the appointments are due
• What procedures are attached to the appointment when using the “Make Recall” feature
• The appointment length

You can have different types for different kinds of appointments. (If you make a change to a type, be sure to Synch so patients will be updated with the new recall interval, triggers, and rules. For patients with manual edits to their interval, the Synch will not change the manual edits but their due date may be recalculated. If the updates are not synched, new or changed types will only affect procedures completed after you make the change.)
Prophy, ChildProphy and Perio types are required for the system to work as intended.

Watch our Recall Types and Custom Recalls webinar for more information.

2. Setup > Appointments > Recall: The Rules and Messages

Settings here determine:

• The conditions that must be met for when/how often a patient appears on the recall list
• What reminder messages are sent under certain conditions

3. Setup > Schedules: Make Scheduling a Breeze!

Your provider schedules must be set up properly in order for the Make Recall and Make Family Recall to function properly. Be sure the schedule is open for a minimum of one year. 
You can set up schedules in one of two ways:
To create a provider’s typical schedule, go to Setup > Schedules. See more on this on our Schedule Setup page.

To make quick edits to a provider’s schedule, go to the Appointment Module’s Provider Tab

Double-click in the Provider Schedules box (anywhere in the box). The Edit Day window will open, and you can add or edit a provider’s schedule. This is better suited for small edits to an existing schedule. To create or edit a provider’s typical daily/weekly schedule, go to Setup > Schedules as mentioned above.

Making the List, Checking it Twice…

Great news: Once you’ve done your setup, the recall list will generate and update automatically based on the settings you’ve selected! A reminder – if you’ve recently made changes to a Recall Type, be sure to Synch so patients will be updated with the new recall interval, triggers, and rules.

If you don’t see a patient you were expecting on the list, it’s because they haven’t met the criteria you assigned during setup.

To access your list, go to the Appointment Module and click on the Notepad above the calendar, then select Recall.

Your current list will show.

TECH TIP: Want to see who received recall reminders? Click on the Reminders tab.

Automating the Process with Web Sched Recall

There’s nothing easier than fully automated! With Web Sched Recall, an automated reminder goes out based on your criteria, and your patients can schedule their own recall appointments online. This eService is available to customers on support for an additional fee – please see our Fees page for details.

1. Using your criteria, patients are automatically sent an email and/or text message (if you’re using Integrated Texting) with a link to schedule their own appointment.
2. You decide the operatories to open and the time slots available to schedule. When the patients follow the link, those openings in the schedule will show as available, and the patient can pick the date and time that works best for them.
   
3. Once they schedule, the appointment immediately shows in your Appointments Module.
   See the demo for yourself here. 

Need help setting up, customizing, or automating your Recall? Get in touch with our Support Technicians today.