Open Dental’s latest version 24.2 has been released as stable! Read on to learn more about some of the version highlights.
Account Module
Automatically Create Tertiary Claims
The New Claim button now automatically creates claims for tertiary insurance (in addition to primary and secondary). You’ll no longer need to create these claims separately.
Preference to Prompt for Primary Claims
There is a new preference for “Prompt for primary claims” that will prompt for action on a primary dental claim when receiving a medical claim. This is similar to the “Prompt for secondary claims” that appears when receiving a primary claim.
New Intervals for Repeating Charges
Repeating Charges have been updated to include “Annually” and “Quarterly” frequencies. This tool is helpful to bill out any routine charges, like membership plan fees.
Tech Tip: Did you know you can set up Recurring Charges to automatically process a credit card payment at set intervals? If you’re using an integrated credit card processor you can! This is helpful for patients with repeating charges or those with Payment Plans.
Authorized Procedures for Recurring Charges
You can now assign Authorized Procedures to Recurring Charges. This means if there is a family balance, the recurring charge is only processed when an authorized procedure has been set complete.
View Outstanding Claim Procedures
Ever had an outstanding insurance estimate but all of your claims are received? Now you can easily find any Claim Procedures that are not received by hovering over the “Ins Est” area in the Account Module.
Appointments Module
Appointment View to Show Scheduled Days
When Editing an Appointment View, there is now an option for “In Week View, only show days that have scheduled provs or appts”. This means that if no providers or appointments are scheduled for a day, the day (like a weekend or holiday) is excluded from the week view in the Appointments Module.
Language Translations for Recall Messages
In Setup Recall, you can now customize recall messages for different languages. Available languages are dependent on what your practice has added to Language Definitions and the message sent to a patient is dependent on the language set in Edit Patient Information. If a translation doesn’t exist for a language (or the patient doesn’t have a specified language), the message for the default language (e.g., English) is used.
Tools
Check Insurance Plan Fees Tool
The Check Insurance Plan Fees Tool has been updated to include an option to “Change Ins Plan Type” in addition to “Change Fee Schedule”. This is helpful if your practice has gone out of network with a carrier as you can now quickly change the plan types on multiple insurance plans at the same time.
ODTouch
Our ODTouch eService app is now released as stable! Use the app as your clinical tool to complete tasks, like charting, scheduling, treatment planning, and more, from the convenience of a tablet. It is available for Android and iOS devices.
eServices
There have been various enhancements to our eServices in Version 24.2.
- ODTouch supports printing from the app.
- Changes to eRouting Setup (for ODTouch) to support more customization, including custom checklist items and default sheets to load.
- New setting to determine if Secure Email is used for statements. This is now separate from other email types.
- Texting inboxes reflect if a message was read on any platform. This means if a message was read on ODMobile, it will be marked as read in ODTouch.
Other Changes
Multi-Visit Procedure Groups
When Grouping Procedures for Multiple Appointments (e.g., crowns, implants, etc.), insurance estimates now consider benefits for the current year, rather than the benefit year when work started. This is helpful for treatment that may span multiple benefit years.
Perio Chart
There are two changes to the Perio Chart for version 24.2. The first is that the patient’s birthdate will appear in the header when printing or saving a perio chart. The second is that the provider on a perio chart now defaults to the logged-on provider instead of the patient’s primary provider. This means if a hygienist is logged-on and creates the perio chart, they’ll automatically be listed as the provider!
Changes to Printer Setup
Printer Setup has been completely overhauled to accommodate options for virtual printers.
Preferences
In addition to the preferences we’ve already mentioned, there are a few more changes to Preferences.
- Ortho Setup and Enterprise Setup have been moved to Preferences.
- “Sort images by date descending”: Lets you choose if you want files in the Imaging Module to be sorted by oldest-newest or vice-versa.
- “Verify Addresses with USPS”: When entering address information in Edit Patient Information, this will prompt users to verify the address and suggest corrections.
- “Allow primary claim status to be Hold Until Pri Received”: This preference is most useful if sending medical claims prior to dental claims.
Miscellaneous
- The Daily Procedures Report now includes an “Area” column to indicate the Treatment Area when it’s not a tooth number.
- There is a new Display Field option for “Carrier Name” in the Recall List. This field isn’t enabled by default, but you can change the Fields Showing for the Recall List to see it.
- New integration with Bola AI. Bola AI is directly integrated into the Perio Chart for AI-assisted voice perio charting.
Support is always here for you! Online chat can get simple questions answered right away. For troubleshooting or to remote-connect, please give us a call.
Information in this post reflects features available in Open Dental Version 24.2. For the most up-to-date information, please visit our manual.