We love sharing Open Dental use tips with you! In this Tips & Tricks post, we will be discussing these topics:

• Starting a note ahead of time
• When you’re no longer in-network with a Carrier
• When an employee or provider leaves your practice
• Showing insurance verification status on appointments
• What is included in the cost of Support

How do I start a note ahead of time?

Notes can be entered on each procedure or as a group note once an appointment has been set complete.

Notes can be entered on individual procedures at any time. This means notes can be started before the appointment is complete (i.e., when procedures are still in Treatment Planned status). Notes are retained when the procedure is set complete.

Group Notes cannot be started until all procedures are set complete. However, you can still start notes ahead of time by enabling the Chart Module preference Procedure Group Notes aggregate.

This allows you to start the notes on individual procedures, then when the procedures are completed and a Group Note is created, the notes will be moved from the procedures to the Group Note.

I am no longer in-network with a carrier. What steps are needed?

1. Update the insurance Plan Type to Category Percentage from Edit Insurance Plan. Easily find all your plans for the carrier from the Insurance Plans List.
2. Remove any insurance Fee Schedule currently assigned carrier plans. This can be done for multiple plans at once using the Check Ins Plans Fees tool or on an individual plan from the Edit Insurance Plan window.
3. Enable Blue Book and copy insurance fees to a Manual Blue Book fee schedule.
4. Assign the Manual Blue Book fee schedule to the insurance plans. Just like when you removed the in-network fee schedule, you can use the Check Ins Plan Fees Tool to attach the fee schedule to multiple plans at once or attach the fee schedule from the Edit Insurance Plan window on an individual plan.

Once a Manual Blue Book fee schedule is assigned, Open Dental will use this fee schedule to help better estimate insurance payment. This will not affect the fee billed nor calculate any write-offs. Allowed fees can be updated when claims are received as well so that estimates are kept as accurate as possible. See Insurance Blue Book Setup for more information on how Blue Book works.

I had an employee/provider leave the practice. What Steps do I Need to Take?

The steps to remove an employee or provider vary depending on the features used in your practice. Here are a couple of places to check:

1. Task Lists. If using tasks, remove the user from their inbox and archive the task list.
2. Schedules. If set up, remove the employee’s hours from the schedule.
3. Employees List. Mark the employee as hidden. Do not reassign an employee as the employee is associated with previous time clock events.
4. User / Security. Mark the user as hidden. Users cannot be deleted. Do not reassign users as the user is associated with audit trail entries.

If a provider is leaving, also update the following:

1. Operatories. Reassign any operatories the provider was assigned to.
2. Update Appointments. Once operatories and schedules have been updated, update appointments so they are no longer assigned to the old provider.
3. Appointment Views. Remove the provider from appointment views.
4. Move Patients. Move the patients from this provider to another provider. This reassigns the primary provider for patients.
5. Provider Edit. Mark the provider as hidden. As usual, providers cannot be deleted and should never be reassigned as providers are associated with procedures and appointments.

Can I show the insurance verification status on appointments?

Absolutely! The insurance verification flag (VerifyIns[V]) can be added to appointment views from Appointment View Edit. If insurance information still needs to be verified, a “V” will appear on the patient’s appointment.

Use the Insurance Verification List to keep track of which patients need to have their insurance or benefits verified for upcoming appointments. Clearinghouses such as DentalXChange (Claim Connect) , Electronic Dental Services (EDS), and Change Healthcare offer electronic eligibility to aid staff in verifying benefit information.

What’s included in the cost of Support?

• Support – Contact Open Dental Support by phone, email, or chat. Calls are limited to 2 questions, but you can call as many times as you want in a day!
• Software Updates – We release 3-4 major updates a year. That means new features and enhancements for each season.
• Built-in Help Features – Click the ? in a window to quickly view the corresponding manual page.
• Feature Requests – Not finding what you need? Submit a feature request to new features or enhancements.
• Training – Open Dental offers a variety of training options for customers on support.
• eServices – These eServices are included at no additional cost!
  • eReminders (by email)
  • Automated Thank-You’s (by email)
  • Patient Portal (link to Feature Highlight Patient Portal when published)
  • Web Forms

Read Utilizing Open Dental Support to learn how to get the most out of Support.

Our support team is here to help you maximize the tools in Open Dental and work smarter, not harder. If you have a quick question and don’t need us to connect, try online chat! For more in-depth help or to troubleshoot an issue, we’re just a phone call away.