Add attachments before they are actually a patient

[matt_ackerman]

We can already add insurance information and check eligibility before they are converted to a patient.  We should be able to attach an x-ray and referral, too.  This would eliminate missing x-rays and referrals, and would avoid the annoyance of Miscellaneous Notes.

[matt_ackerman]

If you have Point-of-Care, then you can navigate to the day when that patient is due into the practice and highlight their name and then launch imaging from there. (...as an alternative, if you have POC...)

[omsnashville]

We have POC, but not Imaging (yet). So, this capability currently exists for un-converted patients, with the combined use of POC and Imaging?

(Even so, I still vote up, as we would  ideally like it to be accessible through the main Scheduler screen, rather than POC.)

[khill]

When we receive the xray and referral we just create them as a patient so it can be attached. Is there a reason why we shouldn't be doing that, that we aren't aware of?? 

[matt_ackerman]

There are two things going on here:

1. Practices who use pre-numbered manila folders for their patient records like to keep those numbers in sync with the automatic numbering in the software and do not want to waste a number (and an expensive folder) on someone who never shows up for their appointment (and doesn't actually become a patient of the practice).  Using the "Walkin" feature, you can create a person in the software who isn't yet officially a patient (no patient id is assigned to a walkin until you convert them to a patient).  
   This scenario is more rare as practices go through the conversion towards a paperless office. 
2. Creating a new patient also automatically sets the First Visit Date.  If you use "New Patients" as metric to measure the health of your practice, the number may be slightly inaccurate if you are creating new patient records for people who do not eventually show up.  At the very least, the First Visit Date isn't the actual first appointment date, just the date that someone sat in front of the computer and typed on the new record.

I think that in the future this entire workflow could be reconsidered/redesigned to be more flexible in light of fewer practices using the Walkin functionality.

[omsnashville]

For us, the best benefit of converting the walk-in after the online registration (PBHS TruForms) is received, is that the data is transferred into WinOMS with minimal need for our receptionist to have to type all of it in. I am not aware of any way to convert the information from an online registration to the chart of an existing patient. Is there a better work-around to achieve this while still converting the patient prior to registration?

Nearly 80% of our patients register online, so entering them all by hand would be a significant time difference for us.

[matt_ackerman]

Until we make some changes in the software to support an alternative workflow, I think you've got the right idea.  I'm open to other suggestions as well.

[khill]

HI Matt,

Thanks for getting back to me. We also do the web registration like the Nashville office, and our xrays and referrals come to us electronically. We don’t enter in all their demographics we just enter what is on the referral. So name and phone number. We then call the patient and enter in demographics when we talk to them. As far as the 1st date visit, we change that in editing ☺

Kelli

Dental Implant Coordinator

Bay Oral Surgery & Implant Center, Ltd

Phone: 920-499-0471

Fax: 920-593-8195

This e-mail is confidential and is intended only for the person(s) named above. Its contents may also be protected by privilege, and all rights to privilege are expressly claimed and not waived. If you have received this e-mail in error, please call us immediately and destroy the entire e-mail. If this e-mail is not intended for you, any reading, distribution, copying or disclosure of this e-mail is strictly prohibited.

[cjenkins]

Kristina,

You can merge the online registrations with existing patients.  There is a radio button to search for a match for

Patient or Walk-in.  Patient being someone who is already converted.  From here you select your matching patient, then merge the same way as you do a new patient.

[annag]

Would love to have a username added to scans/attachments to track who added something to a patient account, similar to how contact notes and alerts automatically populates who added it.