Supernumerary teeth . . . video demonstration

Our patients walk in with some unusual situations, but one of the more common situations I see is an extra tooth or Supernumerary Tooth.  Do you know how to chart it?  How would you bill it to insurance?  Watch today's video and find out . . .

Dayna Johnson, Certified Dentrix Trainer

Dayna loves her work. She has over 25 years of experience in the dental industry, and she’s passionate about building efficient, consistent, and secure practice management systems. Dayna knows that your entire day revolves around your practice management software—the better you learn to use it, the more productive and stress-free your office will be. In 2016, Dayna founded Novonee ™, The Premier Dentrix Community, to help cultivate Dentrix super-users all over the country. Learn more from Dayna at www.novonee.com and contact Dayna at dayna@novonee.com.

Send letters that make an impact

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you have seen my posts about sending an end of the year insurance letter to patients or a customized welcome letter to your new patients, but I don’t think I have ever helped you with how to create these customized letters. There are two ways in Dentrix you can create a customized, personal letter to your patients … Quick Letters or Letter Merge.

Both the Quick Letters and the Letter Merge letters are stored in the same location on your server so if you want to create a new letter, you need to know where to save your letter. Go to Office Manager > Maintenance > Practice Setup > Preferences, then click on the Paths tab. Find the location of the Letter Template Path. This is where all merge letters are located and where you need to save any new letters. Now that you have this folder location, let’s create a new letter. Open Microsoft Word and create a new blank document. Next, click on Open Existing Document, point to that folder location, locate document DXTLM99.doc, and open it. This document holds all the merge fields that are available to use within a Dentrix Quick Letter or Letter Merge. Now you can type up your letter and copy/paste these merge fields into your letter at the appropriate places so it will pull patient information into your letter. When you save your new letter, it can only contain 7 characters in the name and must be saved in that Letter Template folder I mentioned earlier. Your letter is now ready to be added to the Quick Letters list, the Letter Merge list, or both. 

The Quick Letter icon is on all Dentrix modules and is used to send a letter to one patient. It is great for collection letters, referrals to specialists, updating patient information, or a thank you letter. If you open the Quick Letters, you will find several letters that already come with your Dentrix software. If you want to look at the letter and edit it, highlight the letter in the list and click on Open Template. This will open the letter template in Microsoft Word where you can edit the text of the document. If you want to add a new letter to the list, click New and enter the description of the letter in the first box and the document name in the Merge Letter Template fields (this is the 7-character name plus the extension). You are ready to use your new letter.

The Letter Merge is used for sending a mass mailing to a group of patients. This feature is located on the Office Manager under the Letters tab. There are several categories and letters from which you can choose and you can edit these letters or add your own. If you want to edit an existing letter, select the category then highlight the letter and click Edit. A new window will open where you would select the parameters for the merge. Today, however, we are just talking about editing and adding the letters so click on Open Template. This will open the letter template in Microsoft Word where you can edit the document text or change the merge fields. Once you are done editing, exit and say yes to save. If you want to create a completely new letter, make sure you have already created your letter with the instructions above and click on New from within the Category your letter should be stored. From this window, you will need to add the Letter Name (this is a description of the letter), the Merge Data File Name (this is your 7 character name with .out file extension), and the Merge Letter Template (this is the 7 character name and file extension), then click on the Data Fields tab. You need to have a check in each field that is represented in your new letter so it will merge properly.

 

Whether you are using the Quick Letters feature or the Letter Merge for a mass mailing, it is important to remember that after you have printed the letters to send and you click exit, always say “No” to save. Otherwise, you will write over your merge fields and your next letter merge will not work.

If you want to read some of my other blog posts related to letter merge, check these out:
Unscheduled Treatment . . . the urgency is now!
Don't let unused benefits go to waste
The New Patient Experience . . . welcome letter

 

Dayna Johnson, Certified Dentrix Trainer

Dayna loves her work. She has over 25 years of experience in the dental industry, and she’s passionate about building efficient, consistent, and secure practice management systems. Dayna knows that your entire day revolves around your practice management software—the better you learn to use it, the more productive and stress-free your office will be. In 2016, Dayna founded Novonee ™, The Premier Dentrix Community, to help cultivate Dentrix super-users all over the country. Learn more from Dayna at www.novonee.com and contact Dayna at dayna@novonee.com.

Better treatment plan acceptance . . . Better payment integration . . . Better Together

When you are looking for ways to improve the systems in the office, you are looking for better efficiency, more consistency, and more effectiveness because you need to see results.I use all of the Dentrix eServices because they excel in all of these areas. My team runs a very tight ship because everything revolves around the practice management software; nothing is jimmy-rigged together. This is why I am very excited about this announcement from Dentrix and its new integration with Citi Health Card patient financing.

We have been offering Citi Health Card and CareCredit for patient financing, but it is one of our office’s systems that isn’t as streamlined and efficient as I want it to be. This new integration with Dentrix and Citi Health Card is exactly what our office needs.

 

[Announcement]

Convincing patients of the need for treatment can be only half the battle. Often, the next common obstacle to obtaining treatment plan acceptance is the guarantor’s ability to pay for the treatment. Fortunately for Dentrix users, providing patient financing just got easier so more patients can say "yes" to treatment.

The Citi Health Card, with a proven history of helping providers improve treatment plan acceptance, is now integrated with Dentrix to simplify the application process, streamline payment posting and make patient financing more affordable for patients and providers.

Now when a patient requires financing, the application can be submitted with less effort, as many of the fields are prepopulated with information from Dentrix. Within minutes—or even seconds—of submitting a completed form, an electronic response tells you if the patient is approved and reports the patient’s approved credit limit, allowing you to complete the treatment plan proposal and begin scheduling.

Another benefit of the integration is automatic payment posting to the Dentrix Ledger. The charges for the treatment, up to the amount of the approved credit, can be applied to the patient account with the click of a button, eliminating manual entry and the possibility of keypunch errors.

Best of all, the Citi Health Card program provides the most flexible and affordable patient financing available. You can offer no-interest options for six, 12, 18 and 24 months or budget payment plans that fit nearly any income. And since Citi Health Card merchant fees are lower compared to industry averages , patient financing won’t compromise your practice’s profitability.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Citi Health Card and the new integration with Dentrix.

 

Dayna Johnson, Certified Dentrix Trainer

Dayna loves her work. She has over 25 years of experience in the dental industry, and she’s passionate about building efficient, consistent, and secure practice management systems. Dayna knows that your entire day revolves around your practice management software—the better you learn to use it, the more productive and stress-free your office will be. In 2016, Dayna founded Novonee ™, The Premier Dentrix Community, to help cultivate Dentrix super-users all over the country. Learn more from Dayna at www.novonee.com and contact Dayna at dayna@novonee.com.