A Gentle Reminder

I talk a lot about how to customized your Dentrix software to make it personal and create that "WOW" factor that your patients will remember.  Sometimes we need to remind our patients of our office policies and a verbal reminder is just not enough.  In today's blog I want to show you how to add a special message onto the appointment card labels.  Some examples might be:

• We kindly request 24 hours notice to reschedule your appointment
• Please give us 24 hours notice if you wish to change your appointment
• YOU WILL BE CHARGED $100 IF YOU CHANGE YOUR APPOINTMENT (just kidding . . . I would never use this one)
• Please remember to take your pre-med before your appointment

In the video below I have demonstrated how to create a custom label and add a line of text to the already existing default appointment label. Since my recording software is having audio issues you will have to watch it like those old silent movies.  Enjoy!

 

 

NOTE:  The Quick Labels work best with the Dymo Label printers

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.

Tis the Season

Tis the season . . . no, I don’t mean it is Christmas (but it sure is getting close). Tis the season for sending out your unused insurance benefits letter to patients with unscheduled treatment. I know you all are working your Treatment Manager report on a regular basis and making follow-up calls to patients, but I also know that sometimes a letter or postcard can smack your patients in the face and get them to take some action.

This is my reminder to you to kick it in high gear and schedule patients for their treatment before their benefits run out at the end of December. You could potentially send this letter out a couple times a year since insurance plans like the school districts renew in October or July.

Since I have written on this topic every year, I am going to point you back to the articles so you don’t have to do a search.

                CLICKHERE to read “Don’t let unused insurance benefits go to waste.”

                CLICKHERE to read “Unscheduled treatment . . . the urgency is now.”

                CLICKHERE to read “Send letters that make an impact”

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.

Keep Your Schedule Full Like a Pro

My two favorite seasons of the year are spring and fall. The spring is when all the flowers are

starting to bud and show their beautiful colors. In the fall, the trees start to show off their amazing reds and golds. There is something else that happens during these seasons and that is the DentrixInsight Seminars. During these seminars, one of my favorite things to do is give away prizes.

One of the rewards for someone is if they can name the four reports to keeping the schedule full. Most of the time I have to drop little hints so that someone can win the prize. Since we are coming up on InsightSeminar season, I thought I would review these four reports. Read carefully and, if you are in one of my classes, you might just win the prize. J

1. ASAP List – This is your first “go to” list for filling the schedule. The way to build this list is to ask all patients, “If I get an opening sooner, would you like me to call you?” If the patient says “yes,” then change the option in the appointment drop down menu under Schedule to ASAP. To read more about the ASAP List, CLICK HERE.
2. Unscheduled List – Your next line of fire is the Unscheduled List. These are patients who have already been on your schedule or they need an appointment now so usually they just need a phone call from you to call them back in. There are two ways to add someone to the Unscheduled List … using the Wait/Will Call button in the appointment or to Break the appointment. To read more about the Unscheduled List, CLICK HERE.
3. Continuing Care Report – When you are looking for patients who are past due for their regular hygiene visit, this is your next go to list. This list can be customized to search for patients who are current or way past due. You can also search for Prophy, Perio, X-rays, exams, ortho, or other specialized continuing care type that you have set up in your practice. I would create some custom report parameters so that you can easily create a customized list for what type of appointment you need to fill your schedule. For more information on the Continuing Care Report, CLICK HERE.
4. Treatment Manager Report – This is probably my favorite report in Dentrix because it is a gold mine. The goal of this report is to find patients who have unscheduled treatment . . . this is your chart audit. You can use this report to fill the doctor’s schedule or the hygiene schedule. I would definitely work this report into your regular routine at least once a week. To read more about the Treatment Manager Report, CLICKHERE.

Remember all of these reports should be part of your regular weekly tasks to managing your schedule and making sure you have a consistent protocol for documenting your phone conversations with patients. My recommendation is to use the Office Journal so your entire front office team will know where to find all administrative notes.

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.