You have very creative ways of managing your patients who are overdue for their regular recare visit. When you create your own way of following up with patients or if you are using another dashboard for generating lists, you are not seeing the full picture. Your continuing care system inside of your Dentrix software could be broken and you might not even know it.
Let me ask you a couple of discovery questions . . .
- Do patients ever complain that they are getting reminders that they are overdue when they are already scheduled?
- Do your patients complain that they are receiving way too many text messages or email reminders?
- Do you get the feeling that patients have dropped out of your system and you are not sure what happened to them?
If you answered “YES” to any of these questions, then more than likely your continuing care system needs some attention.
Remember, your practice management software is Grand Central Station where all your patient information lives. If Grand Central Station is filled with incorrect data or garbage, then all the trains that need that information might not get to the correct destination. We have all heard the term “garbage in-garbage out” and it is 100% true when you have third-party software that is relying on good data.
Now, I love to get creative with the Dentrix software when I am trying to solve a specific outcome for a practice. In fact, just this week, I helped a treatment coordinator create a system for generating a list of patients who have unscheduled treatment, and she considers to be her “low hanging fruit.” However, we did not touch best practices when it comes to the continuing care system.
In Dentrix, the continuing care system works best when you use it in its simplest form. Don’t make it complicated and don’t use a third-party software for managing it. Your third-party software cannot pull all the data out of Dentrix and, for this reason, things could get missed.
Some of the most common continuing care pitfalls I see happening in your practice might be . . .
- Patients could have both the Prophy and Perio continuing care types.
- The continuing care is not connected to the appointment.
- The patient never gets into your continuing care system.
I have a great course in my membership to address all these situations and you are welcome to join at any time. Then, after you take the course, join me in one of my group Q&A sessions if you have more questions. I look forward to helping you on your journey.
