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Best practices for reception

  • Updated

 

This quick guide describes key reception functions and provides practical workflow tips for reception employees. 

 

1. My AssisDent settings 

     a)  General settings: 

  1. The Search only from my clinics by default function is useful particularly for large organizations for limiting search results to the user’s clinic only. 
  2. Whenever I open a new patient, close the previous patient closes the previous patient whenever a new patient is opened. When disabled, previously opened patients can be opened directly from the control panel without searching for a patient. 
  3. Configuring the right mouse button settings for the control panel  
  4. It is recommended to have the default setting for printing receipts in Print mode. 

b) Calendar and appointment 

  • Creating favorites helps speed up the daily management of the calendar. Favorites can be used for creating quick filters for quickly filtering the calendar view as required: 
  1. Clinic calendar view 
  2. Employee calendar view 
  3. Clinic + employees calendar view 

c) Other settings 

  1. The Use active patient as default in appointment booking setting is a useful function, and users should be aware of its impacts.  When enabled, the active patient is automatically imported into a new appointment.  
  2. It is recommended to set Clinic calendar as the default calendar view. 
  3. It is recommended to set the Day view as the default time period, if there are more than active rooms at the clinic.  

 

2. Home page quick links and key functions 

a) Upcoming appointments displays upcoming appointments. You can access the calendar by clicking the title. You can access the patient’s card by clicking their name. 

b) Messages and comments and Bulletin board blocks facilitate communication within the reception. 

c) Job queue displays queued tasks and provides quick access to the job queue. 

d) The home page buttons provide quick access to, e.g. reception view, calendars, recalls and patient search.  

e) The search function can be accessed with the F9 key or by selecting Search in the control panel. 

 

3. Control panel quick links and key functions 

a) The extension panel is accessed with the left mouse button and quick functions with the right mouse button.  

b) You can open another view next to the active view by keeping Ctrl pressed and clicking the desired view. 

  • This function is useful for comparing/editing two views simultaneously. 

c) General: 

  • Menu  
    • You can search for patients by selecting Patients. Patients can be filtered with different search criteria. 
    • You can create a new patient by selecting Create new. After this, the patient will appear in searches. 
  • Search 
    • The Search field allows you to quickly search for patients, settings and registers. The search provides the best matches for search terms in the entire software. You can access the necessary view by clicking a search result. 
  • My information 
    • My information are displayed on the control panel. You can access active clinic, service unit and role settings by clicking your own name. Check and update the information in the beginning of the working day, if necessary. Please note: The settings affect, e.g. daily entries and invoicing. You can access your information by selecting Edit my details. 
    • You can  access today’s calender view by selection Today in the control panel. The additional panel is opened by clicking the left mouse button. 
    • Use the Messages and comments button to create new messages and comment on job queue tasks. 
    • The Job queue button allows you to create new job queue tasks and move to the desired job queue 
    • The Clinic button has the following function: 
      • access the calendar or reception view with the right button 
      • open the additional panel, calendar or reception view with the left button 

 

4. Selected patient and patient’s home page on the control panel 

a) When a patient is opened, the patient’s home page appears on the screen, and a patient block containing patient-related functions and information appears on the control panel. 

b) Control panel - Patient selected 

  • Clicking the patient's name enables the following functions: 
    • Edit information by selecting Edit information. 
    • Send the patient text messages (you can create template messages to speed up the process). 
  • Notes: 
    • Edit patient-related notes. 
  • Health information:
    • Health information is retrieved automatically after automatic treatment relationship determination (the information is unavailable otherwise). 
    • The patient record is opened by right-clicking the Health information. 
  • Patient record: 
    • Patient’s treatment history is located below the History section. If necessary, the patient history can be filtered and printed. 
    • You can add, e.g. a communication with the + button. 
  • Imaging  
    • You can access X-ray images by clicking the Imaging button and by selecting the desired imaging software. 
  • Recalls and appointments  
    • View upcoming appointments and recalls and create new ones 
    • Viewing past appointments (e.g. for viewing which clinician the patient has visited). 
  • Invoicing 
    • Open invoicing for invoicing functions  
    • View payment transactions for reviewing previous payment events and printing invoices. 
  • Patient’s home page 
    • Patient’s home page includes the Health information and Customer information tabs 
      • The patients contain patient-related information, such as contracts, warnings, bad credit history or notes. Orange and red colors highlight items to notice. 
    • From the patient’s home page, you can access patient’s files by clicking the File folder block or by left-clicking Health information in the control panel.  
    • You can open detailed views by clicking the title or the link on the bottom of the block. 

 

5. Searching for and creating a new patient  

a) The search function can be accessed with the F9 key or by selecting Search in the control panel. 

      b) Patient search is also displayed in the calendar, when new appointments are created. This way                    patients can be searched for new appointments, if necessary.  

       c) If a patient cannot be found in the patient register via search, you can create a new patient. 

 

6. Appointments and appointment calendar 

a) The calendar can be opened by right-clicking the Today button. 

b) You can edit the calendar view at the top of the calendar 

  • Search the clinician through the Calendars search field or by clicking the Favorites button 

c) You can add working hours in the Working hours tab of the calendar. Working hours are color-coded. You can edit the colors on the Working hours settings in system settings. 

d) The working hours are created by painting the calendar at the desired location while holding down the left mouse button. Then, select the patient. Check patient contact details, reason for seeking admission and add any necessary additional information. Select whether to send text messages of the appointment to the patient. Approve the appointment. 

  • Please note: The active patient is added to the appointment by default. 
  • The appointment dialog displays any uncancelled no-shows and bad credit history. 
  • You can book the appointment by selecting Search available times. Select the search from the bottom left corner of the calendar.  

e) You can edit or cancel an appointment by right-clicking the appointment. 

f) Calendar symbols: 

  • Earth = appointment booking 
  • Unlocked lock = preliminary appointment 
  • Star = new patient 
  • Square = patient status (see status color descriptions) 

g) Printing the patient list of the day (filter the clinician and the date and click the Print preview button on the bottom of the calendar)  

h) The patient card can be opened by right-clicking an appointment and by selecting Open the patient’s home page. 

 

7. Patient’s arrival to an appointment 

a) The patient's status is described in AssisDent in certain colors that are most relevant to reception 

  • Orange = patient is late 
  • Dark green = patient has arrived 
  • Dark blue = available for invoicing  
  • Red = uncancelled no-show 

b) Changing the patient’s status to arrived 

  • Right-click an appointment and select Change patient status. 
  • Click the additional function button of the Patient’s appointments in the reception view. 
  • If a patient does not show up for an appointment, their status is marked as Uncancelled no-show. 

c) Checking patient contact information  

  • Right-click an appointment in the calendar and select the patient’s home page. 
  • Click an appointment in the reception view. 
  • You can update, for example, the patient’s address and phone numbers, add business contracts to the patient, configure recall settings and preferred contact methods and appointments. 

d) Acknowledging new patients  

  • New patients are indicated in the calendar and the reception view with a star 
  • Remember to check the following information for new patients: 
    • Patient’s personal identity code, contact information, payment information (incl. contracts and KELA reimbursement settings), permissions and consents (internal and Kanta system). 
  • The new patient is also given a preliminary information form, which can be added to the patient's file if necessary. 

e) Referral to the treatment room  

  • You can move the mouse pointer over an appointment to see the booked room. 

 

8. Patient visit and recall 

a) The clinician enters the necessary procedures on the visit document. Once the procedures are logged, they are approved for invoicing.  

b) The clinician creates a recall and configures patient-specific recall settings. 

 

9. Invoicing and booking a new appointment  

a) Invoiceable patients can be viewed in the In invoicing section of the reception view. The status color of the patient turns dark blue in the calendar.  

  • After the clinician has approved the procedures for invoicing, invoiceable items are displayed in the reception view. At this point, the patient’s status changes to Waits invoicing. 

b) Before invoicing, you can book a new appointment or add products to sell to the patient into customer invoicing register. 

c) After the clinician has approved the measures for invoicing: 

  • Navigate to the customer invoicing register from the reception view by clicking on the patient's appointment. Check the patient's home page for invoicing information (including whether the customer is a contract customer, if the patient has overdue invoices, bad credit history or invoicing notes). Access the invoicing view from the control panel by right-clicking the Patient invoicing button.  
  • Review invoice row information (KELA reimbursement, discount, contract, etc.) 
  • Add products to sell, if applicable. 
  • Select invoiceable rows and select Export to checkout. 
  • Select the payment method and create invoice by selecting Approve and print. 
  • In case there are any errors, you can cancel the invoice by selecting Fix invoicing transaction. 

 

10. Closing the patient 

a) The patient changes according to the last patient opened, so closing the patient is not necessary. 

  • Please note: If the user has not enabled the Whenever I open a new patient, close the previous patient setting: 

b) The patient can be closed in the control panel by clicking X next to the patient’s name. 

 

11. At the end of the day 

a) Uncancelled no-shows are displayed in the Arriving section. If necessary: 

  • Open the patient card, go to invoicing, create an invoicing row for uncancelled no-show and create the invoice. 
  • Create a job queue task for the clinician for the uncancelled no-show for the creation of an invoice at a later point in time. 

b) Select Reports and Daily report from the menu. Make sure cashier and payment terminal sales match. 

 

12. Other useful features  

a) Patient call requests can be referred from the reception’s job queue to the physician's job queue. 

b) You can also create an appointment without a patient (memo) for a clinician. It is recommended to establish a common procedure for these tasks. 

c) Messages and comments allow clinicians to communicate securely with the reception. 

d) AssisDent instructions can be accessed with the ? icon. 

e) AssisDent support requests and development suggestions can be sent with F1. 

f) You can sign out by clicking the X on the top right corner of the window or by selecting Close AssisDent in the control panel.