Open Dental Forum

B.Thomas

To gain Hipaa compliance it is best to use a GSuite Account and turn on 2 factor authentication. I don't think it is capable of tracking logins and usage, which is required by Hipaa.

B.Thomas

It is a bit complicated by I setup a VPN connection between the two offices. This allowed us to keep only one Open Dental Database, which is stored on the Server at the main location. Our internet speed are 50Mbps and the transfer of data and images is almost instant. Initially I used Hamachi softwa...

B.Thomas

We recently updated Open Dental and are starting to use the updated Insurance Payment Plan feature. What is the best way to enter insurance payments using the new feature? In the past we were entering insurance payments in the claim by "Total". Now it is creating a problem with production reports as...

B.Thomas

Thanks Jason! I figured it out. The assistant clicked the appointment view to "none".

B.Thomas

Silly related question. What setting allows the little dot on the top right of the appointment that indicates if the patient is in the waiting room, seated or completed?

B.Thomas

I started using Virtru for sending encrypted email. It is pretty cheap at only $2.00 per month per user. A couple of offices that are technologically "challenged" have troubles following the instructions, but most figure it out quickly.

B.Thomas

Is it possible to change the specialties in the referral specialty list? I wanted to add a category for "Insurance Company" since we receive so many referrals from them. Is there a better way to do this? Thanks

B.Thomas

I would also like the idea of a cloud based server. I think the main obstacle right now is HIPAA compliance. If you could find a company that hosted a hipaa compliant virtual server, then you could simply install opendental on it and connect to it via a vpn.

B.Thomas

We just started using Open Dental for tracking employee time. I also noticed a problem when adding Pay Periods. When Clicking the "Add" button in the Time card setup it adds a 14 day pay period by default. The problem is that it adds 14 days on the day after the last pay period, so it is actually ad...

B.Thomas

We just opened a satellite office and I want to be able to schedule patient appointments by office (or clinic since we enabled the clinic feature). Assuming each patient is assigned to the correct clinic in the family module, is it possible that each patient can only be scheduled to their assigned c...

B.Thomas

Dr. Tech's plugin is awesome. We use it a lot. I vote for incorporating it into the full program

B.Thomas

If you want a simple VPN solution that is encrypted try Hamachi by Logmein. It is a software based VPN through your computers instead of router to router. I am getting ping times of less than 10ms between my two offices. Way easier than installing Open VPN

B.Thomas

The biometric scanner would also be a great feature for patient check in. What would be involved to get a scanner to work with open dental? Here are a couple of scanners on Amazon that have decent reviews along with their corresponding Software Development Kits to save your developers some time. Zve...

B.Thomas

I had to drop Office 365. Microsoft requires one of two options which neither worked:

1) Open Dental to have TLS support
2) Use the less secure route of using port 25 which my internet provider (Verizon) completely blocks

I will give Google Apps a try.

B.Thomas

I had Office 365 working for a while through open dental but now I am receiveing error messages stating "The SMTP server requires a secure connections". I tried checking the SSL box in email settings with the same result. I contacted Microsoft and they stated the email client needs TLS support. Is t...

B.Thomas

no one paying for Google Apps? https://support.google.com/a/answer/3407054?hl=en From what I understand both Google Apps and MS Office 365 will make sending from our office and the transmission of the email secure. The problem is there is no guarantee the recipient's email is secure. So I think the...

B.Thomas

David, have you tested Open Dental on the backup server? I am using a program called "Second Copy" but it gets stuck on 4 MySQL files with the warning "file is in use". As a result the Open dental files on the backup server are not completely copied. I assume this is because the MYSQL service is run...

B.Thomas

For a "What if my server crashes plan" I would like to set up a second duplicate server to be ready to go "on the fly" if our server crashes. I can synchronize most every other file with a number of programs except locked MySQL files. The user manual eludes to the ability of MySQL to make hot backup...

B.Thomas

Since this original post it looks like we are now able to delete tasks lists that are empty. I was however having difficulty deleting an empty task list that was attached to an employee as an inbox. When trying to delete the old inbox I kept getting the error message, "not allowed to delete the task...

B.Thomas

Patient Portal??? Hmmm....http://www.opendental.com/manual/patientportal.html Since it's not available till 14.2 how difficult is it to host our own patient portal? "Purchase and install a certificate from any certificate authority for a few hundred dollars." Are certificates really a few hundred or...

B.Thomas

How is the new encrypted email in 14.1 working? What are the requirements for it to be HIPAA compliant?

B.Thomas

I'm pretty sure this particular issue was fixed quite a while ago. v13.3 is a version that was never released to the public so you might as well go to v14.1 because we will not fix any bugs for you in that version. What email service are you using? What port are you using and is the SSL box checked...

B.Thomas

I am using Version 13.3.8 and just received the same error today. Did I jump the gun compiling a beta version?

B.Thomas

Thanks Jason. That convinces me to start with one database and use the clinic feature. Did I mention today how AWESOME Open Dental is? What a well thought out feature and service that is.

B.Thomas

So I am opening a satellite office soon and am torn with the question if I should run two separate databases or just one. Since there is just one provider the advantages of one database is we only need one schedule to maintain and if patients travel from one office to the other, the data will be eas...

B.Thomas

I must admit, some 3-D user interface graphics would be nice. Maybe add some rounded corners and a Windows 7 Aero Theme look....just don't follow Microsoft with their Windows 8 Metro disaster :( As a specialist I visit many dental offices and always check out what system they are using. In my opinio...

B.Thomas

So there is this new member of Dental Town who just joined last month, "Drphannie". He or She has started two topics in Dental Town. One titled "Dentrix vs. OpenDental" the other "If Dentrix and Open Dental were the SAME PRICE, which PMS would you really choose?" Both topics subtly undermine Open De...

B.Thomas

What is the latest status on encrypted email? Is it in version 13.3? Can't wait to try it.

B.Thomas

I've just been using the "insert note" feature by right clicking on the chart notes. From there I have a number of pre written notes divided up by type: wires, elastics, hygiene etc. I only spend about 30 seconds per patient entering notes.

B.Thomas

Yes, a big red Hipaa flag popped up when I read that. You would need to ensure the website server, where the patient information was being stored, is private and not shared for starters. Then make sure that server drive was encrypted and that there was a log of every user who had access to it. I've ...

B.Thomas

Thanks for the sgen.exe.config tip. I was getting frustrated for a while.

B.Thomas

I contacted Mag Tek who makes a pin pad with the built in signature pad and they said they do not include software that saves the signature. It must be integrated with the software.

Jordan, would the easiest solution be to make a sheet with a signature area?

B.Thomas

There is a signature pinpad called the magtek ipad sc that works with xcharge but they were unable to tell me if it works with with open dental. Are there any other users that have a signature capture device that works with open dental?

B.Thomas

I just signed up and installed X-charge today in the hopes it will save us some time and work. I was disappointed to find out our Topaz signature pad does not work with credit card payments. Instead it prints out a paper copy of the receipt to sign which we then have to scan to be paperless. Is ther...

B.Thomas

Just some notes from someone who has been digital since before the turn of the century.... I currently use Denoptix for intraorals, a Sirona digital pan and have Schick sensors dangling unused on the wall. If the office burnt down and I had to do it all over again I would get what . For the Denopti...

B.Thomas

In case we do want to email the lab, can you have the lab's email address filled in automatically when the "email to lab" box is ticked? Otherwise we have to look up the lab's email address, copy and paste it. Thanks!

B.Thomas

Thanks Again! I'm not sure if I'm the only other one that uses your Plugin, but it is very helpful, especially for ortho offices. I didn't upgrade to 13.1 because at the time it still said Beta. It looks like 13.1 is done and 13.2 was released this week. I'm such a geek. I still get excited when a n...

B.Thomas

Which Version of the Plugin would you recommend for Version 12.4.69? V 1.5.3 is crashing and I can't find the download link to 1.6.1 to try it. Thanks!

B.Thomas

I was fishing around on the Amazon site and they also host MySQL databases for deployment. http://aws.amazon.com/rds/mysql/

Does that mean we could run our MySQL database from the Amazon "Cloud"?

B.Thomas

Has anyone ever tried DxTwain to directly import images to the OpenDental Image file?

http://www.gendex.com/US/Products/Imagi ... TWAIN.aspx

B.Thomas

Has anyone tried Windows 8 with Open Dental? I usually like to wait until they release the first service pack and work out the kinks.

B.Thomas

Thanks for the good work. I will upgrade and give it a try.

B.Thomas

Would Open Dental install on and run on Windows Embedded Compact 7? The 7 makes it sound like it is related to Windows 7 but I think it is a different platform.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Embedded_Compact_7

B.Thomas

dd-wrt is Awesome! Thanks again. As it turns out there is a way to shut off the wireless network during non-business hours. It is under Wireless>Advanced Settings>Radio Timer. Radio Times Restrictions The Radio Times Restriction facility constitutes a time switch for the radio. By default, the time ...

B.Thomas

Very cool stuff teeth dood! There are some instructional videos on YouTube as well as the dd-wrt wiki page so I will give it a shot this weekend. Do you know if there is a setting to shut the WiFi off during non business hours? I think that would be an additional security layer to prevent hacker acc...

B.Thomas

Scott, Thanks for your input. How would our office receive notification that a payment has been made? I assume by email and then the business assistant would manually enter the payment into Open Dental. I don't know if it exists for any PM software but the ideal scenario would be for the PM software...

B.Thomas

Get a router with "Guest" network capability. You can also get a router with DD-WRT compatibility. Load DD-WRT firmware to it and you're ready to go. Thanks for the tip. I did some research and DD-WRT looks impressive. What has your experience been with it? Is it complicated to set up and manage?

B.Thomas

Like bpcomp, I also like having the images in one application and one database. I run a busy ortho office and I want to click images and look at the pan in as few seconds as possible.

B.Thomas

On a related topic is it possible to safely set up public WiFi access completely separate from our office network? I am thinking having a separate router or buying the Cisco Valet, which offers guest browsing.

B.Thomas

I am in the market for a direct digital panorex unit. My question is do any of the direct digital models import the panorex directly into OpenDental as a Jpeg Image? Can the "capture" button in images be used for this?

If not, which Panorex companies does Opendental have program links to?

B.Thomas

I agree it is not necessary to track Care credit separately if you do your accounting on a cash basis system. We treat Care credit as a discount and just have one negative adjustment for it. The only reason I would think it would be important to track Care Credit in QuickBooks is if we can use it as...

B.Thomas

Just bringing up an old topic. I was curious what current options there are for patients to make online payments to their accounts. Does x-charge or pay connect allow patients to pay directly to their accounts? That would be the most precise.

B.Thomas

Do yourself a favor and get a wifi router/USB wifi adapters. Very simple. Fast. Encryption available. Wifi router = $30. Wifi USB adapters = $10/each On a side note, my office are wired with Cat6 cables. I could easily plug the cat6 cables into my computers, but I didn't, as my computers have wifi....

B.Thomas

Hmmm, any other ideas other than cables?

Would I be better off adding a wireless wi-fi adapter to the wired computer and bridging the network there? That computer is shut off every night so the wi-fi connection would only be available during working hours.

B.Thomas

I wanted to add a second computer to an exam room, however I don't want to run cat 5 cables. Is it possible to network the two computers in one room via bluetooth and bridge the connections on the pc with the wired connection? If so could the bluetooth connection be encrypted? My next alternative is...

B.Thomas

I was unsure if it was worth investing the time developing custom sheets because they currently still do not accomplish what I want. I would like to be able to perform the initial exam and have my assistant check the appropriate diagnosis and treatment plan on the exam sheet. Then have those fields ...

B.Thomas

Would it be difficult to add a spell checker to open dental? There are so many different modules and note areas I'm thinking it would be complicated.

B.Thomas

I have another question regarding multiple offices. If I choose to use only one database for the different locations, what is the best way to identify which office each patient is seen at? A new patient field? Secondary provider? I would like for the identification to show up on the appointment book...

B.Thomas

Another option would be to take an Apricorn hardware encrypted hard drive back and forth. It would connect directly to the server at each location. That would be an easier way to solve the encryption problem and it would also be lighter. I LOVE my Apricorn hard drive. Haven't had time to add that t...

B.Thomas

What are the thoughts on using a laptop as a server and physically taking it with you? I will be running a one doc, two location setup. What problems might we encounter? Thanks!

B.Thomas

We still use their email reminder service (formerly dental senders). It works good. The patient's really like the reminders. I inquired about the 1-800 referral service but that was very pricey and still doesn't guarantee the patient will agree to treatment.

B.Thomas

That would be a nice feature to only allow the designated appointment in the blockout. As for now it is a training and management issue. When I see someone book the wrong type of appointment in the block I use the audit trail to determine who did it, then discuss the importance of staying within the...

B.Thomas

I noticed some inexpensive tablets for sale with Windows 7 Starter Edition as the OS. Does Open Dental install and work with this OS? I'm thinking about using this for patient forms at a kiosk.

B.Thomas

Is there a different way to set a time limit in security for deleting an image? The manual says there is a time limit but I just get a check box for off or on.

http://www.opendental.com/manual/permissions.html

I am running Version 12.2

B.Thomas

An old topic, but how do you feel about your printers now? I have both an Epson workforce and HP 8500. I like the quality of both but it seems I am changing cartridges much more frequently with the Epson. I was trying to find some research on it but I'm guessing the cost per page for the Epson is hi...

B.Thomas

I just noticed that recently and thought that it was a good feature add on. Since it's just the MySQL files, the space uptake is not too bad.

B.Thomas

As "an IT guy" who helped my neighbor find OD and helped them through the install & subsequent running (>4 yrs now iirc) of their office, this is how they handle the "what if the server fails" scenario for their office, fwiw: Whew, a bit longer than I'd intended. Hope its useful. Very useful info. ...

B.Thomas

That is Sweet! Works great! This really should be incorporated with the release version. Very useful!

B.Thomas

I appreciate it. Any chance we can get this Plugin incorporated with the regular versions of OpenDental (Jordan)? It's very functional and David has done all the work.

B.Thomas

David, Have you tried out the plugin for Version 12.1 yet? I received this error; System.MissingMethodException: Method not found: 'OpenDentBusiness.Provider[] OpenDentBusiness.ProviderC.get_List()'. at PluginDrTECH.FormRpStatementP.CreateDocument(FormRpStatement sender, Document doc, PrintDocument ...

B.Thomas

How has recurring charges been working for other users?

We mostly have payment plans so I'm not sure there is a workaround for us.

B.Thomas

Well, it happened to me yesterday and it wasn't fun. Fortunately the server came back to life after I used Windows System Restore. I think a recent Windows update caused the problem. It just kept rebooting. But of course it happened during the busiest part of our day causing us to create makeshift c...

B.Thomas

Nice work on the payment plan report. I like how double clicking brings you to the patient in question. I wish I could help you with the Query stuff, but I too am a noob to this. One thing I noticed is the insurance payment plans come up as -734382 days past due.

B.Thomas

This is the first time I am attempting to build OD on my new Windows 7 64 bit machine so I'm guessing it may be related to the operating system.

B.Thomas

I kept having the Resgen.exe error as well. I followed the directions on the Open Dental Source Code page; http://www.opendental.com/manual/sourcecode.html After Line 3 I had a problem: 3. Copy and paste: Corflags /32Bit+ /Force ResGen.exe then Enter. If successful, you will see about 5 lines of tex...

B.Thomas

The only problem I have is that Built-In Backup tool gets hung up and will not backup unless the user is in Administrator mode. Is this something to do with MySQL needing Administrator rights to backup?

B.Thomas

http://m.techspot.com/43166/
Mono for Android released, lets .NET developers build Android apps

This might make an Open dental app easier to make.

B.Thomas

The return address is no printing at all on our statements. We are using v 7.5.23 and the payment plan plugin. Is this happening to everyone or just the Plugin users?

B.Thomas

I am considering opening a second office and am overwhelmed by the choices in the manual; http://www.opendental.com/manual/multiplelocations.html I like the replication option as it would ensure continuity if there was an internet problem, but it seems complicated. Which is the most common option us...

B.Thomas

One problem I have had in the past is when an ex-employee figured out when she changed the time on the server she could add hours to her time clock. When I used XP on the server I used a program called Clock Guard that prevented the problem. I recently switched the server to Windows 7 and the Clock ...

B.Thomas

Oh! Is that why that happens? I thought it was some other security feature blocking me.

B.Thomas

How can the waiting room report (Query #244) be corrected and updated on the Query example page? /*Waiting Room Report, shows time each patient arrived, length waiting, was seated,chair time and dismissed time. also give average waiting time*/ SET @FromDate='2009-01-01' , @ToDate='2009-01-15'; DROP ...

B.Thomas

Hmmmm, I assumed that since so many offices and businesses were using electronic signatures it was accepted. How about all the credit card terminals? I doubt big corporations would use electronic signatures if they were not defendable. Here is wiki's description; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro...

B.Thomas

I just received an ad for Dell's new Inspiron Duo with a touch screen and a keypad. That would be good for inputing data as well as signatures. http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/landing/en/inspiron?c=us&l=en The drawback I see is that the processor is only an Intel® Atom®...

B.Thomas

I think tthe ability to prevent image deletion is a very important security feature. We tried it today and it was a bit of a pain because the staff would sometimes add incorrect photos and could not delete them. Can you add a time limit, like other security features, so they can have a day or so to ...

B.Thomas

I just tested 7.5.23 and it worked fine. It's possible the crashes are because I left out the new DrTech dll.

B.Thomas

When running database maintenance I keep getting this error. Is there any way to figure out what specifically is triggering this? All the recall types appear to be OK. I even went so far as to delete them and re-add them, but still the same result.

B.Thomas

One more caveat. It is Windows 64 bit.

B.Thomas

Interesting. Would OpenDental crash on start if there was a problem connecting to the MySQL database?

The computer came with so much extra software that I think I might wipe the hard drive and start with a fresh install.

B.Thomas

Yep, I tried all the Vista tricks. It's really odd. I got a good deal on a Dell but it had windows 7 home. I need to go through the crash log to figure it out. When opening opendental, it just crashes immediately. I'm thining it has more to do with MySQL and the firewall but why would older versions...

B.Thomas

Phillip,

That's pretty crafty! Recently, I was thinking myself, "I can access Opendental on an Android device through a web browser using Logmein so how can I do the same locally?" I've never tried Virtual Box but I can't wait to experiment at home. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks,

B.Thomas

Here is the Windows Comparison page http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare I think the feature needed most for the server computer is the networking so the pro version is best for the server. That being said I cannot get Open Dental versions 7.3 or 7.4 to work on Windows 7 home...

B.Thomas

Have you ever noticed at a fast food restaurant the employees are constantly watching a screen with orders? As the orders get further behind the order starts flashing alerting the employee "this is urgent". I'm sure this is set up by corporate officials that want to emphasize customer service and be...

B.Thomas

I wonder if an I-pad or like device would work for a kiosk. There is no i-OS or Android OpenDental version yet of course.

B.Thomas

Is Windows 7 Home adequate for the non-server computers?

B.Thomas

I use a local vendor run by one of my patients. http://www.maxxmerchantservices.com/ The main reason I switched was that he offered me "pass through" or "interchange plus pricing". This was very enlightening. Most vendors offer "Tier Pricing" which bundles rates. They usually advertise a low 1.6% ra...

B.Thomas

Can a Plugin damage the database files? This one seems rather inert only summing the payment plan numbers and displaying them differently.

B.Thomas

This is a very useful plugin. I hope Jordan incorporates it in the regular program someday.

B.Thomas

It was great while it lasted. It appears 1-800 dentist purchased dental senders a few months back and now requires either $150/ month service fee or for us to become 1-800 dentist clients. I see a value in the service and would like to keep it, however I am going to compare the competitors (demandfo...

B.Thomas

I think the electronic patient check in is on the request list. I agree that would look slick and modern to new patients.

B.Thomas

Wow! You are correct. That is an easy way to make balances look paid when they are not. I need to cross reference the payment plan report ASAP.

B.Thomas

What is the preferred hardware setup for the kiosk? Is it a PC with a signature pad or something wireless like a Tablet PC or netbook? I've been working on sheets (Hippa, med hx, registration) and I'm thinking something wireless would be nice for the patients to work on while seated but I'm not sure...

B.Thomas

Is it possible to have different colors on the Appointment module calendar for specific appointments? By default all appointments for the same provider are the same color. My assistant asked because it would be beneficial to have certain appointments stand out from the rest, particularly new patient...

B.Thomas

Complex indeed!

B.Thomas

I'm not sure if this is a glitch or something we are doing wrong. When scheduling an appointment with more than one procedure, the times allocated for each procedure do not combine. In other words procedure 1 has a time pattern of 20 mintues and procdure 2 has a time pattern of 30 minutes. Instead o...

B.Thomas

I just wish they accepted debit card transactions and didn't have the three year contract

B.Thomas

I've been using Opendental for my ortho office for about 5 years. I compare it to my colleagues who use specific ortho programs and the differences are small. I call them the "bells and whistles". The major parts of the program are solid; scheduling, financial, charting, images. The additional featu...

B.Thomas

I wanted to know if there was much interest in creating a brige for OrthoBank or Vanco services. They offer ACH draft and recurring credit card payments. It helps in offices that use payment plans by automating some of the work. Some Practice Managment software programs integrate diretly where the p...

B.Thomas

http://www.agdpatientalerts.com/Public/Home.aspx

Looks exactly like Dental senders. They use advertising to offset the cost of the service.

B.Thomas

Nathan, What do you think of an encrypted drive like this for security? iomega eGo Encrypt Portable 320GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822186153&cm_re=encrypted_drive-_-22-186-153-_-Product It doesn't have the James Bond self destruct mode but can it be hacked by someone? Th...

B.Thomas

Although the patient form fields will all be "input" type fields, they won't really flow into the database yet. We're just making sure they output properly for now.

Out of curosity where will the data from these forms be stored? Are there plans for a separate table in the database?

B.Thomas

Very Cool! We are up to 36 GB with all the photos we take.

B.Thomas

I have the same concern about shutting off MySQL to run a backup. I can do it just fine, but I delegate office backups to my staff. They get a little overwhelmed with the Manage>Services>Stop MySQL> Run Backup> Start MySQL instructions. I get a little nervous about them being in the Manage Services ...

B.Thomas

Yep, I just did that. He said what I suspected. You can't 100% protect a shared internet connection. It can be hacked. He said he would never expose patient medical files to such a risk.

B.Thomas

Hmmm, I will need to research this more. I think the only guaranteed way to separate the office network from the public one is to have 2 separate cable modems from my ISP. Of course I'm sure they will charge more. Any other sharing of a single internet connection will still leave a network connectio...

B.Thomas

Is there any way to look up a patient by their email address? It has come to my attention that when we send out mass emails some are rejected because of an invalid email address. Either we entered it wrong or the account has been cancelled. In either case, the patient's name doesn't show on the retu...

B.Thomas

In the clinic we only use the apt module and chart module. The routine is; Click on the patient in the apt module Switch to chart module Fill in the notes Set the planned apt We are an ortho office so we move pretty quickly and do this 40-50 times a day. We leave the planned appointment tab open all...

B.Thomas

If you move planned appointments to the TP module will you still keep a tab showing the planned appointments in the chart module? That is very useful since in the clinic we mostly use the chart module and clicking back and forth would just be an extra step.

B.Thomas

That's Awesome!!!

B.Thomas

I agree that automation of processes is great. This is the main advantage computers have over people; they don't make mistakes and they work more efficiently. From a programmers point of view it would be difficult to satisfy everyone's specific customizations, but most offices have the same general ...

B.Thomas

Thanks for your input. I will look into what a subnet mask is. I was looking more for a hardware solution. Some way of splitting the internet signal prior to sending it to the router and network switch.

B.Thomas

This question is indirectly related to Opendental but one many users may have. I would like to offer wireless internet and maybe even mount a Netbook in the waiting room for patients to use while waiting. My primary concern is how to completely separate the internet connection from my Local Network....

B.Thomas

How should we handle electronic claims when the patient changes their primary insurance midway through treatment? OD will not allow us to file another primary claim even though we changed the insurance company's name in the family module. OD states "Not allowed to send a procedure to the same insura...

B.Thomas

I found a glitch that is small and probably infrequent. When a gurantor for a payment plan is outside the family, the payment plans window does not show the paid amount. Let me give you an example. Child Jane is listed under Mrs. Jones family with Mrs. Jones being her guarantor. Mrs. Jones pays half...

B.Thomas

Congratulations on winning that battle. It's surprising to read that the respondant was a dentist and was not more ethical about giving up the domain he never used. Glad to see justice was served.

B.Thomas

What is the most secure setup? DSL Modem>Router>Server (using Windows Firewall)>LAN I'm a little leary of depending on Windows Firewall since windows is such a frequent target for attack. Would it be better to connect the internet to a computer other than the server and add a different firewall like...

B.Thomas

Jordan,

Does #3 on your future plans mean customizable New Patient exams forms, Medical Hx, and fields that will be saved in the patient's database?

If so, yay! Paperless!

B.Thomas

The one problem I have with sheets and letters is the lack of customizable fields. My goal is to enter information from the Medical History and Clinical Exam into the patient's database. Then be able to make customized letters using this data as merge fields. I like how Auto Notes allows prompted in...

B.Thomas

We've been using it for about a month now and I really like the surveys as well. What's interesting is that our patient's never discuss the dental part of their treatment in the surveys. They mostly dicuss the staff's friendlyness or attitudes. It seems like the major part of the patient's perceptio...

B.Thomas

Our patients are still having confusion with the fact that the Family Aging and Estimated Balance doesn't show what is due with the payment plan.

B.Thomas

What's the word on this service? I noticed a new bridge in 6.5 and wondered if anyone had used it or what services they provide.

B.Thomas

Has anyone had success using a laptop as the server for offices with mutiple locations?

B.Thomas

Yes, short and simple is better. What is also confusing is when the payment plan for the child is past due however the balance for the guarantor is 0. The other thing is too many lines on the statement due to listing appointments with no charges.

What's this about a major overhaul?

B.Thomas

Thanks Mifa. I tiried that but unfortunately, I'm not very good at modifying user queries and keep getting errors. Do you mind posting your modified query?

B.Thomas

How do you draw the braces and wires? When I try that it looks like a chicken was scratching at the computer screen : )

B.Thomas

For the payment plan report under monthly reports, is there any way to eliminate negative and 0 balances like an aging report? This would minimize our 29 page report to 1-2 pages.

Maybe a user Query?

Thanks,

B.Thomas

I just discovered this feature today and really like it. My front office is elated actually. Will there be a way to tie in the patient check in terminal with the Pt arrived feature?

Thanks,

B.Thomas

Jordan, About my original question, when printing a statment from the gurantor's account it only has one line for "Payment Plan" showing the total amount of payments but not each payment and their date. The patient's want to see this to say they paid x amount on x date. Also, all the statements are ...

B.Thomas

On our recent conversion to 5.6.25 we are finding incorrect calculations on the payment plan window in the account module. It seems on payment plans where a payment is split, the full amount is being applied to the first split only. Interestingly when we double click and open the payment plan the ca...

B.Thomas

We just upgraded to Vers 5.6.25 and my staff noticed that the Statements no longer show payments credited to the payment plans. Is this by design? I told them to print the payment plan instead to show payments made. That's OK for walkout statements but will be tedious for monthly billing. What sugge...

B.Thomas

Looks Good! We'll use it a lot for sure.

Thanks,

B.Thomas

Regarding using payment plans for insurance, how difficult would it be to have insurance payments post in the payment plan window with the new and improved payment plans? Or is it totally impossible? Having to manually delete each payment as it is received is extraneous work.

Thanks,

B.Thomas

I came across another glitch today. When a payment plan has a gurantor from a differenet family (eg Divoriced dad), the new payment plan box does not include payments that have been paid on the patient's account screen. However, when switching to the gurantor's account page, the payment plan box and...

B.Thomas

One more problem we discovered which is a little more specific. When we use payment plans to track insurance payments, the insurance checks do not post to the insurance payment plan. For example, we receive an insurance check and we post it to the insurance claim ("Create Check" button), but the amo...

B.Thomas

I'm glad you already made the change of having the "payment plan due" amount also show up on the "balance" section above. With the big red font that is what the user's eyes are drawn too and they may miss the payment plan section below. Will the payment plan amounts also show up on the aging? I'm to...

B.Thomas

I have to say the changes to the payment plan are excellent. Much easier to understand and use. Surprisingly the new math discovered many errors. We were using various adjustments to make the accounts balance when there was a discrepancy from the child to the guarantor. This all showed up on the agi...

B.Thomas

Would it be difficult to ad the ability to alter display fields in the account module like there is in the chart module? I would like the ability not to show lines with zero balances like broken appointments and such.

Thanks,

B.Thomas

I never got around to mentioning it before but since we've been using Vers 5.5 the margins of the chart and radiograph labels that are sent to the Dymo Label printer are about 2 mm too far to the left cutting out the first 1 or 2 letters of the patient's name. Is there a way to adjust for this in th...

B.Thomas

After I complete the restore process and then try to restart the program I get the following errors "Incorrect information in file opendental\computerpref.frm" then "Incorrect information in file opendental\provider.frm" then "Incorrect information in file opendental\patient.frm" then "Incorrect inf...

B.Thomas

You know how you say to always check your backups at home to make sure they are working correctly. Well I keep getting an error when trying to restore form version 5.5.9 Is anyone else having this problem or is it just my build See the end of this message for details on invoking just-in-time (JIT) d...

B.Thomas

Well since you are working on this I asked my business manager what problems she has with payment plans and what could be improved. Here is what I got keep in mind we have an ortho office and have hundreds of payment plans going: 1. Patients want to know what the remaining balance to be paid is. (Ma...

B.Thomas

Out of curiosity what are the 3 columns? My manager and I were discussing it and we felt the only 3 columns needed are Balance, Patient paid and insurance paid amounts. I'm guessing the difficulty is in combining the math from the other columns. Feel free to post the code in the advanced forum and m...

B.Thomas

I like the new feature allowing us to email statments via a pdf form. Very Cool! Now will there eventually be a way to send the emails directly from the billing section? That would cut down on postage for sure.

B.Thomas

I'm liking many of these suggestions. I think the main thing is to critically look at every bit of information on a "Standard" statment and eliminate what is not Absolutely Neccessary for the patients to understand what they are paying for. Then maybe have an "Advanced" button where the user can che...

B.Thomas

Just out of curiosity, why is it helpful to have the little I bar indicate on the schedule that the patient has insurance?

Wouldn't it be more useful to have something indicating an account is past due?

B.Thomas

I agree. Email is the least costly route and many cell phones receive email as well.

B.Thomas

Is it possible to assign a preferred assistant to a patient?

I know it is possible to select an assistant for a specific appointment but is it possible to assign one assistant for all apoointments, possibly from the family module?

Thanks,

B.Thomas

How about the ability to automatically send a text message or email message from the appointment module?

Maybe incoporporate it as a feature along with the confirmation section?

B.Thomas

Nice Work!

B.Thomas

Another vote for hiding them or making them customizable

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