New Patient Form

[Rickliftig]

We use a paper encounter form now for a new patient (WDA - the Patient Record T320TI). On it you record name. address, phone etc, but then there is branching for CC: ie) pain? broken filling? if so, where? how long? etc. I was playing with Acrobat Pro and the new patient forms. This got me thinking:

Wouldn't it be fairly easy to establish a program link to Acrobat that would locally generate a new form that was akin to this form. I understand the link idea etc, but this would be local and would be for my front desk. Ideally, I'd use autonotes, but of course, it only works in the chart module.

I could see expanding this to other forms: intra-oral findings among others.

[Rickliftig]

Okay - easy enough to create an interactive pdf form, store it on the server and have the program setup button (ie. new patient) open up that form. Then it needs to be manually saved and imported into Open dental. It's not much more efficient than writing this down on paper.

Now, if a sheet could be developed or adapted that would import the info into the Open Dental Database it might be a good feature. Any interest?

[enamelrod]

ok i sign on to it and understand it. so where do we go from here its a great addition also for updating information

[Rickliftig]

Feature Request time!

So here's what I envision for my system: A group of sheets known as Cue Sheets and accessed via button(s) from the scheduling and account pages.

There would be a cue sheet for 1) a new patient 2) an emergency appointment 3) a phone entry into the commlog 4) your idea here

By using autonotes, you could customize the entry. For example, John Smith called at 10:15 am with (check one - pain, broken filling, food stuck) on the (check one - UR, LR, LL, UL). He has had the problem for (check one - one day, 2-5 days, several weeks, month, year), etc, etc. and this would get entered into the chart.

Simple branching would help define how long an appointment and how soon an appointment should be made. (ie. Pt in pain gets in right away)

I think this would help new staff members acclimate and give them a crutch. It would make sure that my existing staff members were consistent and crossed the t's and dotted the i's.

This is similar to the format that I use for periodic exams and it has really increased consistency, both for me and my hygienists.

[Rickliftig]

I had a chance to play with Easynotes Pro for a few minutes this am and it seems to be a good match for this type of added functionality. I'll keep y'all in the loop as I massage the menus and see how well the staff accepts it.