API Features Requested

[SLeon]

A developer recently emailed us the following API feature requests. The API forums are the best place for communication on requested features, so we are moving these items here for better visibility.

1. Appointment Confirm - we need more statuses, we use it not only to confirm, but also to mark patient as Arrived or Seated etc., ideally please allow it to be set by DefNum ID
2. CommLog create - we need more fields - CommDateTime,CommType,Mode_,SentOrReceived
3. RecallStatus update
4. PatientNote create/update
5. Refattach create
6. PayPlan create
7. Diseasedef, Allergydef, Medication create
8. Disease, Allergy, Medicationpat create - possibly delete needed too

Item number 2 is complete and details can be seen in our updated documentation (https://www.opendental.com/resources/OpenDentalAPI.pdf). We will continue to post our progress on these items within this thread.

[SLeon]

The three following items have been implemented from the list above.

1. Appointments PUT Confirm now supports all ApptConfirmed status types and can be set via DefNum.
2. (previously done)
3. Recalls PUT Status is a new method that allows updating the status on recall reminders.
4. PatientNotes PUT is a new method that allows updating Medical, ICEName, and ICEPhone fields.

Please see the updated documentation for more information on these changes: https://www.opendental.com/resources/OpenDentalAPI.pdf.

[SLeon]

Three more items from this requested features list have been implemented.

1-4.(previously done)
5. RefAttaches POST is a new method that attaches a patient to any referral source, either by name or ReferralNum. A second method, Referrals GET, has also been added to view all referral sources for the office.
6. (currently in development)
7. DiseaseDefs POST is a new method that adds a new disease that can be assigned to patients. Use DiseaseDefs GET for a list of all diseases.
8. Diseases POST allows the attachment of a disease to a specific patient. To see all diseases attached to a patient, use Diseases GET.

See our updated documentation for more information on these new methods https://www.opendental.com/resources/OpenDentalAPI.pdf.

[SLeon]

Another item from this requested feature list has been implemented.

1-5. (Previously done)
6. PayPlan POST is a new method that allows the creation of a patient payment plan for a specified dollar amount. All plan terms (such as APR, delayed interest/payments, and charge frequency) are fully supported.
7. (AllergyDef and Medication are currently in development)
8. (Allergy and MedicationPat are currently in development)

More details on PayPlans POST can be found in our updated documentation: https://www.opendental.com/resources/OpenDentalAPI.pdf

[SLeon]

The next items on the requested features list have been implemented.

1-6. (Previously done)
7. Methods for AllergyDefs GET and POST have been added, although these will rarely be used.
8. Allergies POST has been added. Developers will use this method in most cases, as it will automatically create/insert a new AllergyDef if necessary.

Development on the final requested features, Medication and MedicationPats, will be completed soon. For more information on the new Allergy and AllergyDefs, please see our updated documentation: https://www.opendental.com/resources/OpenDentalAPI.pdf.

[SLeon]

The final items from this list of requested features are complete.

We have added MedicationPats GET and POST to allow the reading and creating of medications that are attached to a specified patient. To facilitate the management of medications that can be assigned to patients, Medication GET and POST were also added, but we expect these to be rarely used.

All four of these methods will be available in our next beta version (21.3.25), which is estimated to be released later this week. For more information on these new methods, please see our updated documentation. https://www.opendental.com/resources/OpenDentalAPI.pdf

[jordansparks]

So I think that's all of them.

[tpaczesny]

Thank you!

As we work with the implementation we noticed two more fields that we used to set in our integration, but we can't find them in current API:

1. Possibility to set Position​ field on a patient when updating/creating (especially updating)
2. Option to provide DateCreated​ field when uploading documents. In some rare cases the date the patient created a document (signed a form) is different than a date we will be sending this to API (usually is the same, but in case things got delayed in sync it may not be always the case).

Would it be possible to extend API to support those?

Also, as a side question, what would be your recommendation to discover new/changed appointments via read API in an efficient way?

[SLeon]

1. Yes, the Position field for patients can be added to Patients PUT and Patients POST methods.
2. Yes, we can add DateCreated as an optional field in Documents POST UploadSftp.

Both of these items have been added to our development list and you can expect an update on our progress shortly.

[jordansparks]

>Also, as a side question, what would be your recommendation to discover new/changed appointments via read API in an efficient way?
Appointments GET (multiple). Specify a DateTStamp with your call so that you are only getting the new/changed ones.

[SLeon]

The first of the two recent feature requests is complete.

The Position field has been implemented for both the Patients PUT and Patients POST methods. These are available now in our latest beta version 21.4.8.

For more information about this method, please see the API section of our manual: https://www.opendental.com/site/apipatients.html

[Marek Rode]

Dear OpenDental Team

Would it be possible to:
1. Extend POST/PUT /patients endpoint to consume emergency contact data: ICEName, ICEPhone ?
2. Using POST /document/Upload we have noticed wired behaviour in files: Files appear twice. Once with the name provided with API and second with empty name but with content.

Screenshot from 2022-01-14 12-19-11.png (87.94 KiB) Viewed 41339 times

Is this result of wrong usage of endpoint? Can it be change to show only 1 file?

[SLeon]

1. The ICEName and the ICEPhone can already be set by using PatientNotes PUT. See https://www.opendental.com/site/apipatientnotes.html.
2. We consider this a bug and are currently looking into the issue.

[SLeon]

A fix for the Documents POST Upload bug has been implemented. Now only one file will show in the Image Module tree. This will be available in our next update.

[Marek Rode]

Dear OpenDental Team
Regarding document upload we have retested this feature and now 1 file is saving correctly but for some reason after opening it changes his name. Can this problem be also addressed?

[jordansparks]

What do you mean by "it changes his name"? File name? Patient name? Description?

[Marek Rode]

Dear OpenDental Team
After opening file, file name is cleared.

[SLeon]

Thank you!

As we work with the implementation we noticed two more fields that we used to set in our integration, but we can't find them in current API:

1. Possibility to set Position​ field on a patient when updating/creating (especially updating)
2. Option to provide DateCreated​ field when uploading documents. In some rare cases the date the patient created a document (signed a form) is different than a date we will be sending this to API (usually is the same, but in case things got delayed in sync it may not be always the case).

Would it be possible to extend API to support those?

Also, as a side question, what would be your recommendation to discover new/changed appointments via read API in an efficient way?

The second requested feature is complete. Documents POST UploadSftp now allows the DateCreated field to be set. See https://www.opendental.com/site/apidocuments.html. This will be available in our next beta version, 21.4.20, which is expected be release within the next week.

I will investigate the Documents POST Upload issue.

[jordansparks]

I still don't understand. A windows filename cannot be "cleared". Every file has to have a name. Maybe you mean the document.Description gets cleared. We'll try to duplicate.

[Marek Rode]

Dear OpenDental Team

I am attaching to screens to better describe the issue. Before clicking the file the description is seen:

Code: Select all

`Patient Information > 01/25/2022: New Patient Form (Modento)`

After opening the file description is changing to:

Code: Select all

`Patient Information > 01/25/2022`

[jordansparks]

Thank you. Got it. We will look into it.

[SLeon]

Marek,

The Documents POST Upload bug with the blank document description has been fixed. It will be available in 21.4.22.

[Marek Rode]

Dear Open Dental Team
Thank you.
I have another request. Would it be possible to add `ProvColor` column into endpoint: https://www.opendental.com/site/apiproviders.html ?

[SLeon]

... Would it be possible to add `ProvColor` column into endpoint: https://www.opendental.com/site/apiproviders.html ?

We have started development on this request. Colors are stored in the Open Dental database as their 32-bit representation. Would it be more helpful to return it in that format ("-3644266"), in ARGB format (50, 200, 100, 50), or both?

[jordansparks]

32 bit is not helpful. My vote is for RGB. Example "200,100,52". We could later add hex if some people prefer it, but the conversion between the two is really easy.

[SLeon]

The provColor field has been added to Providers GET. The color is returned as a string in "R,G,B" format.

This will be available in 22.1.14. See https://www.opendental.com/site/apiproviders.html for more information.