Dentally Portal allows patients to complete their medical history themselves in advance of their appointment via a unique, one-time link. This helps the practice save time on physical admin upon the patient's arrival, reducing wait time and helping administrative staff to focus on patient care.
You can quickly send the medical history link to the patient as shown below, or you can automatically include it in your existing appointment reminders or any other correspondence template.
To send a one-time link to the patient's phone, go to the 'Medical' tab on the patient's account, then click 'New Medical History' and select 'Send via SMS'.
Links can be sent manually like this, or the practice can use the new [patient_medical_link] data tag in any correspondence template and this will automatically include the link in any SMS or email correspondence that they send out, specific to that patient.
How do I create my own medical history SMS or email template?
If you want to create your own SMS or email, you can do this under 'Settings' > 'Templates'.
Add the phrase you wish to show on your SMS or email and add the data tag
[patient_medical_link]to the template you are already using.Save your new template.
REMEMBER that each SMS message is 160 characters in length. If you exceed the 160 characters, you will be charged for 2 SMS messages. Keep your text short.
How do I use Dentally's Medical History Link SMS Template?
If you decide to send it as a manual SMS with a link from the patient's correspondence, we have added a template for each practice. The new template is called Medical History Link.
Remember to check the length of your SMS message.
Example Template:
At [practice_name] we are minimising physical interaction as much as possible for your safety. Please fill out your medical history securely using this link prior to coming to your appointment.
[patient_medical_link]
You can also use this wording in your automatic appointment reminder messages. To do this, go to:
'Settings' > 'Practice Settings' > 'Patient Communication Tab'
You need to enable 'SMS Reminders' and/or 'SMS Confirmation', set the days in advance and paste in the wording you want to use - or simply add the data tag to your existing message.
Medical History Link Settings
By default the medical history questionnaire is pre-populated with a patient's previous medical history details. This prevents them from having to type in all their data every time.
The link that is sent is entirely secure and personal to each patient.
However, if you wish to send a blank medical history form to each patient, via the SMS and email link, you can do that from this setting.
Go to Settings > Practice > Other
Scroll down to the Portal Setting.
By default this setting is turned off, which means that by default patients are sent a blank medical history for completion.
If you wish to set it on, check the box and Save.
What will the patient see?
Patients can navigate to the medical history questionnaire from the link you have sent them, or they can log into their Portal and navigate to the questionnaire from their personal homepage.
When the patient clicks on the Medical History link, they will be prompted to verify their identity by inputting their date of birth. Then the questionnaire will begin with the first question.
If the patient answers 'Yes', an additional box opens for them to give more details. The patient answers each question and will be prompted with the next question, until they have answered all the questions.
If a patient has completed the form before, their previous answers will display as default, with the option to change them if needed.
The patient will have the chance to provide any other information which may be relevant to their dentist.
At the end, the patient must provide a signature. They will have the option to type or draw their signature, and will then click 'Sign'.
This will take them back to their personal homepage, with confirmation that they have completed their medical history.
If they scroll down and click 'Update your medical info', they will see a message confirming that they don't need to update their medical information, along with the option to 'Update anyway' if their medical information has changed since they last completed it.
The medical history questionnaire is pulled straight from the dental practice's medical history questions that you have already set up and use within Dentally.
Single Use link
The link sent to the patient is a single use link, so as soon as the patient taps on the link and completes the medical history the link will no longer work. The patient cannot use it more than once, and will need to request a new one or navigate to the questionnaire from their homepage if they need to access it.
24 hour-limit
A patient can only update their medical history once every 24 hours, so if a patient has been sent two links or the practice has already updated the medical history then the patient will see a message that their medical information is up-to-date.