How to merge patients

How to merge duplicate patient records in Dentally, Including how to merge patient images beforehand!

Shelley Withington avatar
Written by Shelley Withington
Updated over a week ago

šŸšØ Important: Please keep in mind, merging patients together is IRREVERSIBLE!

Why would I need to merge patients

Sometimes, patients are accidentally added to Dentally twice but don't panic! It can happen to anyone and can be easily fixed.

When this happens in Dentally there will be two lots of notes, two sets of appointment history, etc etc...

The only thing we ask is that before you decide to continue with the merging process is that you are 100% confident the patients are the same person and that you are confident in which patient record you wish to keep and which is to be archived.

šŸ“ Please note: Only users with Level 3 security access or higher can merge patients in Dentally.

How to merge patients

  • Navigate to the 'Details' tab of the patientā€™s record you wish to keep, this patient is referred to as the 'destination patient'.

  • Open the ā€˜Moreā€™ menu in the top right and select ā€˜Merge patient...ā€™.

šŸ’”Top tip: If you are using Dentally Vision, remember to reassign your images from the source patient to the destination patient before carrying on with the merge. You can find out more on how to do this here.

When moving patient images, please make sure that you are viewing the correct patient's images before you begin reassigning them in Denally Vision.

merge patient in dentally
  • Select the 'Source patient', the patient you would like to merge into the destination patient. The patient you choose as the source patient will be archived in the system after the merge is complete.

  • Once the patient has been selected, you will be shown the two records you have chosen; take this opportunity to double-check your patients!

  • Click 'Merge' and then 'Confirm' and youā€™re all done!

šŸ“ Please note: All X-Rays that are NOT already linked with, or saved to the destination patient, will need to be downloaded/exported from the X-Ray software and manually uploaded to the images tab in Dentally.

All new X-Rays will then continue using the Dentally ID for the new patient record.

šŸšØ Important to note: If you are using the imaging bridge. When merging patients, you also run the risk of the IDs that are used for the imaging bridge not picking up the correct images.

Did this answer your question?