What are the stages of the patient's appointment journey in the practice?
Pending - The appointment has been booked but the patient has not yet confirmed they will be attending.
Confirmed - The patient has confirmed they are attending the appointment eg via phone/text.
Arrived - The patient has arrived in the practice, and is waiting for their appointment.
In Surgery - The clinician has marked the patient as in the surgery and will start treatment.
Completed - The clinician has finished the patient's treatment, charged any fees, created an estimate/consent form and created any continuing treatment appointment if they are returning for further work.
The symbols appear in the top right corner of the patient's appointment in the calendar.
The appointment status can be seen on the calendar, on the top right hand side of the appointment. Moving the appointment status onto the next step can be done in several ways.
💡 Top tip: By getting patients to confirm in advance, you'll help to reduce FTAs.
How do I mark a patient as confirmed/arrived in the practice?
Click the symbol to toggle the status and move the patient onto the next stage of the journey.
Alternatively, right click on the appointment and choose the appropriate next step.
When the patient is marked as arrived, they will appear in the virtual 'waiting room' - this can be viewed by clicking the clock icon in the Dentally toolbar.
How do I mark the patient as in surgery with the clinician?
When the patient has gone through to the surgery, you can mark them as in surgery using the steps above. You can also click their name in the waiting room, which will take you to their patient record and update their status to 'In Surgery'.
How do I mark a patient's appointment as complete?
Once you have finished the appointment, make sure to show the appointment is complete by ticking and charging through anything that needs to be paid on the day.
The reception team will be able to see a tick against the appointment in the calendar once the appointment has been completed.
Remember: It is vital that each stage is updated to ensure a smooth experience for patients and accurate reporting at the practice later down the line.