Open Dental

Jorgebon

My experience has been that no insurance will pay for an OOL filling. They only allow you to bill once for each surface. There might be exceptions but I've never seen any.

Jorgebon

Make a fee schedule for every insurance company you contract with. You can set the type of plan (probably PPO percentage), the fee schedule and the percentages in the insurance plan edit window for the patient.

Jorgebon

Try Alt and PrntScrn in the big version of the chart. Then paste to the images module and print from there.

Jorgebon

The way we do it is different, and it works for us: 1. Add the preauth from the treatment plan module. 2. Wait for the insurance co to reply 3. Edit any incorrect amount by double clicking the procedure in the Tx plan module and then double clicking the line under "insurance estimates and payments" ...

Jorgebon

I haven't upgraded to 6.1 yet, so I'm not sure you're talking about the same thing. Do you mean that on 6.1, when you double click on an appointment, the only procedures that show are the ones tied to that appointment? Almost every day, specially with initial patient visits, I edit the appointment t...

Jorgebon

Works for me too. Using Vista and version 6.0.4

Jorgebon

You have to make the parent who gets the bills the guarantor (by selecting the patient in the family module and then clicking on Set Guarantor). Then make sure this patient has the address were bills should be sent. Then you select the record for the patient you want to send the recall postcard to. ...

Jorgebon

In my office we've used the allowed fee schedules feature extensively, so we've had something like a Bluebook for a long time. We see a few of those plans where they pay less than the regular carrier fee, so our solution has been to treat those plans as distinct carriers. For example, there is a car...

Jorgebon

I would also suggest you add a line to select only those patients that are not inactive, archived or deceased using the following as one of the conditions:

AND patient.PatStatus = '0'

Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

To remove the time you can change it as follows: SET @pos=0; SELECT @pos:=@pos+1 as numberofpatients, patient.LName,patient.FName,patient.Address,patient.Address2,patient.City,patient.State,patient.Zip, Date_Format(MAX(procedurelog.procdate),'%m/%d/%y') as DATE FROM patient,procedurelog WHERE proced...

Jorgebon

Sorry you had problems. I had fixed that query after it was posted. The query you need is as follows: SET @pos=0; SELECT @pos:=@pos+1 as numberofpatients, patient.LName,patient.FName,patient.Address,patient.Address2,patient.City,patient.State,patient.Zip, MAX(procedurelog.procdate) FROM patient,proc...

Jorgebon

I doubt that the software has the ability to do something like that on it's own. Have you asked your employees about it? Maybe one of them made the entries thinking that the patient had paid or that the debt had been written off. We are running that same version at our office and haven't noticed any...

Jorgebon

Is it possible to separate all four pieces and then print each individually as separate pages? Where can we buy this paper?
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

You can print labels for your panos and even for patient folders. Now that you can customize them you can use them for practically anything.

Jorgebon

I use only stable releases at the office, but the version I keep at home is always Beta. The reason for this is that I have more time at home to play with the Beta version. When I find a bug I have time to find out when and how it happens and then I can send an e-mail to Jordan with specific informa...

Jorgebon

The patfield table contains all the info you need to add to the patient table for the report you want. The fields that you may need are patfield.FieldName, patfield.FieldValue and you can use patfield.PatNum as a link to the patient table. If you have more than one patient field defined, then you wi...

Jorgebon

That would be the doctor we are referring the patient to. It's not something really crucial, since we normally write this info on the envelope we put the referral slip in so the patient can call for an appointment. Maybe some of us don't use envelopes, in that case it would be necessary to have that...

Jorgebon

The software doesn't have this feature yet, but I think it would be a great addition. Right now what we do is that whenever we see $0 in the treatment plan we edit the amount manually.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

I was about to ask the same thing. We need to have the doctor's specialty and phone number on the referral slip.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

I forgot to add that some offices may not use the appointment book feature of Open Dental. Their only option is to Set Complete from the chart.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

This feature is used for instances where you complete treatment in addition to the procedures included in the appointment. For example, a patient has a recall appointment and you Set Complete the appointment, but you then decide to fix a caries on that same appointment instead of having the patient ...

Jorgebon

Go to Windows Control Panel, then Printers. Right click on the printer and check the default printer preferences. This could be the cause.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

Open Dental used to have a feature where you could hide graphics by clicking on a checkbox in the procedure edit window. This feature was dropped a couple of years ago when the chart progressively got better and smarter. Still, there are some situations where the chart doesn't reflect the reality an...

Jorgebon

This will also depend on your clearinghouse. If you use one that has some sort of communications software to upload the claims, you can only send claims from the computer where you have that software installed.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

We use the ones for laser printers. They come four to a page.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

Seems like states are folllowing some sort of federal mandate because I received a similar letter stating basically the same things, except for the intended use (that's probably a Texas thing). Down here they also recommend we add our NPI number.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

In our office when a new patient makes an appointment we fill out minimal information (usually name and phone number and in some cases insurance id) and classify them as "Non Patient" until the patient actually shows up. Only then do we fill out all the information and change them to "Patient" statu...

Jorgebon

That's a very good price and if it's working well for you I see no reason to change.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

Thanks. I also got some help through pm.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

If anybody has an icon for full dentures or partial dentures, please let me know.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

Here's some more: http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i77/jorgebon/Prefababutment.jpg http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i77/jorgebon/ImplantCrown.jpg http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i77/jorgebon/implant.jpg http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i77/jorgebon/CustomAbutment.jpg http://i69.photobucket.com/...

Jorgebon

Yes, you can import more icons. You can either draw them yourself in window's Paint or share from other OD users. I'm not sure how to post them here in this forum but let me try. Jorge Bonilla, DMD http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i77/jorgebon/Toothnote.jpg http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i77/jor...

Jorgebon

How about to the right of the family balance, make a box or draw some lines to separate both balances and add the words "individual balance" on top, so there's no possibility of confusing both numbers. The family balance should also be labelled with the word "family" to avoid confusion. Jorge Bonill...

Jorgebon

The new account module format works fine in most aspects, but I would like to suggest that the balance for the individual patient (besides the family total) be displayed somewhere. I can see the estimated patient portion when we make the claim, but still if the patient owes something else besides th...

Jorgebon

When you go to Start/ Printers and faxes (form your desktop's start menu) is the default printer connected to these computers? If not, select one that is or install the one you want that is connected to the network.

Jorgebon

I get a certain feeling of happiness and nostalgia when I read a post from someone who's just starting out. I guess it comes with age. I've been practicing for 23 years in my hometown. I started out with nothing but debt and I went to every bank in town. None of them would help me unless I would go ...

Jorgebon

I find that the new line with the estimated patient portion in the account module is only correct if you do not select the "Claims show UCR fee, not billed fee" option in the plan's definition. If you have this option selected, it will calculate the difference between the estimated ins payment and y...

Jorgebon

That's a very good idea, Mifa. DTbar, If you had the database information imported from a previous practice software, then this query might not be the one you want. In any case, you can delete the line that refers to the completed procedures and see what you get. Since I don't know exactly what info...

Jorgebon

Procstatus = '2' means procedures that have been completed. this limits the output of the query to only patients that had previously been seen in the office because only patients who have actually been to the office have completed procedures. I recommend you try a more refined version of this query:...

Jorgebon

You can get the images fron the A-Z folder.

Jorgebon

It's used in electronic claims. Although almost all go out with "commercial insurance" there are a few insurance plans that use BCBS (Blue Cross Blue Shield). There's probably other plans that use other filing indicators, but I don't know which ones.

Jorgebon

You can add a new procedure with a new code (in LISTS/PROCEDURE CODES), but just add a letter or number at the end. For example, D1110a. Define it as whatever you want, like "half prophy" and assign a fee to it. When you print the claim form or send it electronically, Open Dental will cut off the la...

Jorgebon

You can "un-break" an appointment easily by double clicking on it and then changing the status back to scheduled.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

In our office we just process it normally on the patient's account. We then have a negative balance (like we owe the patient the amount of interest paid). Then we make an adjustment called "Finance Charge" for that same amount to bring the account to $0.

Jorgebon

To go back to a previous version you have to uninstall the new version first. Then reinstall the old version (you need to get it from a backup). When it asks you to select the database, select the one named opendentalbackup date . Where I wrote date should be the date when you updated to the newer v...

Jorgebon

This query will give you a list of the patients with a count and the date of each prophy. It includes both adult and child prophies for all Delta plans. SET @pos=0; SELECT @pos:=@pos+1 as numberofpatients, carrier.CarrierName,procedurelog.ProcDate,patient.LName,patient.Fname FROM patient,carrier,ins...

Jorgebon

Do you want a list of the patients who had those prophies or just a total number? If it's a total number, is it just for prophies or for all codes?
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

Jordan,
I received a PM and the link that is sent in the e-mail alerting me to the PM doesn't work. I went to the forum and opened the message manually.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

And if you want to know what you did to each of the patients that the previous query counted, use this query and it will give you the name of each patient with the procedures done: SET @FromDate= '2007-01-01', @ToDate='2007-12-31'; SELECT patient.PatNum,definition.ItemName,procedurecode.ProcCode, pr...

Jorgebon

You could use query #26 or #41 from the examples page. If you need the number of patients, try this: SET @pos=0; SELECT @pos:=@pos+1 as numberofpatients, carrier.CarrierName,patient.* FROM patient,carrier,insplan WHERE patient.PatNum=insplan.Subscriber AND insplan.CarrierNum=carrier.CarrierNum AND c...

Jorgebon

I read your post in Dental Town a couple of days ago and my wife and I have been thinking about what we would do if we received the same letter. I think that unless United Concordia has a big chunk of your business, the best thing would be to cancel your contract with them. Anyway, I edited one of t...

Jorgebon

Open Office is very good. The only problem right now is that Open Dental merge letters don't work with OO (I think). You can save documents in MS Office format and you can open MS Office documents in Open Office. If you save in the OO format, then MS Office cannot open it. That's why it's best to al...

Jorgebon

Hey that's really cool !!
You can then export those numbers as an Excel file and make a graph. That's a little different from what I was thinking, since I was thinking CCleveland wanted a list of patient names.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

I like "Teach Yourself SQL in Ten Minutes" by Ben Forta. I got it at Border's. So what you want could be something like a total number of patients within a range. For example, a list and total number of patients under the age of ten. I think the way to keep it simple is to have one query for each ag...

Jorgebon

The patient's age is probably the result of a calculation based on the patient's birth date. You can find that in the Patient table. If you tell us what you would like we can probably help you write the query. This is the simplest way to sort by age: select * from patient Order by birthdate Jorge Bo...

Jorgebon

Remember when somebody suggested that Jordan design some sort of logo for T-shirts or polo shirts so we could wear them at the dental meetings? Maybe we could still do that for the meeting in San Antonio. If somebody can design it and post it to the website, we could download it and have a local sho...

Jorgebon

I haven't had that problem (with backup). Is that a problem specific to a certain version?
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

To export a picture I look in the patient's folder in the A to Z folder and copy it from there.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

Regarding question #3: In about four months our office will have been running Open Dental for three years. I can tell you that in that time we haven't had any major problems. If we have any questions about how we should do something or if we find something we think is a bug, we just send an e-mail o...

Jorgebon

OK, thanks Jordan.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

When I run "Database Maintenance" I get "Claim payments with mismatched dates fixed:" and the number of fixed dates. I don't see any difference in dates before and after in the claim or the payment. I'm not really sure what dates are being fixed. Apparently it must be something we do wrong always be...

Jorgebon

Mzrdmd, I can almost always tell the patient what their plan covers and how much they have to pay. We've taken the time to enter fee schedules, copay schedules and allowed fees for practically all the plans we see. So when the patient has all the different options explained I can give them an estima...

Jorgebon

We also try to have the patient decide while in the chair. Nevertheless, there are options like using clinical notes or tooth notes for special cases. It's also good to have it all documented in a narrative. If someone else reads the progress notes, it's better to have a note stating what you explai...

Jorgebon

You can do it by first setting up the insurance categories in the Setup menu. You would have to add a span for the codes and name them. They will then show up when you go into Edit Benefits and add benefits. Then you can enter whatever percentage you want.

Jorgebon

If you are going to have a maximum of seven computers, you might not even need a real server unless you're going to run some other application that may need it. Open Dental works fine from a regular computer that acts as a central depository of information for the rest of the computers on the networ...

Jorgebon

I think that for now, it's an all or nothing thing. I'm sure that eventually this feature will be refined so that it can be applied to only some plans.

Jorgebon

Tell those patients that you will not send them reminders if they don't want them, but that they'll have to pay you for missed appointments.

Jorgebon

I made a small change to your query so you don't have to go in and change the dates all the time. It will now calculate a period of time of 3 months (today minus a 3 month interval) so every day you can get the previous 3 months' referrals. I used a 3 month interval, but you can change that to whate...

Jorgebon

What we've done in our office is make fee schedules for each insurance company. We obviously obtain fee schedules from all those insurance companies where we have contracts. In those that we don't have contracts, we build an allowed fee schedule from past experience until we have at least the most u...

Jorgebon

If you transfered all those patients from your other software before adding any current patients, then they can be found through the patient number. They should have numbers one to the total number of imported patients. If that's the case, then you only need to find the first patient you entered (ma...

Jorgebon

OK, I combined what we know about these patients, 1. no procedures in last 4 years 2. datefirstvisit = 0001-01-01 3. classified as patient in family module I came up with this query, but if you have current patients that meet all of these conditions, they will also appear. For example, I tried it on...

Jorgebon

Can you see if there is anything else unique in the group of patients you want ? Do they have anything entered in the chart module (any previous treatment)? Do you know the exact date when these records where created in Open Dental? Are they classified as patients or as non patients in the family mo...

Jorgebon

Try it anyway. I tried it by adding a patient (only the first and last name) to the database. I didn't add any procedures. This query found that patient. I also tried it by trying datefirstvisit is null. That didn't work because apparently the datefirstvisit defaults to 0001-01-01 when you create th...

Jorgebon

If you are not going to make any changes to the database in your office while you are out doing the exams, it would be easy to just use the backup and restore features of Open Dental. On the other hand, if both databases are going to have changes at the same time, there's no way I know of that you c...

Jorgebon

Sorry, I didn't know they had no procedures. Try this query, it will check for a first visit date and includes only those classified as "patients" (no inactive or dead patients). I am thinking that maybe they have no first visit date since they haven't come in yet from Open Dental's point of view. H...

Jorgebon

In the Family Module, double click the last row in the Patient Information column, where it says "Referrals". A window will open where you'll be able to enter any referrals.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

This query should do what you want. It will also give a count of how many patients haven't come in. You can change the date in the next to the last line as needed. Copy and paste it to your query window: SET @pos=0; SELECT @pos:=@pos+1 as numberofpatients, patient.LName,patient.FName,patient.Address...

Jorgebon

I find that the chart will look better or worse depending on the background color where the teeth are pictured. I use a slate blue color and it looks great. Maybe a change in the background color can also help those who find the teeth too white. It can be changed in the Setup-Definitions menu. Selec...

Jorgebon

The problem with doing that is that then the tooth numbers for other procedures would not print in the form, only the quadrants. As I understand it, quadrants and arches are supposed to print in field 25 (areas of oral cavity) as numbers. I think 10, 20 , 30 and 40 are the quadrants and 01 and 02 ar...

Jorgebon

How about if you guys settle on a compromise. Maybe somebody in Jordan's team can work on a small part of the Canadian claims thing for each version that comes out. It would be good to have a goal for a certain date (or several smaller goals for various dates). This would show progress and the good ...

Jorgebon

Pedro,
I tried sending you an e-mail to the address you sent me but it was turned back. I tried again, but this time I also sent you a private mail through this forum. Please let me know if you don't receive it.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

This query is from the query examples page. You can modify it to get a report with the specific fields you would like and the dates you want:

SELECT * FROM PATIENT
WHERE DateFirstVisit >= '2005-10-01'
AND DateFirstVisit < '2005-11-01'

Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

Thanks again Jordan, you're always there for us.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

Oh please, please, please make it available again as an option. It really helps the front desk a lot and I can check at the end of the day with just a quick look if we left out any claims.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

I started using version 5.3.17 and noticed that the red exclamation point no longer shows. Only the black line for insurance. Was this changed or is it a bug?
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

Make sure when you "set complete" the crown that you specify if it's the first time or if you are replacing an existing crown.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

I always enter the same number in both the patient ID and the Medicaid ID fields. The patient ID number goes out in electronic claims, and we have a few local plans that use patient ID numbers. They require both the subscriber's ID number and the patient's ID number. On the paper claimforms, you can...

Jorgebon

There's also a problem in that the same plan can have different fee schedules depending on the zip code of the dentist.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

OK, after playing around with it a bit I found that I can't use it for those plans where I have a Carrier Allowed fee schedule. It uses the plan's fee schedule as the allowed fee schedule. So I can use it on plans where I have the fee schedule. I'll play with it some more...
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

I was looking at the new PPO Percentage insurance type and noticed that it will make estimates on treatment plans better since it will show our real fees and how much of a discount we give. I'm not really sure when we should use PPO Percentage instead of Category Percentage. Jordan, could you please...

Jorgebon

I was looking at the new feature in Beta version 5.3 for substituting insurance codes. I find that it works fine when a plan doesn't cover posterior composites but allows the fee for the corresponding amalgam. I couldn't find a way to inactivate the feature for those plans that do cover posterior co...

Jorgebon

After a couple of years of using Open Dental, I find that the insurance plan list is getting very large. I would like to suggest a feature where one could mark a plan as inactive and be able to hide it from the list. This would help for example when you have a group of patients that changes their pl...

Jorgebon

Our experience has been similar, although we use another clearinghouse. The problem is that online eligibility only confirms that the patient is active in a plan, but it doesn't give any information on procedure eligibility. These are the procedures that have time limits like once every 6 months or ...

Jorgebon

You need to make two fee schedules for this situation. The first one is the fee you expect for every procedure (total ins plan plus patient pays). Then you make another fee schedule and classify it as "allowed fee schedule". In this one you put whatever the plan normally pays for each procedure. Whe...

Jorgebon

I hope the plans to change the way PPOs are handled doesn't mean you're going to eliminate all the existing ways of using different fee schedules and copay schedules. I'm specially fond of the allowed fee schedules. I still haven't seen a plan we can't give exact or very accurate estimates for using...

Jorgebon

In our office we mark the appointment broken so that it will show in the progress notes, then we delete the appointment and add a note in the appointment module at the same time and date that says "Patient missed appt". It will show with the patient's picture just like an appointment and since the c...

Jorgebon

I actually prefer to send the claims in a batch at the end of the day than sending after each patient. The advantage is that the office manager can have a look at the claims before they're sent and make corrections. Nevertheless, I think in the future when we can get instantaneous responses from all...

Jorgebon

You could try changing a few settings to see if that helps while Jordan works on the problem. You can change the color quality from 32 bit to 16 bit in the Windows Display Properties. You could also open the advanced settings and change the settings in the Troubleshooting tab.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

Look in the SETUP menu under Data Paths.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

What happened to all the posts from the month of July?
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

OK, I re-booted the laptop and it's working OK now. I think some other program must have been using up a lot of memory. Anyway, I'll let you know if it happens again.
Jorge Bonilla, DMD

Jorgebon

I'm trying it out at home and apparently the appt module is slow on my laptop only. It's slow all the time, from openning the module to viewing anything at all. It's fast enough on my desktop, though. The desktop has a faster processor and a good video card. I'm thinking it could also be slow at the...

Jorgebon

Just downloaded a few hours ago and it looks awesome. The only bad thing I noticed is that the appointment module has slowed down considerably. I hope it's something that can be fixed soon. The computer at our front desk isn't as fast as the others so this could be a big problem for us. Jorge Bonill...

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