Open Dental Forum

Hi

OD creates a new patient number whenever you attempt to create a new patient. Even if you click on Cancel, the patNum key is incremented and the next patient you create will have the next patnum.

for example; the latest patnum is 20, you open a new patient form by mistake and click cancel, the patnum is set to 21. the next active patient you create will have patnum = 22

Practically, you have just lost a number.

Here is another scenario:

Sometimes, a patient calls for the fist time, a new record is created for him/her with a new patnum,however, the patient does not show up. In this case you also loose on patnum.

This will have a negative impact on those who keep a printed file for each patient depending on patnum (patient number).

The question/Proposed solution:

Can we allocate temp numbers for potential patients, a new patNum is allocated to the patient only when a treatment plan or a treatment is marked done for him.
OR
can we re-use a patnum for deleted patient with no treatment of charges?

Kindly advise

Don't get hung up on the patient number. It's nothing but a random identifier. If you want a patient count using some set of criteria, that's what reports and queries are for. Shouldn't printed files be organized by last name rather than number? What is the advantage of organizing by number?