Using the OrthoTrac Patient Flow Module > Working with the OrthoTrac Patient Flow Module > Setting Up Patient Flow Staff Displays
If your office uses the Staff - Text-Based display option, staff members see a row of destination icons, a grid of patients and their locations, and the light bar, if enabled.
The light bar can be disabled on individual machines by selecting the Do not display light bar on this workstation option on the Light Bar Options tab of the Patient Flow Setup and Maintenance window.
The row of icons at the top of the window indicates the destinations to which you can move a patient from this workstation. Click here to view the available patient flow destinations.
You do not have to use all destinations. Your office practices determine the destinations in your patient flow setup.
If a destination icon is displayed in the window, you can move any patient to that destination. When a patient is moved to a new location, the patient may no longer be visible on your screen, depending on the display setup you selected on the Locations tab of the Patient Flow Setup and Maintenance window. See Locations for more information.
If you have enabled the New Patient Alert feature, a tone plays when a patient scheduled for a New Patient appointment type is moved from “Not Here” to another location in the Patient Flow window. See General Options for more information.
Depending on the selections you made on the Grid Setup tab of the Patient Flow Setup and Maintenance window, some or all of the following informationfollowing information about your patients for the day can be displayed:
Patient Name — Name of the patient.
Location — Patient’s current location in the office.
Here — Number of minutes at the current location.
Appt Type/Procedure Type — Type of appointment or procedure.
Ch — Assigned chair.
Appt Tm — Scheduled appointment time.
Check In — Patient’s check-in time.
Status — Indicates if the patient is early, late, or a no-show.
Total — Total time spent in the office.
Doctor — Name of the doctor.
Assistant — Name of the assistant.
Click once on a heading to sort the list of patients by that heading type. For example, to sort the list by appointment time, click the Apt Tm header. Click the header twice to return to the original sort method. A small arrow next to the heading indicates the method currently used to sort the list.
Each patient is color-coded according to location (as set in the Patient Flow Setup and Maintenance window).
If you have enabled the Warning Information System, the Location and Status columns flash if either the patient or staff has broken the time constraints set up in the General Options tab of the Patient Flow Setup and Maintenance window.
The Location column flashes if the office has broken the time constraints. ExampleExample
“Lobby” is flashing in the Location column. The patient has been waiting in the Lobby for 30 minutes, and your office time constraints are set so that the office is considered behind if a scheduled patient has to wait more than 15 minutes.
The “Not Here” location does not flash.
The Status column flashes if the patient has broken the time constraints. ExampleExample
“Late” is flashing in the Status column. The patient is 25 minutes late for an appointment, and your patient time constraints are set so that a patient is considered late if he arrives more than 15 minutes after the scheduled appointment time.
See General Options for information on setting up time constraints and the Warning Information System.
An asterisk (*) beside the patient name indicates that the patient has a patient comment attached to his check-in record. Patient comments display on the Patient Flow Name Verification window as Special Instructions.
A plus sign (+) beside the patient name indicates that the patient has a staff comment attached to his check-in record.
An @ symbol beside the patient name indicates that the patient has a check-in message attached to his chart and must be checked in manually.
Comments can be changed and viewed in the Change Patient’s Location window. See Changing Patient Location for more information.
These command buttons at the bottom of the window enable you to customize the patient flow display:
If you configured patient flow to display only patients within a specified time limit (for example, 60 minutes), click Earlier Appts to display all patients who had appointments more than 60 minutes ago.
Click to display the Patient Flow Setup and Maintenance window, which enables you to change any of the patient flow settings.
Click to add a patient to patient flow.
Click to close patient flow and return to the main menu.
If you configured patient flow to display only patients within a specified time limit (for example, 60 minutes), click Later Appts to display all patients who have appointments more than 60 minutes from the current time.
Right-clicking on a patient’s name opens a menu with the following options: Change Location, Change Comments, Charting, Orthodontic Imaging, Patient Checkout, Open Patient Chart, Execute Questionnaire, or Cancel.
The Patient Checkout and Execute Questionnaire options are not available when using the patient flow module from the point-of-care module.
You must have purchased the additional modules to open them using the right-click menu.