Using the Automation Expert

The Automation Expert enables you to incorporate your business rules into PracticeWorks. You can customize the program to automatically bring important information to your attention, print documents, run external programs, review clinical data, and do more when you want it to.

The following list provides sample business rules that can be automated using the Automation Expert:

All new patients receive a welcome letter prior to their first visit.
All patients having surgery receive printed post-op instructions.
All new patients complete a New Patient Information questionnaire.
At check-in, payment arrangements are made for patients with an account that is 60 days old.
Patients requiring pre-medication are reminded at appointment confirmation.
All patients have their health history updated if it has been longer than one year since the last update.

The Automation Expert is event-driven, meaning it helps you create responses when an event happens. PracticeWorks keeps track of these events and responses for you.

Events are classified into the following categories:

System events
Button events
Procedure code posting events
User-defined form creation events

System Events are events that occur in the normal use of the system, such as:

Checking in an appointment
Creating a treatment plan
Making an appointment
Removing an entry from the ledger
Changing a user’s password
Adding a new patient to the system

Button Events are events triggered by clicking a button, such as:

Person Pick List
Clipboard
Delinquent Account Contact Expert
Recall Contact Expert
Check Out Ledger

Procedure Code Posting Events are events triggered by the posting of transaction codes (procedures) to a patient’s ledger. When these events occur, the Automation Expert determines if the patient meets the criteria you have pre-set and executes the desired response.

Form Creation Events are generated when a user-defined form is added to a patient’s record. You can specify events that should happen when the form is added.