Using Transaction Codes vs. Pre-Defined Appointments

To determine whether to set up Lab Tracking at the transaction code level or the pre-defined appointment level, evaluate how many labs you use and in what circumstances, since part of the Lab Tracking function is indicating which lab was used for a particular order.

You can set up Lab Tracking in two ways:

Tracking with pre-defined appointment typesTracking with pre-defined appointment types If you send all crowns to one lab, regardless of the type of material, you might set up a pre-defined appointment type called “Crown Delivery” and enable Lab Tracking with the appropriate lab selected. Each time you make a Crown Delivery appointment, the correct lab is selected automatically.
If you send all porcelain crowns to one lab and all other crowns to a different lab, you might set up two pre-defined appointment types; “Crown delivery - porcelain” and “Crown delivery - other,” with the appropriate lab indicated on each one.
Tracking with transaction codesTracking with transaction codes You can accomplish the same result by creating two different transaction codes, one for delivery of porcelain crowns and one for delivery of all other crowns, and set up the Lab Tracking on each of them, with the appropriate lab indicated.

The transaction code method is more precise because you can define a greater number and variety of transaction codes than appointment types. However, it takes more time to set up the transaction codes. You can use either method or both, depending on the needs of your practice.

Lab Tracking is associated with the delivery appointment instead of the prep appointment.