The following enhancements are available in this version of the Scheduler:
Preferred Contact
Many patients have more than one phone number and an email address in the patient record. When one number has been designated as the preferred contact method, it is highlighted in bold italics in the Scheduler to make it easier to locate with a glance. If the email address is the preferred contact, it is highlighted as an active link you can use to begin an email to the patient.
The preferred contact is highlighted in the following places:
Flyout panel
Search results
Lists: Confirmation, Pending, Short Call
Appointment Card
You can also configure your Overlay to display the preferred contact on the appointment tile. Select Settings > Configure Overlays, and select Preferred Phone from the Overlay Designer.
If email is the preferred contact type, it displays on the flyout, but not on the appointment tile. The appointment tile displays the phone number that was previously designated as the preferred contact. If no phone number is designated as preferred, the tile displays the cell number, home number, or work number, as available.
For more information, see Managing Appointments.
Hot Keys
A list of keyboard shortcuts has been added to help you navigate and perform functions with just a few keystrokes. To display the list, click the Help (?) button in the upper-right and select Hot Keys.
The Hot Keys window contains two sets of shortcuts: Main View and Appointment Card. Click each heading to expand or close the list of short cuts you want to see.
For more information, see Navigating the Scheduler.
Appointment Tile Enhancements
The appointment tiles have been enhanced to display more detail when hovering your mouse over a tile. Times now appear outside the tiles, and a tile expands briefly to display the full name and appointment information when column space is limited.
For more information, see Managing Appointments.
Training Tab
The Training tab now contains an extended list of informative training videos you can access to help you get going with the Scheduler. The videos are grouped by workflow for general topics, and by features that are new in this release. The software remembers what videos you have accessed. There are also links to online classes and other resources, as well as a search feature for accessing Help topics.
The Training tab is displayed at the top of the Scheduler window. You can close the tab by placing your mouse over the top and clicking the X. To re-display this tab, click the Help (?) button in the upper-right and select Training. If there is new content a user has not seen, the tab re-displays automatically.
Schedule Planning Tab
Use the new Schedule Planning tab to set up schedules, including default office hours and holidays for locations; and to view production goal progress, as well as working and non-working hours for providers. You can also define templates for temporary schedules and ideal-day color coding for different types of procedures.
For more information, see Schedule Planning.
Global Custom Views
You can now create global custom views that can be adopted as needed by different users in your practice. This enables users in a large practice to select the views they need without having to create them.
For more information, see Creating Global Custom Views.
Provider Working Time Overlay
An overlay has been added to the top of the day view to enable you to view the working hours for providers in each chair.
For more information on overlays, see Using the Overlays.
Customized Overlays
The Overlays provide a quick way to highlight and focus in on the information you need about the appointments on the Scheduler. Now you can use the Overlay Designer to customize exactly what is displayed with the Admin and Clinical overlays, as well as a new personal Default overlay.
For more information, see Configuring the Overlays.
Production Goals
The Production Goal functionality has been enhanced with a more user-friendly interface. When the Production Goal overlay is selected, you can view progress toward goals for both location and provider. The functionality is also on the Schedule Planning tab.
For more information, see Managing Appointments, Schedule Planning and Defining Production Goals.
Enhanced Day Notes
The functionality of day notes has been enhanced, so that they now display in a yellow bar over the day view, with the option to hide or re-display them as needed. You can also set them for a specific time, as well as for the entire day.
For more information, see Using Notes and Messages.
Enhanced Appointment Notes
When you enter a note on an appointment card, you can now flag the note to be displayed at check-in or check-out.
For more information, see Using the Appointment Card.
Image Viewing
An Images panel has been added to enable you to view recent images associated with the patient. You can access this panel from the View Images link on the appointment tile flyout panel, and from the Images panel on the appointment card.
For more information, see Using the Appointment Card.
Pending Appointments
A patient's pending appointments are displayed in the patient search results and on any appointment card for the patient. You can now use the appointment card to grab procedures from pending appointments and add them to other existing or new appointments.
For more information, see Using the Appointment Card.
New Patient Activation
In addition to adding new patients from the Scheduler, you can now launch the process of activating the patient in your practice management software.
For more information, see Adding a New Patient.
Recare
The software now provides additional measures to prevent you from scheduling a recare appointment before the date allowed by the patient's insurance coverage.
For more information, see Managing Patient Recare.
Routing Slips
You can now print routing slips while in the Scheduler.
For more information, see Printing Routing Slips.
Enhanced Printing Options
The Print Scheduler function provides more layout and print options, as well as the ability to use the options on your operating system's Print window.
For more information, see Printing the Schedule.