How Andre Uses Appointment Types in Eaglesoft.
I have always used the KISS (Keep it So Simple) approach to Appointment Types in Eaglesoft.
Tip: In the Appointment Type name field I recommend that you put a “D” before the Dentist’s procedures and a “H” before the Hygienist’s procedures, so the Appointment Types are alphabetically grouped together in the drop-down list.
When setting up the three Restorative (Low, Medium and High) Appointment Types, I typically ask the Clinical Crew the time it takes (typically) to do one “filling”. Whatever time that is we use for the Restore 1 Low. For a Crown, I recommend you use for Restore 2 Medium and for a 3-unit bridge we use for Restore 3 High. Appointment types are a VERY personal decision, but we have found that they fewer choices the more focused we can be on goal setting and strategic scheduling.
My basic “rule of thumb” is: The darker the green the more money I make. The darker the yellow the more "plaque" (Child vs Adult). New Patients are "Gold". The more we work on gums the darker the "pink" (Perio Maintenance vs SRP). Pink in Doctors’ chairs is surgical. Over the years I have worked with a few color-blind Dentists (about 8% of all men are suffering from color blindness and it more frequent in men than women). The subtle shade of the same color palate helped them. See what an Art Degree does for me in dentistry LOL.
You will NOT be able to delete Appointment Types you have already created because Patients are already connected to them for the future or historically. You “can” edit existing Appointment Types understanding that ALL Patient Appointment’s Attached will Update. Changing the Appointment Types will NOT affect the existing scheduled times of current Appointments. Only future. Changing the Appointment Types will change the "color" (if you changed THAT) and description.
Example: If you have an Appointment Type “Recall” and you Rename is “H-Recall 60 Mins” the Appointment Type will be updated. If you have an Appointment Type “Zoom Whitening” and you Rename it “Sealants” All the Patients Attached to that old Appointment Type will be updated. It may or may not be an issue for old scheduled appointments but please consider the impact to patients scheduled in the future.
If you have Appointment Types that you want to no longer use, I suggest that you rename them "Z-DO NOT USE" and they go to the bottom of the list. Change the Color of the Appointment Type to Black and Font Red. Sorry that I can't get them to “go away”.
Currently, there isn't a "report" that would print the colors you have chosen. If you need a “cheat sheet:, you could print screen shots by going to List>OnSchedule>Appointment Types. THEN by the Windows Clock, right click the blue "paper click" icon and print the screen, scroll through the rest of Appointment Types and print again.
DISCLAIMER:
This is a resource guide and all decisions on each dental office setup should remain the sole decision of the dentist/owner of the practice. Eaglesoft is a registered trademark of Patterson Dental Company. All other software or products mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Although Andre Shirdan was an employee of Patterson Dental, he is not associated with Eaglesoft or Patterson Dental Company or endorsed by Patterson or any other Company Mentioned in this blog
