December 19, 2018

Assignment of a primary provider to a patient record is optional. Have you ever wondered why Dentrix Ascend includes it? The simple answer: it’s all about speed. Configure it once; use it in many places as a default. If in fact the provider assigned will be the provider selected when making appointments, working in the chart or the ledger, taking images, and so on, setting this field means you never have to go searching for this patient’s primary provider, and you never mistakenly assign someone else.

Where the Primary Provider Gets Assigned:

Assign a primary provider—you may also consider him or her as the “preferred provider” if that’s how you run things in your practice—in the Basic Info tab of the Patient Information page.

Where the Primary Provider Gets Used:

• In the Calendar, the primary provider gets selected automatically as the Appointment Provider when you create a new appointment. You can of course change this as needed, for example if the preferred provider is not available that day.

• In the Ledger, the primary provider gets selected automatically as the provider when you add a procedure or a charge adjustment.

• In the Chart and in Quick Exam, the primary provider gets selected automatically as the provider for any treatment-planned, completed, or existing procedure or condition, and that provider later appears as the provider in any Progress Notes or Treatment Plan cases.

• The primary provider is automatically selected as the Clinical Notes provider.

• The primary provide is also the default selection for a new Perio Exam.

• If you use the Imaging module, when you acquire or import images the primary provider is the default provider selection.

• And finally, when you create patient Letters (or postcards), the primary provider appears as the sender. (If no primary provider is assigned, the letter uses the location name.)

NOTE: When you do not assign a primary provider to a patient, the provider with the first short name (e.g., DDS1) alphabetically will be the default provider in all the places listed above.

Additional Information

• Appointment colors in the Calendar are based on the appointment provider and will change when you switch from the primary provider to another provider.
• Setting a primary provider has no direct effect on Power Reporting.
• To see a list of patients to whom a provider is assigned as the primary provider, open the provider’s User Account Information page (access rights required). In the Provider Info tab there is a shaded area with the sentence, “This provider is set as the primary provider for: X patient(s).” Click the portion of the text that is a blue link to see the list of patients.
• Setting a primary provider for the patient has no effect on your insurance billing provider configuration.