May 15, 2019

There’s something nerve-racking about dead air. Sitting on the phone with a patient while you page through the Calendar looking for an opening on a Wednesday in the afternoon with their favorite provider can shoot your anxiety level through the roof. Isn’t there any easier way? This is Dentrix Ascend. Of course there is! You just need the Search for Openings tool.

How to:

1. Do one of the following to open the Search for Openings page:

• From the Schedule menu, click Search for Openings.

• If you are already in the Calendar, under the Actions menu, click Search for Openings.

• If you are in the patient’s Appointments page, click Search for Openings.

2. Set up the filters to help you create your openings list.

Patient Search – The name of the patient whose record you last accessed appears by default. To clear a patient’s name from the field, click the Remove button (X) next to his or her name. To select a different patient’s name, begin typing in the field to view a list of matches; continue typing to narrow the results, and then click the appropriate name.

Which Day of the Week – The Mon thru Fri (Monday through Friday) check boxes are selected by default. Select the Any day check box to include all days of the week in your search. Select or clear the check box of any day of the week that you want to include in or exclude from the search. Open times only for the specified days will appear in the results list.

Appointment Duration – The 1 Hour option is selected by default. Click the dropdown to select the length of time required for the appointment that you want to schedule. You can choose a length from 15 minutes to 3 hours, in 15 minute increments. Open times that are of the specified length will appear in the results list.

Time Range – Any time is selected by default to include all times of the day in your search. Select or clear the check box of any time range (Early Morning, Morning, Early Afternoon, and Late Afternoon) that you want to include in or exclude from the search. Open times within only the specified time ranges will appear in the results list.

Which Appointment Providers – All is selected by default to include all providers in your search. Select or clear the check box of any provider who you want to include in or exclude from the search. Open times for only the specified providers (according to their working hours) will appear in the results list.

Which Operatories – All is selected by default to include all operatories in your search. Select or clear the check box of any operatory that you want to include in or exclude from the search. Open times for only the specified operatories will appear in the results list.

3. Click Search. The first 10 results that match the specified criteria appear. As needed, sort the list by date, time, provider, or operatory by clicking the appropriate header.

4. Offer the patient an appointment time from the list. When they agree to the choice, click the corresponding Time hyperlink (blue text). The Calendar page opens to the selected date and time. Schedule the appointment as usual.

Additional Information

• If a patient has Preferred Appointment Day/Time selections in their Preferences tab, those choices will automatically populate the corresponding Search for Openings filters when the patient is selected.
• To see more results in the list, click Show Next 10 Items to move to the next page.
• To learn more, read Searching for available appointment times.