Patient Forms

Dentrix Ascend provides an online portal where patients can complete forms prior to or during their visits.

Requesting patient forms

You can send requests for patient forms to be completed using the following methods:

• Bulk automated appointment reminders - Each appointment reminder that Dentrix Ascend sends out automatically by email and text message can include a button (with email messages) or a link (with text messages) that a patient can use to open the portal where he or she can complete online forms.

• Individual manual request - You can manually send an email or text message with a link to a patient, such as when a patient accidentally deletes the text message for his or her appointment reminder. You can also have a patient complete forms in your office on a mobile device connected to the patient's online portal, such as when a patient shows up at the office without having completed the necessary forms.

Note: The Web address for a patient's online portal is unique to a given patient. Each patient must open the online portal using the link (or button) that is specific to his or her record.

To send bulk requests

As part of your patient communication campaign for appointment reminders, create an Appt confirmed appointment reminder, which is based on the Appointment Confirmed Date event.

An email message will have a button for each related patient on that reminder. A text message will have a link for each related patient on that reminder.

To request patient forms manually

1. Do one of the following:

   • On a patient's Overview page, the Patient Forms box displays the patient forms that have been completed and those that are due. Click (or tap) Request Forms.

     

   • While viewing a patient's appointment, position your pointer over (or tap) Forms. The pop-up box that appears displays the patient forms that have been completed and those that are due. Click (or tap) a form that has a Received status.

     

   The Request Forms dialog box appears.

   

2. Do one of the following:

   • To send the portal link to a mobile phone number, select the desired number from the list, and then click (or tap) Text Link. This button is available only if the patient has a mobile phone number entered in his or her record. The mobile phone numbers of the patient and his or her primary contact are available for selection.

   • To send the portal link to an email address, select the desired address from the list, and then click (or tap) Email Link. This button is available only if the patient has an email address entered in his or her record. The email addresses of the patient and his or her primary contact are available for selection.

   • To copy the portal link to the Window Clipboard, click (or tap) Copy Link. You can then paste the link in a document or email message for the patient.

     Tip: To open the patient's portal on another tab of your Web browser (for instance, if you are opening it on a practice-owned mobile device that the patient can use to complete forms in the office; be sure to close any other Dentrix Ascend tabs before giving the device to the patient), you can click (or tap) the Click here to access forms link.

   • To open the patient's portal on a practice-owned mobile device, using a QR code, do the following:

     1. Either print the QR code by clicking (or tapping) Print QR Code, or leave the QR code on-screen.

     2. Using the Web browser on a practice-owned mobile device, navigate to https://bookit.dentrixascend.com/v1/view/kiosk/dashboard.html.

        

     3. Point the mobile device's camera at the QR code (printed or on-screen), and then click (or tap) SCAN.

     Important:

     • Since using a mobile device to scan a QR Code to open a patient's portal registers that mobile device with Dentrix Ascend, you should use a mobile device that is owned by your practice.

     • Using a QR code requires that your mobile device meet the following specifications: for an Apple device, iOS 11 and the Safari browser; or for an Android device, Android 4 or newer and the Chrome browser.

Completing patient forms

Patients can complete forms online prior to or during their visits. The patient can open the online portal from his or her appointment reminder by using the button (with email messages) or link (with text messages) provided. You can also open the patient's portal on a practice-owned mobile device.

Note: The Web address for a patient's online portal is unique to a given patient. Each patient must open the online portal using the link (or button) that is specific to his or her record.

To complete a patient form (patient does this)

1. To sign in, the patient enters his or her Last Name and Date of birth and then clicks (or taps) SIGN IN.

   

   If this is the first time that the patient has used the portal, the Terms of use appears. Otherwise the patient skips step 2.

   

2. The patient reads the terms of use, selects the I agree with these terms check box, and then clicks (or taps) SAVE.

   Note: To proceed, the patient must agree to the terms of use.

   The completed forms and the forms to be completed appear.

   

3. To start the first available form, the patient clicks (or taps) GET STARTED.

   Note: The patient can click (or tap) any form to view and then start it.

   

   For a consent form, the patient can sign his or her name using a mouse or a finger (on touch-enabled devices only).

   

4. The patient fills in the appropriate information.

   If the form has multiple sections, as the patient completes a section, he or she must click (or tap) Next to navigate to the next section until the last section is reached.

   

5. The patient clicks (or taps) SAVE.

   Note: To close the form, the patient can click (or tap) FINISH LATER. However, if the patient signs out of the portal, any unsaved information will be lost.

6. When the patient completes and saves a form, the next one starts automatically. The patient repeats steps 4 - 5 as needed for each form.

   A message appears when all forms are complete.

   

7. The patient clicks (or taps) Sign out.

Viewing completed patient forms

Dentrix Ascend automatically saves each completed patient form to the corresponding patient's Document Manager. You can view that document (which is an .html file) in your Web browser as needed.

To view completed patient forms

1. Do one of the following:

   • On a patient's Overview page, the Patient Forms box displays the patient forms that have been completed and those that are due. Click (or tap) a form that has a Received status.

     

   • While viewing a patient's appointment, position your pointer over (or tap) Forms. The pop-up box that appears displays the patient forms that have been completed and those that are due. Click (or tap) a form that has a Received status.

     

   • While viewing a patient's appointment, position your pointer over (or tap) Forms. The pop-up box that appears displays the patient forms that have been completed and those that are due. Click (or tap) See all Forms to open the patient's Document Manager page. Then, click (or tap) a document that has a Forms tag.

     

     

   • On a patient's Document Manager page, click (or tap) a document that has a Forms tag.

     

   The completed form appears on a new tab of your Web browser.

   

2. If the patient has completed a form previously, a slider appears at the top. The Current form is displayed by default. Any changes since the previous form was completed appear in blue text. Move the slider to the left to see the information from the Previous form.

3. When you are finished viewing the information, printing the information using browser's print functionality, and/or using the information to update or verify information in the patient's record, close the browser tab.

Activating patient forms

You can activate a questionnaire or a consent form as needed. Activating a form makes it available for all patients to complete online. Questionnaires come pre-defined, so the fields that are available and the names of fields on forms cannot be edited. You can customize the text of consent forms.

Notes:

• Each questionnaire, including its activation status, is organization specific.

• Each consent form, including its activation status, is location specific.

To activate a patient form

1. On a location's Patient Forms page, under Questionnaires or Consent Forms, select an inactive form (the name will be in gray text to indicate that it is inactive).

   The options for the form become available.

   

2. Set the Active switch to On.

   

3. From the Form Expiration list, select how long after a patient completes this form that the form will expire and need to be completed again.

4. Click (or tap) Save.

Changing the expiration date of a patient form

You can change the expiration date of a questionnaire or a consent form as needed. This will affect the due date of the form for all patients.

Notes:

• Each questionnaire, including its expiration date, is organization specific.

• Each consent form, including its expiration date, is location specific.

To change the expiration date of a patient form

1. On a location's Patient Forms page, under Questionnaires or Consent Forms, select a form (active or inactive).

   The options for the form become available.

   

2. From the Form Expiration list, select how long after a patient completes this form that the form will expire and need to be completed again.

3. Click (or tap) Save.

Customizing consent forms

A consent form is a patient form that includes statements patients read and a check box patients can select if they agree with the statements. You can customize and activate up to five consent forms per location in your organization. Three of the five are blank by default. Activating a form makes it available for all patients to complete online.

Note: Each consent form, including its activation status, is location specific.

To customize a consent form

1. On the a location's Patient Forms page, under Consent Forms, select a consent form (active or inactive).

   The options for the form become available.

   

2. Set up the following options:

   • Form Expiration - Select how long after a patient completes this form that the form will expire and need to be completed again.

   • English consent form title - Type a title for the English version of this consent form.

   • English consent form text - Type statements that you want patients to read for the English version of this consent form. The text must be at least 20 characters long and cannot be more than 100,000 characters long. When viewing the form online, patients will be provided with a check box to select if they agree.

   • Spanish consent form title - If you want to make a Spanish version of this consent form available to Spanish-speaking patients, type a title for it.

   • Spanish consent form text - If a Spanish title has been specified, the Spanish form text is required. Type statements that you want patients to read for the Spanish version of this consent form. The text must be at least 20 characters long (if a title is specified) and cannot be more than 100,000 characters long. When viewing the form online, patients will be provided with a check box to select if they agree.

   Notes:

   • Patients whose records do not have Spanish as their preferred language will see the English version. Patients whose records have Spanish as their preferred language will see the Spanish version if the Spanish title and text have been specified; otherwise, they will see the English version.

   • To return any box's text to the system default, click (or tap) the corresponding Reset to default link.

3. If you want to make this form available to all patients, and the form is not already active, set the Active switch to On.

   

4. Click (or tap) Save.

Enabling patient forms

If you want to allow patients to complete questionnaires (such as demographic and insurance information forms) and consent forms (such as financial policy and consent for treatment forms) online, you can enable the patient forms feature.

Important: Do not turn this feature on until after you have activated the patient forms that you want to use, customized any consent forms that you want to use, and inactivated the patient forms that you do not want to use.

To enable patient forms

On a location's Patient Forms page, set the Patient Forms switch (at the top) to On.

Disabling patient forms

If you no longer want to allow patients to complete patient forms online, you can disable the patient forms feature. Disabling patient forms does not affect the records of patients who have completed any forms previously.

To disable patient forms

On a location's Patient Forms page, set the Patient Forms switch (at the top) to Off.

Expiring patient forms

You can expire a questionnaire as needed. Expiring a questionnaire resets the due date of the form to the current date for all patients, regardless of what the expiration date was before it was reset. So, any patients who completed the form previously must complete it again.

Note: The expiring of a questionnaire is organization specific.

To expire a patient form

1. On a location's Patient Forms page, under Questionnaires, select an active form (the name will be in black text to indicate that it is active).

   The options for the form become available.

   

2. Select the Expire all previous patient form submissions check box.

3. Click (or tap) Save.

Inactivating patient forms

You can inactivate a questionnaire or a consent form that you no longer want to use. Inactivating a form does not affect the records of patients who have completed this form previously. When you inactivate a form, it will no longer be available to patients.

Notes:

• Each questionnaire, including its activation status, is organization specific.

• Each consent form, including its activation status, is location specific.

To inactivate a patient form

1. On a location's Patient Forms page, under Questionnaires or Consent Forms, select an active form (the name will be in black text to indicate that it is active).

   The options for the form become available.

   

2. Set the Active switch to Off.

   

3. Click (or tap) Save.

Previewing patient form templates

You can quickly see what an active questionnaire looks like to patients.

To preview a patient form template

1. On a location's Patient Forms page, under Questionnaires, select a patient form: Patient Demographic Information, Insurance Information, Dental History, or Health History.

   The options for the form become available.

   

2. Scroll the Example value list as needed to see all the questions on the form.