How to track new patients with manual conversion

If you have decided to enter your existing patients into Dentrix Ascend, rather than choosing to go through an automated conversion process, then it can look like all your patients are new!  This can be a problem when you need to track your new patients and calculate your marketing return on investment. Plus, in the long run, it will throw off your patient retention data as well.  

Dentrix Ascend sets the first visit date for a patient based on when the first appointment is marked complete or when the first procedure is entered into the ledger.  And, then we can use the pre-built New Patients Seen report to identify these new patients.  

In the case of a manual conversion, we can change our workflow to allow for correct report data.  

Step 1:  Enter your patient information as usual  - look in your legacy software to find the original first visit date for your patient.  

Step 2 – Option A: Go into the Dentrix Ascend ledger and post a back-dated procedure. You could use a NP comp exam for example and use the original first visit date for your patient. Next, after this procedure has posted (and is saved), then go ahead and delete this procedure.  

This workflow assumes that you have your transaction locking open in the past so that you can back date a ledger entry. If you do not want to leave your transaction locking open in this manner, then you may want to use Step 2 – Option B. 

Step 2 – Option B: Go to the patient overview and create a back dated appointment. You do not have to enter a procedure – you can simply type “new” in the reason box, select the original first visit date for your patient and then save. The system will ask you if you want to create an appointment in the past:

Next, you’ll click on that appointment and set it complete – again the system will ask you if you want to edit an appointment in the past:  

Now, you can confirm the patient’s first visit date by clicking into Patient information – Basic information and looking at the first visit date. It should match the date of your appointment in the past.  

Step 3: To find your new patients – Use the pre-built New Patients Seen power report.