Besides documenting phone contacts with your patients, you can use the Office Journal to set reminders and use them to create a basic to-do list.
Updated 10/29/21
If you have been following my posts for a while, you know how much I use the Office Journal for documenting phone conversations with patients about continuing care follow-up, unscheduled treatment management, and collection calls. Now I want to show you how to take the Office Journal to a whole new level.
How many of you have a desk covered with sticky notes or a big desk calendar with all of your reminders to follow up with patients? What if I could help you eliminate all those pesky pieces of paper by showing you how to use the Office Journal to organize your daily tasks?
You likely already know that the Dentrix database tracks each patient’s appointments, billing statements, letters, payments, journal entries, privacy requests, and so on. But, did you know that Dentrix also tracks the journal entries of each provider and staff member in your system? If you haven’t already done so, create a provider or staff ID for yourself. From the Office Manager, click Maintenance, point to Practice Setup, and then click Practice Resource Setup.
From the dialog box, click New and create a provider or staff ID.
From the Office Manager toolbar, click Office Journal. The Office Journal opens and the Select Provider/Staff dialog box appears.
Select your ID from the list. Dentrix opens your Office Journal. If you have been using the Office Journal to document your phone conversations, you will see several blue telephone icons in chronological order next to each patient’s name; otherwise, the journal will be blank.
Besides documenting phone contacts with your patients, you can use the Office Journal to set reminders and use them to create a basic to-do list. To set a reminder, from the View menu, click By Patient. From the Select Patient dialog box, select the patient you want to set a reminder for. From the Edit menu, click Add. From the Add Journal Entry dialog box, select Reminder from the Type list.
Click the Prov/Staff search button and select your ID from the Select Provider/Staff dialog box. Type a description of the reminder and a note, and then click OK. From the View menu, click By Provider/Staff, select your ID from the Select Provider/Staff dialog box, and click OK. The reminder appears in the Office Journal.
I have one other feature to show you that makes it even easier for you to enjoy the benefits of the Office Journal. From the Maintenance menu in the Office Manager, point to Practice Setup, and then click Preferences. From the General Options tab, select Automatically Launch Office Journal under Startup Options.
Now, every time you open Dentrix, the Office Journal will open with your to-do list. Say goodbye to chaos and hello to organization.
Learn More
To learn more about using the Office Journal, see the various topics listed under Office Journal in Dentrix Help.
By Dayna Johnson, Certified Dentrix Trainer
Dayna loves her work. She has over 25 years of experience in the dental industry, and she’s passionate about building efficient, consistent, and secure practice management systems. Dayna knows that your entire day revolves around your practice management software—the better you learn to use it, the more productive and stress-free your office will be. In 2016, Dayna founded Novonee ™, The Premier Dentrix Community, to help cultivate Dentrix super-users all over the country. Learn more from Dayna at www.novonee.com and contact Dayna at dayna@novonee.com.
