🚨 Important: The visit panel is currently in Beta testing, and is not yet widely available. If you can't see it yet, you will do soon. Want to join the trial? Reach out to Support!
What is the visit management panel?
The visit panel allows you to:
Check patients in and out.
Confirm patients' key details
Ensure patients complete outstanding actions.
View which actions can be done using Concierge, if you have it.
💡 Top tip: The visit management panel can be opened from anywhere in Dentally, and it will open to the right-hand side, on top of your existing page, so your work won't be interrupted. You can easily close and reopen it whenever you need.
How do I access the visit management panel?
📝 Please note: If you have multiple sites, the appointments shown in the visit panel are for the location you have selected, not the site chosen in the calendar. Any appointment copied to clipboard from the panel will be for the site the practitioner is registered at.
The visit side panel is visible to all roles and permission levels. To access it:
Click the arrows icon in the left-hand toolbar, below the 'Recently viewed patients' icon.
The visit panel will appear on the right-hand side of the screen.
The panel displays a list of all patients with an appointment today - if you have multiple sites, the appointments shown are for the location you have selected.
You will see:
The patient’s name.
The practitioner(s) they are booked in to see.
The number of appointments they are booked in for today (the grey calendar badge to the right of the name).
The number of outstanding actions they have (the amber number in the circle). There will always be at least one action to complete - confirming the patient's outstanding balance.
Any patient who has an appointment today will be listed (in chronological order by first appointment time). They will stay in the list for the duration of that day, even if their appointment time has passed or if they did not attend.
From here, you can find a patient by:
Scrolling up and down.
Using the search bar.
💡 Top tip: If a patient has multiple appointments today, only their first appointment will be shown in the list - the number in grey next to their name will indicate that they also have other appointments afterwards.
You can click on a patient's row in the list to open and manage their visit, and complete any actions required. When you hover over their name in the list, you will see 'Manage'.
If you click on a patient, their visit details will open, including:
Their name, date of birth, address and contact details
Account details, including current balance and payment plan/fee schedule (for UK NHS practices, exemptions will also be shown)
Details of today's appointment (here it will highlight if the patient has multiple appointments today), including the time, practitioner, room, reason and status
Outstanding actions that need to be completed.
From here you can mark the patient as arrived, and complete other actions as needed.
To go back to the full list of patients, simply click 'Back' at the bottom. To close the panel completely, click the X in the top corner. You can reopen the panel at any time using the steps above, and it will continue wherever you left off.
💡 Top tip: If you book an appointment for today, the patient will appear in the visit management panel straight away.
What actions are shown in the visit management panel?
When you have opened the visit panel and clicked on a patient to manage their visit, you can view any outstanding actions they need to complete before or after their appointment.
In the 'Today's appointments' section, you can click the appointment status to open a dropdown and select a status from the list - this is an easy way to mark the patient's arrival.
Below the 'Today's appointments' section, you will see the 'Actions' section, with a number in amber next to it, showing how many outstanding actions there are. Under this header, you will see a list of the outstanding action cards.
When you complete an action, it will move to the 'Show/hide completed actions' section, so you can keep track of what has been done. All actions except recall booking will appear in this section when completed.
The actions you may see in the 'Actions' section include:
Medical history needs updating - Ask the patient to complete their medical history - either via a tablet device (if you use Concierge), or via your normal method of collecting medical history.
Contact details are missing - Collect the patient's missing information - either by giving them a tablet device (if you use Concierge), or by clicking 'Update contact details' in the action card, and typing in their details. The wording of this action may vary depending on what details are missing.
Confirm outstanding balance - This prompts you to check their account balance prior to taking payment, to verify whether the balance shown in the panel matches the total in the patient record. There may be instances where the balance in the panel does not match the patient's account balance - if for example the practitioner hasn't put the treatment through yet, or if there is a discrepancy with a deposit. Verify with the patient what treatment they just had before taking payment.
You will see the option to click 'View Account', which will take you through to the 'Account' tab in the patient's record. Please note that this will navigate you away from the Dentally page you were on previously, but the visit side panel will stay open.
Book the patient's next recall appointment - If the patient has a recall date set (either in the past or in the future), the details of their recall will be shown. If the recall date is in the past, you can click 'Book appointment' to proceed with an appointment booking using the new booking finder, or 'Add to clipboard' to add copy the appointment details to your clipboard, so you can book it later. If the patient's recall date is in the future, only 'Add to clipboard' will be visible. The wording and actions shown may vary depending on whether the patient has an assigned dentist/hygienist. Here are a few examples of possible booking messages:
📝 Please note: If a patient logs into Concierge to complete one of these actions, their appointment status will automatically update to 'Arrived'.
Can I use Concierge with the visit side panel?
If you use Concierge, it integrates seamlessly with the visit management side panel. When you are using the visit management panel, you can see which actions can be completed via a tablet device, and can hand the device over to the patient.
📝 Please note: To use Concierge with the visit panel, you will need access to Concierge, and to have your device paired.
When viewing outstanding actions in the visit panel, look for the tablet icon next to the action card - this indicates that the action can be completed on Concierge.
If the action has the Concierge icon (a blue tablet icon), simply hand your Concierge-enabled tablet device to the patient so they can sign in using their date of birth and surname initial. They will be presented with a list of outstanding actions which they can complete on the device, before handing it back to you.
🚨 Important: Using Concierge alongside the visit panel will enhance your patients' experience, but access to Concierge is not essential in order for you to still enjoy the benefits of the visit panel.