How can I track lab work?
You can use the lab status tool to track lab work, to see if it is sent, received and overdue. This can be managed from within the calendar. This allows you to keep track of the lab status at a glance - for example, you can see if the labs for an upcoming appointment have not yet been received.
You can enable and disable lab tracking - only permission level 4 can do this. It is on by default, but to turn on lab status tracking:
Go to 'Settings' and select 'Practice'.
Under the 'Lab Work' tab, use the toggle to turn the feature on or off.
Once you have enabled the feature, anyone in your team can update the status of lab work. To do this:
Open the relevant appointment in the calendar, or create a new one.
Go to the 'Lab work' field, and open the dropdown.
From here you can select a status (the default selection is 'None required').
'Sent' - If a patient requires lab work (such as a denture), the mould is sent to the lab, and the team member schedules the fitting appointment and marks the lab status of this fitting appointment as 'Sent'.
'Received' - Once the practice has received the lab work, they would mark the upcoming fitting appointment's lab status as 'Received', to indicate to the team that the appointment is ok to go ahead.
'Overdue' - Receptionists and nurses typically check the status of lab work 1–2 days before the fitting appointment. If the lab work has not arrived, they should mark the appointment's lab status as 'Overdue' to help the team identify next steps (such as following up with the lab, and/or contacting the patient to reschedule the appointment).
Select the appropriate status, and click 'Save' on the appointment.
You can also do this by right-clicking an existing appointment and selecting from the dropdown.
A coloured beaker 🧪 will appear on the appointment, indicating its lab status. The colour will depend on the status selected - 'Sent' (amber), 'Received' (green) or 'Overdue' (red).
💡 Top tip: Managing and editing lab status in the calendar is available to all user permission levels.
When a lab status has been applied to an appointment, it can also be seen
In the appointment card which is displayed when you hover over the patient's name on the calendar appointment - displaying the upcoming appointment date, and the coloured lab status badge.
In the 'Lab Work' column on the far-right of the 'Appointments' report - if the patient has a lab status, it will be displayed here with a coloured badge. There is also a 'Lab Work' filter on the report.
