🚨 Important: Managing and submitting Complex Care Pathways is not yet available in Dentally, but will be supported in line with the NHS release. NHSBSA have currently estimated June 2026 for release.
How do I mark a treatment plan as a Complex Care Pathway?
Open your treatment plan.
Click the arrow dropdown to the right of the treatment plan number (the blue tab above the treatment plan).
In the dropdown list that opens, click 'Set as Complex Care Pathway'.
Choose from:
Pathway 1 (6-month treatment)
Pathway 2 (12-month treatment)
Pathway 3 (6-month pathway)
Click 'Confirm pathway'.
The treatment plan will now be marked as a draft Complex Care Pathway. While it is in draft, you can amend the pathway.
The initial claim should be submitted from the treatment plan. Once the initial claim has been submitted, and the patient is therefore actively engaging with the pathway, it will change from 'Draft' to 'Active'. At this point, the pathway cannot be changed or removed.
💡 Top tip: The status will adjust if the pathway is suspended or abandoned, with the pathway banner in the treatment plan changing to yellow and showing the suspension details.
The status on the right-hand side will indicate whether the claim is eligible to submit now or in the next calendar month. From here, you can submit the claim as you would any other claim, but only one claim can be submitted per calendar month per patient - if claiming is not possible, this will be indicated.
Once all claims are submitted, the status will reflect this.
How do I suspend or abandon a Complex Care Pathway?
If a patient has stopped engaging with the pathway, you may wish to suspend it.
Submit the claim as if you normally would.
In the Complex Care Pathway section, change the 'Pathway status' field to 'Suspended'.
Select the reason from the dropdown that appears.
Complete the rest of the claim submission as normal.
This will then update the pathway details in the treatment plan to indicate that the pathway has been suspended. It will indicate how long the suspension will last (3 months from when the patient received the last course of treatment).
After that time has elapsed, the pathway will automatically update to 'Abandoned'.
How do I edit or remove a Complex Care Pathway?
Open your treatment plan.
Click the arrow dropdown to the right of the treatment plan number (the blue tab above the treatment plan).
In the dropdown list that opens, click 'Edit Complex Care Pathway'.
From here, you can change and confirm the pathway, or click 'Remove pathway'. This changes the treatment plan back to normal and removes the pathway details from it.
How do I view, manage and submit claims for Complex Care Pathways?
Navigate to your reports and select 'Complex Care Pathways'.
This report will show all existing pathways, along with their details and statuses.
📝 Please note: Level 2 users will see all their own pathways, and can complete bulk actions on any of them. Level 3-4 users will see all pathways for the practice, but can only complete actions on their own pathways.
The report displays:
Next submission - The next available stage of the pathway which is currently, or will soon be, ready to submit.
Treatment plan - Can be clicked to open the plan in a new tab.
Patient - Can be clicked to open the plan in a new tab.
NHS ID
Practitioner and location details
Status - Indicates if it is in draft, active, suspended or abandoned.
Last submission date
Payment expected - The total payment for the pathway
NHS comments - For returned claims.
Warnings
You can filter by pathway type and status.
The report shows all applicable claims. Submitting claims can be done in two ways.
Claims submitted for Complex Care Pathways can be seen in the 'NHS Claims' report as normal, along with their associated UDAs.
🚨 Important: Initial and final claims must be submitted from the chart.
Interim claims can be done either in the treatment plan as normal, or from the 'Complex Care Pathways' report. The latter may be easier if you want to send all claims in bulk once per calendar month.
To submit a claim from the treatment plan:
Follow the normal steps to begin a submission.
In the claim form, the pathway status field will default to 'Active'.
Otherwise it is identical to a normal claim submission - complete and submit the rest of the claim form as you normally would.
This is also where you can suspend pathways if needed.
To submit an interim claim from the report:
Navigate to your reports and select 'Complex Care Pathways'.
Use the tickbox next to each claim to select any which you wish to submit.
If the tickbox is greyed out and not clickable, it means either:
The pathway is active/there are still claims to submit but they can't be submitted until the next calendar month.
The next claim in the pathway is initial or final, which can't be submitted from the report and must be done from the treatment plan following the steps above.
Click 'Submit claim' (a number will be displayed showing how many you have selected, if more than 1).
If additional declarations are required (eg. if the patient has a concurrent band 3 course of treatment), you will be prompted to review these carefully before submitting. By clicking 'Submit', you are confirming you have reviewed and agreed to the additional declarations highlighted.
🚨 Important: Only interim claims can be submitted this way. Initial and final claims, which activate and complete the pathway respectively, can only be submitted from the patient record.