How is a patient picked up by the 'Recalls' report?
Recalls are generated weekly on a Monday, for anyone who is due to see the dentist or hygienist for an exam or scale and polish appointment, based on their next due date.
When a patient meets certain criteria, they will be added to the 'Recalls' report and a recall marker will be added to their patient record.
To be picked up by the 'Recalls' report (and to have a recall marker added to their record), a patient must:
Have a recall due date and interval set.
Have had an appointment with the practice in the last 2 years.
If they meet the above criteria, they will be added to the report when their recall is triggered. If a patient fails to respond to a recall communication, and their recall date is now in the past, they will be picked up again in the next round of recalls when their interval is triggered. A patient will continue to be picked up in this manner for up to 2 years.
📝 Please Note: If a patient already has an appointment (of the correct type) booked, but their due date is in the future, they will still be picked up by the recall report and have a recall marker generated - but it will have the 'Booked' status, as long as the appointment is of the correct type.
Which patients will receive recall correspondences?
If you have automatic recalls set up, those who meet the criteria will be included in your recall workflows where applicable. Automated recalls are sent according to the following criteria:
You must have turned on recall automation and set up at least one recall workflow.
Your recall workflow(s) must be set to active and must apply to at least one patient, and you must have had the 'Recalls' report enabled for at least 1 week before setting the workflow to active.
Recall communications are sent on the same weekday as the due date, the chosen number of weeks before - so if a recall is due in 4 weeks on a Wednesday, a communication will be sent on the Wednesday 4 weeks before that.
Recalls are only sent during working hours. If a practice is closed on the date a recall communication is due to send, it will send the following working day.
If a patient is due for both dental and hygiene appointments, within 1 week of one another, their recall will be combined. This means that if contacted, they will only be contacted once, reminding them about both appointments at the same time. If they are due for both but the two recall dates are more than a week apart, they will receive two separate communications if contacted.
💡 Top tip: We recommend waiting one week after turning on automation before beginning to set up automation workflows, to allow overdue appointments to catch-up.
Recalls not sending as expected? Take a look at our troubleshooting article to identify why your recalls aren't working as expected.