Congratulations! Your practice is growing, and you have the opportunity to add a new location. In this article you will learn how to make the necessary changes to your current setup in order to make that dream come true! There are four different areas that you will need to address prior to starting to use that new location.
Location Main Screen
Once you have the appropriate permissions, proceed to Edit> Setup > Locations within Cloud 9. Using the Blue Add button toward the top left, complete the fields on that form to reflect the pertinent information for that new location. Much like other spots in Cloud 9 Software, any bold fields, (such as those in the screenshot below), are required to be filled in before continuing.
Name: The name of the location.
Printed Name: While this could be the same as the Name field, this is how you will want the name of this location to appear appointment tickets.
Code: Normally a two- or three-digit code to reflect this location.
Contact Info: Normally the phone number to the office is entered here.
Street: Street address for this location.
Postal Code: For the new location. If the Postal Code is already in your system, (Edit > Setup > Postal Codes), the City and State names should populate automatically when you enter the postal code.
Time Zone: Use the dropdown option on the right side of the field to select the time zone for this new location. There are certain timestamps within Cloud 9 that will use this local time to show entries.
Location Tabs
There are also tabs on the right side of this location card that need to be reviewed. Not all of them will be used, but they are all options that you will need to consider when expanding your practice beyond that of a single location. Each tab has different settings and fields that you want to ensure you are filling out if you will be using them. For example, if your practice uses Email Settings in Edit > Practice Information > Email Server tab, you will not need to fill out the email server tab in this section. This is customizable depending on the needs of your practice. Please contact Support with any questions.
1. Insurance Tab: Ensure the Provider Number, License Number, and TIN (Tax ID Number) are entered for this location. (*Note: If you have Dental Xchange as your Clearinghouse, the license number may need to be the Dental Xchange Account Number depending on your settings. When onboarding with our Implementations team they will make sure this field is complete if you add Dental Xchange. If you have questions about this please contact Support, we are happy to assist!) The Billing Name for Claims may be different from the first location or it can be left blank. Billing address can also be different from the primary location but does not have to be. (Screenshot from a test site data below.)
2. Check-In Tab: This is how the check-in screen will be displayed for this location. You can leave all options blank for practice default values. Alternately, you can leave the Practice Information > Check In tab blank and fill it out here. There is even a section for customizing check in alerts. For more information about utilizing check in alerts please see this article: Check In Alerts.
3. Payment Processor Tab: If the money from this location will be going into the same bank account as the primary location, then you can select the same information in the dropdown menus as the other location for the Processor, POS, and Autopayment fields.
4. Patient Portal Tab: If you use the Patient Portal under practice information, and have the same branding for this location, you do not need to set this up. If your locations offer/require different branding this may need to be set up at the location level. Contact Support for assistance in determining the exact setup.
5. Images Tab: If the branding is the same as that of your primary location, all of these fields can be left blank. If your branding will be different, this page will allow you to identify that in the Check-In Screen, the Logo in the Center of you Image Layout, and the Headers and Footers on all letters coming from this location.
6. Email Server Tab: If this location will have a different email address from the primary location, it will need to be set up outside of Cloud 9, similar to the email for your primary location. Once set up, the fields can be completed to point this location of Cloud 9 to the correct email address so that emailing can happen seamlessly from Cloud 9. Your IT should be able to help with SMTP settings to be entered here. Also, if you use Gmail or Office/Outlook, they require an app password to send mail in a third party app here is an article about that: Generating an App password.
7. Forms Tab: Select the Printed Appointment Ticket and Emailed Appointment Ticket Templates from the dropdown menus on this page if you want this to run on location settings. You can leave the practice info forms blank if using location settings.
8. Add Patient Tab: Enter here the specific Add Patient required fields for this location. We recommend they be the same as the Primary location, just for the staff's familiarity. If a field is important enough to be added at the primary location, it is most likely important enough to be added in this location as well.
9. Other: Default New Patient Status: Set this to be the same as the primary location. Use the dropdown menu to select.
A. House Doctor: If your practice uses the House Doctor feature, select the name of the House Doctor from the dropdown menu.
B. Multi-Provider Lightbar: Review this article to determine if you want this feature enabled. To do so, simply check the box. Light Bar Multi-Doctor Mode
C. Enable Doctor Left Background: Easily Tell the Doctor Has Left the Patient
When you click ‘Doctor has Left’ from the shortcut menu, the color representing the doctor is
‘turned off’ and the block turns white. By the block turning white, this makes it easy to look at-a- glance that the doctor has left.
D. Enable Lightbar Dialog: When this box is checked, communication with the Doctor through flashing numbers and the changing of field colors is initiated.
E. Transactional Phone Number: Used only by the Implementations team to set up the phone number for Two-Way messaging.
**Remember to select Save prior to leaving this page, or your work will not be saved.
Setting up your New Location's Schedule View
With the appropriate permissions, proceed to Edit > Setup > Schedule Views within Cloud 9.
Here you will create a Schedule View for your new location by selecting the Blue Add button and completing the information in the fields the way you would like the schedule to appear at the new location. It can be virtually a duplicate of the primary location, or changes can be made. While some additional offices may be identical to the primary office (times open, number of chairs, number of consult rooms, etc.) many times they are not. You also have the option to make this location show up as a different color to further distinguish it from the primary location.
Once the Schedule View is created (and saved) it will need to be applied to the correct location. This is accomplished by using the dropdown in the Location field and selecting the location (that you previously created).
Setting up Schedule Templates for New Location
With the appropriate permissions, go to Edit > Schedule Templates. Within this screen, select the Blue Add button to create a new template for your new location. If your locations both have the same number of chairs and time that they are open, you can copy a template for the primary location and bring it over to this location. When you add a schedule template, it will populate with the number of chairs assigned to that location (when you created the Schedule View in the previous step).
For a video on how to complete this, please follow this link: Scheduling - Setting up Schedule Templates
Considering Practice Information Settings for Multiple Locations
(Insurance, Payment Processor)
With the appropriate permissions, navigate to Edit > Practice Information.
The information on the left side of the screen should not need to be changed. But the tabs on the right all need to be reviewed with an eye toward how this will function in a multi-location practice.
1. Options Tab: Second Line, Patient ID Format. This format should now include an LL function, to distinguish patients who are assigned to each location. If the format already includes LL, then all of the primary location patient ID numbers will have had that location code in their patient id numbers. Now the patients assigned to the new location will have their location code within their assigned numbers. If the LL was not in that Patient ID Format, add it now.
Most of the remaining options under this tab should stay the same as they were for the single location practice.
2. Insurance Tab: If the top line in this tab (Use Practice Information as Billing Entity (Claims)) was checked, you will need to consider using the patient location. If you do want to make that change, this top line CANNOT be checked if other lines below are checked. Think of what each setting should be, and make certain you do not select ones that will conflict (i.e. Practice Information as Billing Entity will conflict with Use Patient Location for Billing ID Numbers).
3. Check-In Tab: Check-In information should remain the same that you are used to in the Primary location. But it can be changed here if you wish.
4. Forms Tab: Forms information should remain the same that you are using in the Primary location. But it can be changed here if you wish.
5. Images Tab: Information that used to be contained here should now be added to each specific location if there is different branding by location. But if all locations will have the same branding, it only needs to be set in this tab. Nothing will need to be added to the specific locations under this tab, so that it will default to the settings contained here.
6. Two additional Tabs: There are two additional tabs that can only be seen by Cloud 9 Staff. They include:
A. Electronic Claims. Setup is required between you and the vendor which you are integrated with to perform the electronic submission of Insurance Claim forms. Once you are integrated with them, they provide us information to complete the requisite fields. Your electronic claims processor may need to know that you have a new location, as they may have requirements for accessing their portal by location.
B. Payment Processor Tab: If you only have one account with your payment processor, as all of the funds you receive go into the same account, the information will be contained here. If the funds are to be disbursed to two separate accounts, then your payment processor must be notified, and that second account set up with them. They will forward the account sheets to Cloud 9 Implementations Department, which will get them added into the Cloud 9 system for your use. Each location will need to be pointed to the correct account, and the information here under Practice Information will need to be set up under each location.
7. Email Server Tab: The email account that you have set up outside of Cloud 9 should be showing here. But if you want to have different emails per location, they will need to be set up under each location. This information could be left here, and the primary location would not need to have any information set up under that location's settings. But the new location may need to have new email information added if they are to have a different email address.
8. Patient Portal Tab: If both locations will utilize the same patient portal, then this information can remain, and nothing needs to be added under the location settings.
9. Add Patient: This tab identifies which fields you want to be mandatory under the Add Patient Screen. No changes are required to be made to these fields simply because you added a new location.
Conclusion
These are the main things to complete in order to prepare your new location for success. Each practice is slightly different, so there may be variations that you will need to consider that are not addressed in this article.
As always, if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to reach out to Cloud 9 Support by emailing us at cloud9support@planetdds.com, or chatting us online using the chat bubble on the lower right at https://cloud9support.planetdds.com/hc/en-us, or giving us a call during our business hours of 8:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST at the 1.800.394.6050 option 2.