Sign In Reset Password

Articles in this section

Continuing Care

Avatar
Autumn Cavazos
  • Updated
Follow
Continuing care refers to preventative and maintenance procedures performed periodically by dentists.
Examples of continuing care include bitewings and prophylaxis.
 
To help pediatric offices schedule and manage their patients’ continuing care, Cloud 9 provides these
offices the ability to:
  • Identify patients due and overdue for continuing care
  • Schedule and customize continuing care appointments specific to patient needs
  • Automatically update due dates for continuing care based on your office’s desired timeframes
  • Run a report identifying patients needing continuing care and who do not have an appointment
  • Set up and customize appointment types for scheduling and tracking the frequency for continuing care procedures

Setting up Continuing Care

Prior to using continuing care for your patients, you need to do the following:
 

Step 1 – Setting up transaction codes (procedures) as continuing care

  1. From the Setup window, select Transaction Types and select the desired transaction to be designated as continuing care.
  2. Click Edit. The Transaction Type window displays.
  3. Click the Charting tab. The Charting tab dialog box displays.
  4. Check the Is Continuing Care box.
  5. In the Default Time field, enter the frequency for the continuing care to be performed in the format of #timeframe where time frames include y for years, m for months, and d for days.
    Examples:
    6m for 6 months and 1y for 1 year.
     
    Note:
    The default time displays on the patient’s charting; however, you can manually change the time frame on the patient’s individual chart to meet the specific needs of each patient.
  6. Click Save. The transaction type is designated as continuing care.
     

Step 2 – Linking an appointment type to continuing care transaction types (procedures)

Pre-requisite: Transaction Types must be checked as “Is Continuing Care?” on the Charting tab from the
Transaction Type dialog box in order to display as a continuing care procedure on the Appointment Type
– Continuing Care dialog box.
 
1. Go to Edit > Setup > Appointment Types. The list of appointment types displays.
2. Select the desired appointment type and click Edit. The Appointment Type dialog box displays.
 
3. Click the Continuing Care tab.
 
4. Click the blue plus sign to add a new entry. The Appointment Type – Continuing Care dialog box displays.
5. Click the desired procedure from the dropdown list.
 
Note: If you do not see the desired procedure on the procedure dropdown list, see Step 1 – Setting up transaction codes (procedures) as continuing care.
 
6. Click OK. The selected procedure displays on the Continuing Care grid.
 7. From the Appointment Type dialog box, click Save.

Scheduling Continuing Care

1. As you’re scheduling an appointment, from the Appointment Details dialog box, enter the relevant appointment information, if not already displayed: Date; Time; Status; Patient; Orthodontist; Assistant; Notes.
2. Select the desired appointment type from the Type dropdown list.
3. Click the Continuing Care tab.
5. Click Save. The appointment is scheduled with the continuing care procedures identified for that
appointment.
 

Charting Continuing Care

The Charting window displays the continuing care procedures along the right-hand side of the window
on a tab called Cont. Care.
If the continuing care
procedures are...
 Then the color of the text on the Cont. Care tab will be...
Due

Black
Over Due

Red

 

Once you mark the continuing care procedure as ‘Set Completed’, Cloud 9 automatically updates the
date to indicate when the next continuing care procedure is due. If there are multiple continuing care
procedures that are not due, Cloud 9 lists them in alphabetical order.
 
 
1. From the Charting window, select Treatment Planned from the Status dropdown list.
2. Select the tooth, if appropriate, that will receive the continuing care procedure.
Note: Not all continuing care needs a tooth.
3. Do one of the following:
  • Click the Codes tab and locate the continuing care procedure.  Select the continuing care procedure and click Add. The Continuing Care procedure displays in red on the Treatments tab.
  • Click the corresponding button on the tool palette for the continuing care procedure if
    displayed.

     

 
3. Once the continuing care procedure is completed, click on the hamburger menu next to the treatment or on the tooth icon above the treatments.
4. Once the treatment is completed, the Post Charge window displays.
 
5. Do one of the following from the Post Charge window:
  • Click Cancel if you do not want to post a charge.
  • Click in the Amount field and enter the charge amount and click Save Charge(s).
Running the Patients Needing Continuing Care Report
The Patients Needing Continuing Care Report lists patients who are overdue for their designated continuing care procedures and do not have an appointment scheduled.
 
Your office can use the report to follow up with these patients to schedule an appointment.
 
1. Click Reports and select Patients Needing Continuing Care Report. The Print Preview: Patients
Continuing Care window displays.
2. Enter the report parameters:
Parameter Used to...
Start and End Dates:
Locate patients who 1) have continuing care due or overdue and 2) do NOT have an appointment scheduled in the date range entered
Continuing Care(s): Identify the continuing care procedure(s) to query
Patient Status(es): Identify the patient status(es) to query
Location(s): Identify the location(s) to query
Provider(s): Identify the provider(s) to query
Break By:
Break down the query results by location, provider or no breakdown (none)
Group By Responsible:
Group or not group by the responsible party for the patients
3. Click Preview. The report displays.
4. Use the standard print options to print or export the report.

Related articles