Keywords: patient portal, online scheduling, questionnaires, portal login, online payments, responsible party
Summary
This article covers how to set up and use the Cloud 9 Patient Portal, including customization options, setting up responsible party logins, enabling online payments, questionnaires, and online scheduling. There is no additional cost to have the Patient Portal activated but some additional set up is required.
To check if your office has the Patient Portal set up, go to Edit > Practice Information > Patient Portal Tab. The portal URL listed in that field should read https://yourcloud9sitehere.cloud9ortho.com/portal. For example, one below is for a test site and it is https://cloud411.cloud9ortho.com/portal.
If your office is not set up for Patient Portal and wants to utilize it, please contact Support by emailing cloud9support@planetdds.com, or joining the chat using the bubble in the lower right at https://cloud9support.planetdds.com/hc/en-us, or by giving us a call during business hours 8:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST at the 1.800.394.6050 option 2. Please note that Support will need to get a few background items set up for you to get the patient portal online for your practice.
Patient Portal Customization Options
The patient portal can be customized with the settings in Edit > Practice Information > Patient Portal tab which we'll review below.
In this screen there are various customization options. Please do not change the Portal URL, that is set up by Cloud 9 and should not be edited. You can edit the various background colors, font colors, banner image, and the body image. We recommend testing this on a test patient account to see what it looks like before deciding on a particular design. Lots of images or excessive colors can make the patient portal look busy or hard to read.
Enable Patient Portal Credit Card Payments - Allows the responsible party to complete payments in the portal.
***You must have either Open Edge or Planet DDS pay as an integrated payment processor for this function to work. Other payment processors do not have an integration to allow this feature. (Note: They will be prompted to only pay balance due now in the patient portal, though they can make a payment for a larger amount, — including future due — if they choose.)
Additional Note: Patient Portal payments will not affect any autopayments. If a responsible party makes a payment on the portal, their previously scheduled autopayment will still run as scheduled.
Enable Online Scheduling - allows specific appointment types to be scheduled by the responsible party for any patients listed under them. To turn this on, in the Edit > Practice Information check the box that says 'Allow Online Scheduling.'
Another setting, mentioned below, must be set for appointments to be scheduled in the Patient Portal.
- Navigate to Edit > Setup > Appointment Types and find the appointment type you want to add to "allow online scheduling" and click edit.
- On the right hand side click the box that says "Allow Online Scheduling" so that a check mark appears, then click save. (screenshot below.)
Additionally, see the second to last section of this article titled: **Notes for Online Scheduling to see required elements that must be in the patient treatment card to allow portal appointments to be scheduled.
Enable Questionnaires - You can enable questionnaires to show on the patient portal for patients to fill out. In order to do so, you must check the option that says 'Show on Patient Portal' in Edit > Setup > Questionnaire for the Questionnaire needed.
If a patient completes a questionnaire, it will appear in Cloud 9 under the Patient record > View Questionnaire. It will also be visible by the patient in the Patient Portal.
Note: Any questionnaires that you choose to show on patient portal in Edit > Setup > Questionnaires will show on every patient's portal as an option for them to fill out.
Email Template - Portal Email. This should be setup by Support when they set up the patient portal and controls which document gets emailed to the responsible party when they are signed up for the patient portal. The template must use the portal URL, Portal Email, and portal password merge fields.
Setting up the Patient Portal Login for a Responsible Party
Invitations can be sent to Responsible Parties to allow them to view appointment history, future scheduled appointments, and financial ledger history.
Sending Invitations:
1. To send invitations, go to Edit Patient > Relationships tab and enter the Responsible Party's email address in the field titled 'Portal Login Email' by selecting the Edit button. Note: This field will only be available on the responsible party.
2. Once you have added the email address for the Responsible Party, click 'Create Login'.
3. Once you select 'Create Login', you should see an Enrollment Pending pop up that says, 'The login information will be emailed upon saving.' Click 'Ok.'
4. After you select 'Ok' on the 'Enrollment Pending' window, you will be brought back to the edit screen of the Responsible Party's Relationship. You will select 'Ok' again.
5. From there, you must select 'Save' at the top right of your screen to save the changes on the patient record. Once you do, the invitation sends. This invitation will be sent to the email address that saved for the Portal Login Email.
Note:
- If the E-Mail address for the responsible party is changed in the 'Contact Info' field it will not automatically use the new updated E-Mail address. If a different E-Mail address needs to be used for a new initial invitation, you will have to start the process over.
Portal Login & Using the Portal
The Responsible Party will receive the portal E-Mail within minutes of your hitting Save or Save and Close. The email they receive will contain their User Name (their email address), a temporary password, and the URL for the portal. They will be prompted to reset the temporary password upon logging in for the first time.
1. At the login screen they will need to type in their user name and temporary password.
2. After clicking Log In, they will be prompted to change their password.
When the responsible party logs into the portal, they will see the main screen if they only have one patient enrolled in their people record.
For some parents or guardians though, they will have multiple patients under their Patient Portal Login. When they have multiple patients, the screen will display with the name of each patient, the next scheduled appointment, (if applicable), and any Due Now, Past Due, or Total Due.
To get to the main menu, the Responsible party must click on the name of a patient to go into the main Menu for that patient. To exit back to this main screen to choose the patient, click Summary in the upper left hand corner. There is a video GIF showing this workflow below.
On the main screen, (once you have clicked the patient or if you only have one patient in the portal) you will see a screen with previous appointments and other clickable options, or buttons. We will review these options below.
Patient Forms - At the top of the screen there are patient forms available to fill out and saved patient forms to view. These are not true forms, instead they are the questionnaires the practice has selected to show in the patient portal mentioned in the portal customization section of this article.
Future Appointments - Clicking this will hide the next appointment and display the one that is scheduled after (if applicable). (See note about patient scheduling on the portal
Past Appointments - Clicking this will show the patient’s previous appointments.
Cancel -The Cancel button cannot be clicked if the appointment is sooner than 24 hours from now. If it is later than 24 hours out, the responsible party can cancel their appointment from the portal.
Make Payment - **Your office must have either Open Edge or PDDS Pay as a payment processor in order for this feature to work. You also must have 'Allow Online Payments' selected in the Practice Information mentioned earlier in the article.
To make a payment, the user will enter the amount and click 'Make Payment'. A payment gateway dialogue box will open and prompt you to enter payment details. Responsible Parties will be prompted make a payment for the balance in the Due Now but can enter a different amount to pay more towards future due.
Reset Password - This an option when you are logged into Patient Portal and is located at the top left of the screen. Once you select Reset Password you will see a screen that prompts you to enter the current password and set a new password.
Summary - This option in the upper left corner will take you back to the main screen. This will either be the page with multiple patients to choose from, or the beginning screen when you first login to the patient portal.
***Notes for Online Scheduling
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Responsible Parties can schedule their next appointment as long as the next appointment type is set to Allow Online Scheduling and the appointment is listed on the Treatment Card as a next visit on a Visit treatment card entry. Screenshot showing Next Visit entered on Treatment Card below.
If there are several next visits scheduled, Cloud 9 will only allow a responsible party to schedule the next visit that is needed the soonest. ***This is only available for orthodontic patients.
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What if this is a patient with No Future Appointments? The Responsible Party can schedule Only One future appointment from the Patient Portal for Orthodontic patients as long as it is entered into the treatment card as the 'Next Visit.'
- Appointments scheduled on the Portal cannot be rescheduled. The user must first cancel the current appointment, and then click schedule new appointment in order to reschedule it. They will only be able to schedule it again if it is the next visit appointment on their treatment card.
A Note as of the First Quarter of 2026:
If the Patient Portal Login Email address matches a Recurring Campaign email address, messages will only send from the location-based email. Employee-level emails won't be used unless the email is sent from the Document Editor.
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.