Keywords: check in alerts, patient locator, early check in, late check in, financial alert, appointment status
Summary
This article covers how to set up Check In Alerts to notify your team when a patient checks in early or late, and/or when a patient has a past due balance. It also reviews how to configure alerts and how to enable them on the patient locator bar.
About Check In Alerts
Check In Alerts can be customized to notify your team of early or late arrivals and past due balances directly on the Patient Locator Bar. These alerts can be configured at the practice level under Edit > Practice Information > Check In, or at the location level under Edit > Setup > Locations > Check In. If you set them up at the practice level, the same settings will apply across all of your locations. If you prefer to customize the alerts differently by location, you can skip the practice level settings and configure them individually at the location level instead.
Minutes Early and Minutes Late Check In Alerts
To set up an Early or Late Check In Alert:
Step 1: Navigate to Edit > Practice Information > Check In or Edit > Setup > Locations > Check In depending on whether you are setting this at the practice or location level.
Step 2: In the Minutes Early field, enter the number of minutes early a patient must check in for the alert to trigger. For example, if you enter 15, a patient who checks in 15 or more minutes before their appointment time will trigger the alert.
Step 3: In the Minutes Late field, enter the number of minutes late a patient must check in for the late alert to trigger. The same logic applies here as with the early alert.
Step 4: Choose a custom color for the Appointment Locator Bar Alert Color. This is the color that will flash on the Patient Locator Bar when the alert is triggered.
Step 5: Click Save.
When a patient checks in early or late and meets the threshold you set, the Waiting indicator on the Patient Locator Bar will flash in your chosen custom color. A note will also appear inside the appointment information showing exactly how many minutes early or late the patient checked in.
Financial Alerts for Patient Check In
Financial Alerts notify your team when a patient checks in and their responsible party has a past due balance that meets your set criteria.
To set up a Financial Check In Alert:
Step 1: Navigate to Edit > Practice Information > Check In or Edit > Setup > Locations > Check In, to set up alerts at the location or practice level, whichever you prefer.
Step 2: In the Alert on Check In if Past Due is Greater Than field, enter the dollar amount and number of days past due that should trigger the alert.
Step 3: Choose whether to alert on Responsible Party balance only or Responsible Party and Insurance.
Step 4: Click Save.
When a patient checks in with a balance that meets your chosen parameters, the custom color will flash on the Patient Locator Bar and a note will appear on the appointment. For a responsible party balance alert you will see "RP$" on the appointment, and if insurance is included in the parameters that will also be noted.
Setting Alerts to Display Across Appointment Statuses
One final and important step is to enable the alerts to display on the Patient Locator Bar as patients move through different appointment statuses during their visit. Without this step, the alerts will not flash on the locator bar.
To enable alerts on an Appointment Status:
Step 1: Navigate to Edit > Setup > Appointment Statuses.
Step 2: Select the appointment status you want alerts to display on, such as Waiting, and click Edit.
Step 3: Check the box that says 'Flash on Check In Alert.'
Step 4: Click Save.
Note: This must be done for each appointment status you want the alerts to flash on, such as Front Desk, Waiting, Seated, and so on. If it is not enabled on a status, the alert will not display when the patient is in that status on the locator bar.
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.