In the Dentrix Patient Chart, one of the tools in the Charting Toolbar is the list where you can select a provider.

When you have a patient selected in the Chart, this field contains the provider set up as Prov1 in the patient’s Family File.

This is the provider that will be attached to any procedure that you chart for the patient, whether it be completed procedures, treatment-planned procedures, or existing procedures.

If you want to assign another provider to a procedure, before you make your selections in the Patient Chart, change the provider using the arrow to open a list of providers. Then select the tooth/teeth, procedure(s), status, and post the procedure.

If you forget to change the provider before you post the procedures, you can always change it later. Read this blog post for steps on how to change a provider once the procedure has been posted in the Chart.

Another area where the provider selected in the Patient Chart comes into play is when you are entering clinical notes. When you add a new clinical note, the provider attached to the note is based on the provider selected in the list in the Charting toolbar.

If the hygienist is writing the clinical note, change the provider in the list before you click the New Clinical Note button.

If you forget and have already written the note, select the note’s time stamp in the left column of the Clinical Notes tab, and then click the Change Provider for Selected Note button, and select the appropriate provider for the note.

The bottom line is to be aware of the provider that is selected before you begin working in the Patient Chart. It’s important to be accurate in how you document clinical care, and a quick double-check before you begin can save you some editing time to correct things later on.