Updated 10/3/2019

Not all families are conventional. Some family situations might be called complex or even difficult. Not to worry, Dentrix is flexible enough to help you set up a wide variety of family relationships.

Keep the following tips in mind as you set up families in Dentrix:

• Any time you add an account to the system, you must designate someone in the family as the “responsible party.” Dentrix refers to that person as the Head-of-Household (or Guarantor).
• The Head-of-Household does not have to be a patient, in which case, their status should be set to “Non-Patient.” Use this status when you need to create a record for a Head-of-Household or insurance subscriber who is not a patient. Non-patients don’t show up on reports and will only receive correspondence if they’ve been designated as the Head-of-Household.
• Dentrix addresses all account correspondence (billing statements, collection letters, etc.) to the Head-of-Household.
• Dentrix addresses all patient correspondence (appointment reminders, etc.) to the individual patient.
• You can enter different addresses for patients within the same family.
• Insurance carriers cover family members through the insurance subscriber, but the insurance subscriber does not have to be the Head-of-Household in Dentrix.
• The insurance subscriber must be a member of the same family as the “covered” patient.
• You can create multiple records for the same person as long as you don’t enter the social security number in the SS# field more than once. (See Scenario 2 below). However, you can enter a social security number in the Subscriber ID field for as many patients as necessary.
• Use the “Non-Patient” status any time you need to create a record for a Head-of-Household or insurance subscriber who isn’t a patient. Non-patients don’t show up on reports and will only receive correspondence if they’ve been designated as the Head-of-Household.
• You can use the “Other” status anytime you need to add a Head-of-Household or insurance subscriber to a family if the person isn’t a member of that family (divorced parents, step-parents, etc.)

Here’s a couple of family situation scenarios, and how you should set them up in Dentrix:

Scenario 1: Children live with parent X (who is the children’s responsible party) but Parent Y is an insurance subscriber for the children. Parent Y is not a patient.

1. Enter Parent X as the Head-of-Household. Enter Parent X’s mailing address as his or her address record.
2. Add Parent Y to the account as the insurance subscriber. When creating the record, leave the SS# field blank and set their status to Non-patient, Other. Next, enter Parent Y’s mailing address as their address. Then, add the insurance coverage information.
3. When creating the child’s record, select the address to match the parent who is responsible for dealing with treatment correspondence from the dental office (in this situation, Parent X).
4. Attach Parent Y’s insurance coverage to the child.

Scenario 2: Parent X and Parent Y are both active patients. Children live with Parent X who is the responsible party for the children. Parent Y is the insurance subscriber for the children.

1. Create Account #1. Enter Parent X as the Head-of-Household. Set their status to Patient. Enter the mailing address as their address record.
2. Enter Parent Y as the insurance subscriber. When creating the record, leave the SS# field blank and set their status to Non-patient, Other. Enter their mailing address as the address record.
3. Add the child’s record to Account #1, select the address that matches the parent who is responsible for dealing with treatment correspondence from the dental office (in this situation, Parent X). Attach parent Y’s insurance coverage to the child.
4. Create Account #2. Re-enter Parent Y. When creating the record, enter the SS# (if desired) and set their status to Patient.

Scenario 3: Children live with Parent X, but Parent Y holds the insurance and receives the bills for the children.

1. Enter Parent Y as the Head-of-Household for the children’s account. When creating the record, leave the SS# field blank and set their status to Non-patient, Other. Enter the mailing address as their address record. Enter the insurance information.
2. Add the child to Parent Y’s Non-patient, Other account. When creating the child’s record, enter their address to match the parent who is responsible for dealing with treatment correspondence from the dental office (in this situation, Parent X).
3. Attach parent Y’s insurance coverage to the child.
4. Enter Parent X as another member of the family, with a mailing address that is different from Parent Y, but that matches that of the children.

Keep in mind that with complex family situations, you can always enter explanatory information about the family dynamics in the Patient Note within the Family File.

For additional information, read Keeping Up with Family Changes in Dentrix in Dentrix Magazine, or the Editing Family Relationships topic in Dentrix Help.