Open Dental Software - Patient Portal

Patient Portal

The Patient Portal Feature is hosted by Open Dental and available to all customers on support.

Note: To set up the portal, the eConnector must already be installed. See eConnector for easy installation steps.

Overview of Setup Steps

Select portal features.
Verify the patient portal URLs.
Customize secure WebMail settings (notification email, default WebMail Notify email address)
Set up automated Patient Portal Invites (optional).
Import code systems.
Grant access to patients.

Portal Features

This process will determine which features are available to patients in the portal.

In the Main Menu, click eServices, Signup, then More Settings.
Select the features patients can see and use in the portal.
- MakePayments: Patients can make online payments using XCharge (OpenEdge). For more setup information, see Online Payment Management.
- ModuleAccount: Patients can view payments and statements.
- ModuleWebMail: Use Secure WebMail Feature to view, compose, and send secure messages between provider and patient.
- ModuleCareSummary: Patients can view, download, and transmit care summaries.
- ModuleImages: Patients can view and download PDFs or images stored in Images folders shared to the portal.
Click Submit to apply changes. It may take up to 15 minutes for changes to take effect.

URLs

URLs determine the web address patients will use to access the patient portal and/or make patient payments. Patients can go directly to the hosted URL (generated by Open Dental) or to the hosted payment URL.

In Open Dental's main menu, click eServices, Patient Portal.

Patient Facing URL: The web address given to patients to access the portal. It can be the hosted URL, or, you can use a page on your own website that redirects the patient to the hosted URL. This URL shows on the printout generated when granting access.

Example: Patient facing URL https://www.opendental.com/login.html includes redirect code that sends the patient to the hosted URL https://www.patientviewer.com/?ID=abc123.

Hosted URL: The patient portal URL generated by Open Dental and linked to your registration key. Click Navigate to URL to open the URL in a browser. Click Copy to Clipboard to copy the URL to the clipboard.

Destination: Affects the Hosted URL.

Login Page: The Hosted URL will take patients to the Patient Portal Sign in page.
Make Payment: Adds &PAY=Y to the Hosted URL. The URL will then take patients directly to an area where they can make an online payment, without logging into the portal. Patients will still need to verify personal information and enter payment information. See Online Payment

Clinic: Affects the clinic name listed in the header on the Hosted URL destination. Click the dropdown menu or [...] to select the clinic.

Notification Email for Secure WebMail

The notification email subject and message are used to create un-secure email notifications that alert a patient when a new Secure WebMail Feature is available in the patient portal.

Subject: The subject of the email.
Body: The email message itself. Make sure to include the tag [URL]; it will be replaced with a clickable link to the Patient Facing URL when the message is sent. This will allow patients to quickly access the patient portal login page to view the secure message.
Example: The email message in the screenshot above will look like this:
Please go to this link and login using your credentials. https://www.opendental.com/login.html

The email address set as WebMailNotify in Email Setup will be used to send WebMail notifications.

In the main menu, click Setup, Manage, Email.
Highlight the email used to send WebMail notifications, then click WebMailNotify. An X will show in the Notify column.
Click OK to save.

Patient Portal Invites

Users must be on one of the following versions or newer prior to enabling Invites:
V17.4.94, V18.1.61, V18.2.42, V18.3.23.

Patient portal invitations can be automatically emailed to patients a specific number of days before or after an appointment. Invites are only sent to patients who have not accessed the portal yet and have an entered name, address, and date of birth. The invitation will include a one-time use password and user name the patient can use to access the portal. This service is optional. Invitations are sent to eligible patients once an hour.

First, set up patient portal rules (see below).
When rules are complete, click Activate Invites to activate the service and begin sending invitations.

Note: For other methods of granting access to the portal, see Patient Portal Access.

Set up Patient Portal Rules: Rules determine when automated invitations are sent and the message.

Note: When there are multiple clinics, you can create default rules that are used by all or some clinics, or different rules for each clinic. Automation can also be turned on/off per clinic.

Select the clinic and any clinic-specific settings.
- To create default rules, select Defaults as the clinic, then create the rules.
- To apply default rules to a clinic, select the clinic, then check Use Defaults.
- To create clinic-specific rules, select the clinic, uncheck Use Defaults, then create the rules.
- To turn on/off automation by clinic, select the clinic, then check/uncheck Enable Invites for Clinic.
Click Add Invite or double click an existing rule to edit.
Enabled: By default this is checked, meaning the rule is turned on. Uncheck to disable the rule.
Send Time: Set time preferences for sending the invitation.
- Before appointment: Send this invitation hours/days before a scheduled appointment.
- After appointment: Send this invitation hours/days after an appointment is set complete.
- Days / Hours: The amount of days/hours before or after an appointment the invite should be sent.
- Do not send within ____ of appointment: Set a window of time, in relation to the appointment time, during which an invitation will not be sent. For example, do not send invitations within 3 hours of an appointment.
  Note: The automated eServices schedule also affects send time. See eServices Misc. If an invitation is scheduled to be sent before the automated eServices start time, the Do not send value is ignored.
Send Order: Email is the only method of delivery available for patient portal invitations.
Email Subject and Body: Customize the email message. The first text box is for the subject line. The second text box is for the body text.
To insert data from the database into the message text, use Template Replacement Tags.
- [ApptDate]: The date of the appointment.
- [ApptTime]: The start time of the appointment.
- [ApptTimeAskedArrive]: The time the patient is asked to arrive.
- [ClinicName]: The name of the clinic.
- [ClinicPhone]: The phone number of the clinic.
- [NameF]: Patient's first name.
- [Password]: A Open Dental generated one-time password the patient can use to access the portal the first time.
- [PatientPortalURL]: The web address the patient will use to access the portal.
- [PracticeName]: The practice name.
- [PracticePhone]: The practice phone number.
- [ProvAbbr]: The abbreviation for the provider the appointment is scheduled with.
- [ProvName]: The provider the appointment is scheduled with.
- [UserName]: The username the patient can use to access the portal the first time.
Example

[NameF],
In preparation for your upcoming dental appointment at [OfficeName], we invite you to log in to our Patient Portal.There you can view your scheduled appointments, view your treatment plan, send a message to your provider, and view your account balance.
Visit [PatientPortalURL] and use this temporary user name and password to log in:
User name: [UserName]
Password: [Password]
If you have any questions, please give us a call at [OfficePhone], and we would be happy to answer any of your questions.
Click OK to save the rule.

We recommend testing the rule and message prior to sending. Make sure you meet character limitations, that replacement tags work, and that the message appears as intended.

Aggregated Messages: When one or more appointments on the same day share a common patient email address, the associated patient portal invites will be grouped together into one email. To customize aggregated messages:

On the Edit Patient Portal Invite Rule window, click Advanced.
Change the email template as needed. See below for a description of each field.
Click OK to save and return to the Edit Patient Portal Rule window.

Note: Clicking Cancel to close the window will also close the Edit Patient Portal Rule window without saving any settings.

Template Replacement Tags: A list of valid template replacement tags that can be used to insert data from the database into the message.

Email Subject: The subject line. Patient Portal Invitation

Email Template: The text and template replacement tags in general message. The tag [Credentials] is required and will represent each patient's user name and password.

[NameF],

In preparation for your upcoming dental appointments at [OfficeName], we invite you to log in to our Patient Portal. There you can view your scheduled appointments, view your treatment plan, send a message to your provider, and view your account balance.

Visit [PatientPortalURL] and use these temporary user names and passwords to log in:

[Credentials]

If you have any questions, please give us a call at [OfficePhone], and we would be happy to answer any of your questions.

Email Template Per Appointment: The text and template replacement tags used in each [Credentials] tag.

[NameF]

User name: [UserName]

Password: [Password]

The email template above would result in the following message:

Ann,

In preparation for your upcoming dental appointments at North Clinic, we invite you to log in to our Patient Portal. There you can view your scheduled appointments, view your treatment plan, send a message to your provider, and view your account balance.

Visit http://www.patientportal.com and use these temporary user names and passwords to log in:

Ann

User name: ann

Password: 112lxxc1

If you have any questions, please give us a call at 503-555-5555 and we would be happy to answer any of your questions.

Import Coding Systems

To allow patients to view care summaries in the portal, you must import standard code systems into Open Dental. We recommend importing all coding systems, but at a minimum import SNOMED CT Codes, CVX, and RxNorms. Also see Importing Code Systems.

In the main menu, click Setup, Chart, EHR, then Code System Importer.
Click Check for Updates.
Select the code systems, then click Download Updates, Import.