CareStack’s latest 5.39 release introduces an array of improvements designed to streamline workflows, simplify processes, and enhance user experience across multiple modules, including Front-Office, Clinical, Revenue Cycle Management, Reporting & Analytics, Referral Management and Patient Engagement & Services.
This update brings key enhancements such as improved Statements, a revamped Production Calendar, and a redesigned Patient Portal Home Page with task management capabilities. Practices can also benefit from a color-coded tree view for Insurance Plans, the ability to email Payment Receipts, and the option to edit Insurance Subscriber Details.
Reporting improvements include new columns in the Refer In Report and New Patient Report, payment plan filters in Opportunity Miner, and the launch of the Revenue Reconciliation Report for more detailed financial tracking. To enhance data security and optimize user experience, CareStack now enforces location-based restrictions, ensuring users can only access relevant data at the account level.
A few more mentions across modules include the ability to identify online appointment requests by date and time, incorporate Abutment Details in Implant Referral Letters, and add new conditions while creating Categories. Plus the Perio Chart now offers a tooth view preference for practices, then we have the Payment Plans that now allow users to quickly verify a tokenized card by displaying its last four digits. The Patient Documents slider has also been enhanced with categorized tabs for quick access to ‘All’, ‘Incomplete’, and ‘Completed’ documents.
Discover the full potential of CareStack 5.39 and maximize these powerful features!
1. Production Calendar
The Production Calendar revamp introduces significant updates designed to optimize your scheduling workflows. Key enhancements include:
- Quick access to the production calendar directly from the scheduler.
- A dedicated section to review expired schedules.
- A simpler process to add, edit, or delete production types.
- An easier way to duplicate existing schedules of the provider or the production setup to other days.
- Access a comprehensive monthly overview to check configured templates and associated production types for each day.
- The new Month View Calendar lets you view overall Provider Availability for the selected month.
- Utilize the Account or Location tabs in the holidays and working hours section to manage configuration level settings quickly.
- Ability to mark a provider as unavailable in the Production Calendar, the operatory will automatically be set as unavailable, regardless of any existing appointments. A warning modal will alert users that selecting Mark as Unavailable impacts scheduled appointments and prompts them to reschedule.
Impacts of Marking a Provider as Unavailable
- The provider’s availability band on the left of the Scheduler will be removed.
- A grey overlay will appear on the scheduler to indicate the provider is unavailable.
- Slots will not appear for an unavailable provider in the Find Slot feature.
- The unavailable provider’s name will no longer appear in the operatory tooltip. If all providers are unavailable, the corresponding operatory will disappear from the scheduler.
- When scheduling an appointment or converting one from the Clipboard to the scheduler for an unavailable provider, the Provider Working Hours modal will appear, alerting the user that the appointment extends beyond the provider's normal schedule.
- We have introduced the ability to add Multiple Production Types to a single production slot, allowing patients more flexibility to choose the production type that best fits their needs. This feature applies to the Find Slot and the Online Appointment Booking Portal.
- Now, when users search for an available slot, they will see multiple slot options listed in the Find Slot results for any of the production types assigned to that slot.
- For Online Appointments, Appointment Reasons can be mapped to Multiple Production Types within a single time slot. This enhancement allows practices to seamlessly accommodate different types of procedures within the same production slot, streamlining scheduling and improving flexibility.
- To use this feature, ensure that the appointment reasons are correctly linked to the corresponding production types for the selected time slot.
- Leverage the Edit Slot feature to modify production slot details.
- The slimmer layout for Production Types in practice settings reduces scrolling while showcasing more types.
2. Appointments List
- With this update, the Show Current Patient’s Appointments Only checkbox is checked by default, showing only the selected patient's appointments. If unchecked, all appointments, including those of family members will be visible.
3. Patient Tracker
- The Recall Overdue label in the Patient Tracker has been updated to Pending Recalls, showing the combined count of unscheduled and overdue recalls.
4. Reschedule Queue
- Introduced the Status and Reason Column in the Reschedule Queue printout for easy tracking.
5. Appointment Slider
The Appointment Slider has been revamped to make appointment bookings and related actions easier.
- Introduced a new Link Recall button to quickly add procedure code type recalls to the appointment.
- You can add treatments and book an appointment at one go using the Book Appointment button.
- The Due after appointment date indicates that the appointments will be scheduled before the recall due date, this can help in preventing conflicts with insurance plans.
The information in the left panel has been structured in the preferred order of relevance and optimized, reducing the vertical scroll and improving the overall user experience.
- The Operatory and Location have been repositioned to the top, enhancing the visibility of the Start Time, End Time, and Duration without scrolling.
- The Patient Card has been redesigned to display all essential details, including the patient’s name, date of birth, patient ID, age, gender, phone number, and email.
- Utilize the quick links to navigate to the Patient Overview, Edit Patient Details, and view Linked Members on the patient’s account.
- Collapsible sections in the left panel will expand only when relevant data is available.
- Each section on the left panel now displays the count of items present.
- Lab Cases now include detailed information such as tooth, shade, lab cost, and lab case notes, along with Received, Due, and Sent dates.
- Ability to easily add codes from treatment plans to the appointment with the Add to Appointment button.
- Scroll to the bottom left of the Appointment Slider to view Insurance in Draft status, now listed under the Insurance section with a hyperlink for quick access and management.
- To improve clarity, inactive providers now appear at the bottom of the provider list in the Appointment Details section, labeled as Inactive and will be unselectable. This also applies to Block Slot during provider selection.
6. Block Slot
- Renamed Download Error Log to Download Slot Conflict Report for improved clarity and ease of use.
- When Double Booking is enabled for an account, the Download Block Slot Conflict Report option will not appear since users do not have to worry about Block Slots overlapping with any appointment.
- The label Blocked has been removed from the Block Slot in the scheduler. If a provider is selected and notes are entered, the block slot will display the details; otherwise, it will remain blank.
7. Appointment Status
- Enhanced the Appointment Status pill with a new design and the updated design will reflect all related touchpoints in the scheduler.
8. Appointment Tile
- Practices can now customize appointment tiles to display the patient's First Name, First & Last Name with Patient ID, or Full Name with Patient ID (including Middle Name, Suffix, and Prefix). Additionally, Nick Name has been updated to Preferred Name.
- These updates are reflected in both the Scheduler Print and Routing Slip.
9. Clipboard
- Appointments converted from the Clipboard will now retain the duration set on the clipboard, overriding production types, time slots, and linked codes.
1. Care Notes
- The new banner at the top of the Care Note slider informs users on how to access templates, smart phrases and responses.
2. Refer Out
- Use the search bar to filter providers by their specialty.
- Introduced the ability to enable email trigger settings for referral providers at a practice level.
- If email trigger settings for referral are disabled, users can manually resend a signup email.
3. Chart
- Enhanced the Patient Top Card in the chart to display the patient's full name.
- The selected 2D or 3D Chart remains unchanged during user login or logout, retaining the user's preference.
4. Treatment Planner
- The Treatment Phase name can now include a mix of alphanumeric and special characters.
- Patients with insurance plans can also avail Membership Plan Discounts. Discount details for the code are available in CodeStack, where users can apply them directly.
- Users can select multiple codes to compare treatment fees under their membership plan and insurance, ensuring the most cost-effective option.
5. Implant Tracker
- We have introduced the ability to Delete Implant(s) from the grid.
- The Generate Print feature allows users to generate a report that includes implant details for multiple teeth, covering information about implants, abutments, membranes, and bone grafts.
- Introduced the ability to include Abutment Details in the implant referral letter.
6. Perio Chart
- The position of the tooth numbers in the Perio Chart has been revised to ensure that the user can view them while charting the different areas of the teeth.
- The selected toggle option for Show Lingual Teeth remains unchanged during user login or logout, retaining the user's preference.
7. Prescriptions
- The Pharmacy's phone number is now visible in both the dropdown and the selected option for easy access.
8. Care Panel
- We have introduced the ability to remove the unwanted Care Panels using the Delete button.
1. Payments Slider
- Email payment receipts as Attachments with the intended patients from the Add New Payment or All Payments tab.
- Utilize the new setting to set a default payment gateway, which will be automatically selected when adding a new patient payment.
- Enhanced error messages that inform users about various Refund failure scenarios, offering greater transparency in understanding the specific reasons for refund failures, unlike the previously generic messages.
2. Statements
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Ability to manually mark statements as Sent or Failed. This option will be useful for a scenario where you will be using the statements with external vendors and you are unable to track the status once a statement has been generated.
3. Payment Plan
- If auto-debit is enabled, you can view the partially encrypted last four digits of the Card Number under the Payment Details section to easily identify and verify the card being tokenized.
4. Insurance Payments
- For Membership-credited codes, a star icon will be displayed for quicker identification. Line-level insurance payments can be made for these codes and the credits would be transferred to the patient as Transfer receipts. As for Claim Level Payments and adjustments, they will be disabled.
5. Insurance Plan
- Users can now view all insurance plans for a selected patient in a color-coded tree format to distinguish between Active, Draft, Terminated, and Eligibility Pending statuses.
- You can change the Subscriber of an insurance plan to a different family member already added to the plan. A change in subscriber will delete any associated claims or pre-authorizations that have not been submitted.
- Click on a patient’s insurance plan from the Patient’s Overview page, to quickly access insurance plan details.
1. Refer In Report
- New columns such as Age, and DOB, have been added to capture key Patient Information.
- Added a new column Gross Production (Trans.Date) to the Refer in Report to show the gross production of the referred patient during the selected date range.
2. New Patient Report
- New columns, including Age, DOB and Email have been added to capture essential patient information in the New Patient Report.
- The ‘Referral Source Category’ has been updated to Primary Referral Source and Primary Referral Sub Category to better organize and capture referral information.
3. Opportunity Miner
- The newly introduced Payment Plan filters in Billing allow users to quickly filter patient lists based on Payment Plan Type, Payment Plan Status, and Transaction Status.
4. Revenue Reconciliation Report 
- The Revenue Reconciliation Report offers a clear and dependable method for tracking financial transactions across multiple locations within a practice. It is particularly beneficial for practices with a central billing process, as it consolidates financial data from all locations, minimizing the manual effort required for payment reconciliation. I
1. Patient Documents
- Scan larger Patient Documents up to 20 pages at a time.
- The ‘All’ tab for Documents displays both Incomplete and Completed documents, with separate tabs for each available for quick filtering.
- Additionally, Shared Document has been renamed to Share to Patient Portal, and Clinical Document is now Mark as Clinical.
2. Patient Portal
- View Membership Plan Discounts on the Treatment Plans page and a Tx plan printout.
- A new Home page design features a streamlined layout and improved accessibility.
- Track the tasks left to complete for the responsible party and linked family members.
- Option to make Email addresses non-mandatory when filling out patient information on the Patient Portal.
- Setting the Emergency Contact field as mandatory will automatically make all related fields in the section mandatory as well.
3. Online Appointments
- Access the Date and Time when the appointment message was received.
- Conversion of appointment message into a booking with a View in Scheduler button where you can create a new patient profile for the requested patient.
- Quickly initiate a Call with the potential patient while reviewing the appointment message.
- Introduced Disable option in Search for Providers to restrict access to the provider selection dropdown in the Online Appointment Portal.
- New patients are now required to read and agree to the terms of use, privacy policy, and HIPAA consent to book an appointment via the Online Appointment Portal.
4. +Form Quick Link
- Printing a form before signing will remove the signature placeholder from the printout.
1. Categorization of Medications
- Medications are now categorized as Current and Past, allowing practices to manage medication records more seamlessly.
2. Medical History Form
- When completing a new Medical History form, users can easily view and update existing current medications or add new ones with just a few clicks.
3. Global Print
- Users can print medications using Global Print.
4. Medical History / Medical Alerts
- When creating a new category, if no available conditions are found during the search, users can now directly Add a New Condition, simplifying the process.
5. Patient Overview
- Introduced a clickable link for 'No next appt' in the Account Summary to seamlessly schedule a new appointment when the patient does not have scheduled appointments.
- View details of the referral provider with a simple click on the Referral Source hyperlink under the Additional Information section.
6. Campaigns
- Utilize Form Reminder Email Campaigns to remind patients to complete their Pending medical history forms.
7. Add New Patient Slider
- The Gender field now requires selection, ensuring more accurate and inclusive data collection.
- Users can view referral provider details when selecting a Referral Sub Category, provided the Primary Referral Source is set to Referral Provider.
8. Communication Hub
- Practices can now easily add their Gmail and Outlook accounts directly from the Communication Hub using their regular login credentials, without needing to provide an app password.
- If the practices prefer not to use email, they can use text messages and phone calls, allowing Patient Correspondence without email configuration.
| Note: The Correspondence feature is available upon request. Users can email support@carestack.com to have it enabled. |
1. Referral Hub
- The Referral Hub feature is available for all accounts to manage incoming referrals. Refer to this article to know more about this feature.
The new features added to the Referral hub includes:
- Ability to select and Print one or all attachment(s) of a referral.
- Book new appointments or View booked appointments for Accepted referrals.
Attachments of Accepted referrals will be reflected on the Patient Documents page in Completed status.
Quickly add a new Referral Provider while you create a new referral.
| Note: The Referral Hub feature is available upon request. Users can email support@carestack.com to have it enabled. |
2. Manage Permissions
- Search for Permissions using keywords; all matching permissions will be displayed.
- Users can select all permissions in the category or relevant sub-category with a single click and filter the results.
- Copying permissions from one profile at a time allows you to tailor them to specific roles. For example, if a Dental Assistant also takes on Front Office responsibilities, you can copy the Front Office profile and add the relevant Clinical permissions.
- Separate permissions are now available for Online Appointment Settings and Online Appointment Hub under the Online Appointment in practice settings.
3. Location-Level Restrictions
- To enhance data security and bring consistency to user experience, we have implemented location-based restrictions across multiple key modules in CareStack. These updates ensure that users can only access data relevant to their designated locations at the account level.
4. CS Pay
- Introduced the ability to pay via Apple Pay® and GPayTM across all patient interfaces including Patient Portal, Payment Links, Text to Pay, etc enabling seamless payments via traditional cards or digital wallets.
- Capturing payments via POS terminals has been introduced from the Insurance Payment and Collection Payment Addition screens.
Explore the new and updated features and share your insights with us. We're eager to hear from you. Stay ahead with the exciting 5.39 updates, rolling out to practices by late March!