Sorting and Filtering Progress Notes in Dentrix

I often have dentists complain that they find it difficult to find specific items in an electronic patient chart. Things like when did we do that crown on # 3 or what was the treatment plan for the lower right? Usually it transpires that they have a specific custom bit of paper that they are used to seeing and the electronic chart just looks different. Also they stay stuck on the default view and never learn how to quickly find what they are looking for.

The fact is that with a digital chart it is must faster and easier to find specific bits of data you just have to take a few minutes to learn how to do it. Below is a quick outline from Dentrix on using various chart views.

From Dentrix Mastery Tracks “Tips and Tricks”

Here are a few different methods you can use to sort progress notes and change how the information is displayed, making it easier to find the information you need.

1. Sorting progress notes by column – Click the column headings to arrange the information chronologically, numerically, or alphabetically (depending on the column you select).

2. Use status buttons to narrow your search – Progress notes can be viewed by treatment status. To make it easier to look through the progress notes, turn on only the status button for the type of procedures you are looking for: treatment plan, completed, existing, conditions, exams, or referrals.

3. Viewing clinical notes – If what you are looking for would be found in the clinical notes for a procedure, you can either switch to the Clinical Notes tab or view the clinical notes within the progress notes by clicking the Clinical Notes button. When you view clinical notes within the progress notes, you can sort them by column to make finding what you want a little easier.

4. Painting progress notes – You can have the paint colors assigned in the Graphic Chart correspond to the color of your progress notes, which may help you locate them more quickly. To coordinate your progress note color with your paint colors, from the Chart menu, select Setup > Chart Display Setup. In the Chart Display Setup dialog box, check Use Paint Colors for Progress Notes. Then click OK.

Try out some of these sorting features in the Progress Notes panel. Many of them can be combined for a more in-depth sorting experience (combine the sorting of columns with the selection of certain status buttons, for example). And if you need to undo all your column sorting and start all over from scratch, click the Default Sort button, which sets procedure notes back to a chronological order with the oldest notes at the top of the list.

For more tips and tricks.