System Settings Screen
The following section describes each of the settings found in System Settings.
System Settings Screen
Enter the annual interest rate you want to charge delinquent accounts. Valid entries are 0 - 99.99%.
If you enter an interest rate, a service charge disclosure prints on the patient billing statements. If you do not want a disclosure to print to the statements, set the annual interest rate to 0.
NOTE: NO interest will be charged on any account unless you run the Calculate Finance Charges utility. If you choose to charge interest, you can protect specific accounts from EVER receiving a charge by leaving the INTEREST box unchecked in the patient record of the family's guarantor.
A flat rate amount you would like to charge delinquent accounts.
Annual = traditional annual interest rate finance charge. Rate = Flat rate finance charge. Both = Either annual interest or flat rate charge whichever is greater.
Enter the length in days before an account should be considered delinquent. The service charge is determined based on the amount of the family's unpaid balance at least x days old. Valid entries are 1-999.
If you choose Yes, procedures pending insurance payment are considered when calculating service charges. If you choose No, procedures pending insurance payment are not considered when calculating service charges regardless of how delinquent they become.
Choose Yes if you want the option to file insurance claims electronically. Choose No if you always want to print insurance claims. Click here for important information on preparing your system to file claims electronically.
NOTE: The system will not prompt for this option if you have not purchased the electronic claims capability.
Enter the printer type you are using to print your ADA insurance form.
NOTE: If you have not purchased the Plain Paper Insurance Claims option, the system will not let you set either the Dental or Medical Claim Type to Laser. See Plain Paper Claims for more information on setting up your system for this capability.
Dot Matrix 2000 ADA format Continuous feed forms Dot Matrix 2002 ADA format Continuous feed forms Laser 2000 ADA format Plain paper laser forms Laser 2002 ADA format Plain paper laser forms
Dot Matrix HCFA 1500 Continuous feed forms Laser HCFA 1500 Plain paper laser forms
If you choose Yes, the system prints Signature on file and the current date on the insurance form where the patient would normally sign for the release of information. If Assignment is set to Yes on the subscriber's employer record, the system will also print Signature on file to authorize the payment to come to the dental office.
If you choose No, the system does not print Signature on file.
If you choose Yes, the system pauses each time you print an insurance claim and asks if you would also like a mailing label.
This is convenient if you print insurance in batch mode or have enough printers to always have one loaded with insurance forms and another loaded with labels. Otherwise you spend too much time switching the forms in your printer.
If you do not want to be interrupted by the Print Mailing Label? prompt each time you print an insurance claim, choose No.
NOTE: Some practices set this to No and use Insurance Mailing Labels to print sets of labels for their most commonly used companies. When needed, they get the appropriate label from the stack.
If you want the system to automatically make a note on the patient's ledger reflecting each time an insurance claims is produced, choose Yes. Otherwise, choose No.
The note will state 'Insurance Filed (xx)', where 'xx' will be:
PP If sent to Primary Carrier on Paper SP If sent to Secondary Carrier on Paper PE If sent to Primary Carrier Electronically SE If sent to Secondary Carrier Electronically
If you want the system to estimate how much insurance will pay on each procedure and bill the patient for his portion immediately, choose Yes. Otherwise, choose No. See Insurance Payment Estimating for important information on preparing your system to estimate insurance payments.
NOTE: The system will not prompt for this option if you have not purchased the insurance payment estimating capability.
Enter the number representing the type of patient billing statement you are using.
1 Continuous feed statements for windowed envelopes 2 Laser (single sheet) statements for windowed envelopes 3 Laser statements for windowed envelopes with nothing printed below the bottom fold line
Billing statements will not print for families with a balance due less than or equal to this amount. Valid entries are 0 - $99.99.
A family will not be billed for the portion of its balance that has been pending insurance payment less than this number of days. Valid entries are 1-999.
The family is billed for procedures that are no longer pending insurance payment or have been pending insurance payment over x number of days. Thus, if the insurance company does not respond promptly to the claim, the family is held responsible for the balance.
If you want to send billing statements monthly, choose No. If you want to use cycle billing, choose Yes.
When you use cycle billing, a bill prints for any family with a balance due who has not had a bill printed within the last 30 days. Therefore, you can print statements weekly or bi-weekly so the patient receives notice more quickly after having attained a billable balance without suffering the expense or potential bad faith of billing a patient more than once a month.
Lets you indicate when you would like the system to require the operator to enter a password to continue. The most common security level is 4.
NOTE: Regardless of the setting you choose here, the system keeps an audit trail of all edited transactions. NO transaction can be changed or deleted without your knowledge. See Audit Trail Reports.
5 No system security 1 Require password to get into program and all the following 2 Require password to get into ledgers and all the following 3 Require password to make simple transaction edits (like changing tooth#) and the following 4 Require password to edit dollar amounts and delete transactions
If you attempt to change the Security Level, the system will ask for your initials and password to verify you have authorization to be making this change. Only a person with a security level of 5 has such authority.
If you have not entered Office Personnel records that define each person's password and security level, you can use the dummy password that came with your system. The initials for your dummy password are: DTC. The password is also: DTC. When you have entered your office personnel records, it is advisable to change the DTC password level to 4.
Note: Be sure that at least one person in the office (usually the dentist) maintains a 5 level or you will lose complete access to changes.
See Office Personnel for more information on creating your personnel records and system security.
