How to Manage Patient Lab Cases

Related Training
Lab Cases Recorded Class

When an active lab case exists for the patient, a flask icon is displayed on the Appointment Tile as well as the Patient Home screen, Mini Card, and related patient interfaces, along with the number of lab cases and the status by color: Red for outstanding, and green for received.

• View and manage lab cases from multiple locations where the flask icon is displayed.
• On an appointment tile, hover your cursor over the flask icon to display the lab description.
• Click the flask icon to edit, remove, update the status of a lab case, create a new lab case, or view the lab case history.
• Create new lab cases from the Clinical screens, Treatment Plan, or from the flask icon on the Patient Mini Card.
• Use the Lab Case Management worklist (Location > To Do) to track and manage open lab cases for your location, update the status, or reopen a closed case.

Creating a Patient Lab Case

Important: Labs must be entered into Practice Settings before you can create patient lab cases. For more information, see How to Enter Lab Information. 

The Create New Lab Case option is available under Actions on the Hard Tissue Chart (US)/Dental Chart (UK), Clinical Chart/EMR, Treatment Plan, Orthodontic Clinical Summary, and Aligner/Mechanics Tracking as well as from the flask icon on the Patient Mini Card.

You can also create a new case when using the Lab Case Management worklist, as described below. 

Note: Required fields are indicated by bold text. The remaining fields are optional.  

To enter a patient lab case:

1. From the Patient tab, select one of the aforementioned screens.
2. Under Actions, select Create Lab Case. The Create New Lab Case window is displayed.
   
3. Enter the Created Date. This field defaults to today, but you can select a previous date.
4. Select a Provider.
   Note: You can also click the X icon next to the provider name to change the selection to No Provider.
5. Use the Associated Lab field to select from the list of labs used by your practice.
6. Enter a Description for the lab case.
7. Enter the Anatomy, if applicable.
8. Enter the Shade, if applicable.
9. Select the Expected Date of delivery. The Status defaults to Lab Not Ready. 
   Note: You can edit the status to Received (green) when the lab case is returned.
10. Enter any applicable Lab Fees.
11. Enter the associated Invoice Number.
12. Click Create. The lab case is added to the Lab Case Management worklist, and the flask icon is automatically activated/updated throughout the patient interfaces.

Using the Lab Case Management Worklist

Use this worklist to view and update lab cases for your location, mark cases as received or closed, and create new lab cases if needed. 

You can filter the list by patient, lab, provider, the age of the lab, the expected delivery date, or the created date. You can also show lab cases for patients with scheduled appointments (and indicate a date range for the appointments) or hide closed lab cases so that only active cases are displayed.

To use the worklist:

1. From the Location tab, select To Do > Lab Case Management. The Lab Case Management window is displayed.
   
   Tip: Use the scroll bar at the bottom of the list to view additional columns.
2. Use the filters to refine the list as needed, or click the column headings to sort the list.
   -- Search Patients: Search for and select a specific patient.
   -- Labs: Select one or more labs.
   -- Providers: Select one or more providers. 
   -- Labs Age: Select the age of the lab cases to display, such as labs that are more than 7 days old. 
   -- Lab Cases due: Select the timeframe for the lab case due dates (e.g., labs due in the next 7 days, etc.).
   -- Labs Created: Select the associated dates for the lab creation (e.g., Last 7 Days, This Year, etc.).
   -- Show Lab Cases with Scheduled Appointments: Select this option to display the lab cases for patients that have scheduled appointments. If this option is selected, you can also set the timeframe for the Appointments Scheduled (e.g., Next 14 Days). 
   -- Hide Closed Lab Cases: This option is selected by default, but you can deselect it to show closed lab cases, for example, if you want to reopen a closed case. 
   Note: You must click Apply Filter after making any filter selections to apply them to the list. Click Reset to return to the default filter options.
3. Select an item to display the details.
   
4. From here you can:
   - Select Update Lab Case to display the Update window and edit the details.
   - Select Close Lab Case to mark it as closed.
   - Select Mark As Received to indicate it has been received from the lab, but not delivered to the patient. This option turns the flask icon green and updates the Status column to Open - Received, along with the date received.

Click the Cog icon next to Manage Management View to:

• Click Select Columns ([# of Selected Columns] of [# of Total Columns]) to select the columns to display in the Lab Case Management list. You can also use the icon to click-and-drag the columns and re-order them in the list. 
  
  Note: Click Save to apply any changes to the list.
• Select Display Compact View if you want to decrease the size of the line items to fit on one line.

Tip: From the Lab Case Management list, click Export under the Actions menu to export the list to a .CSV file.

Manage a Patient's Lab Cases

To view and manage lab cases for a patient, click the flask icon from the Patient Mini Card or any other location in the software where it is displayed.


 You can use the icons to update a lab case:
-- Click the icon to edit the lab case.
-- Click the icon to mark the lab case as received. You can toggle the checkmark and icon to change the status (expected/received) as needed.
-- Click the icon to close the lab case.
Note: You also have the option to view the lab case History, or click New to create a new lab case. The Current tab is a list of non-closed lab cases for the patient. The History tab is a list of all lab cases for the patient (in their current state), open or closed.

Create a New Lab Case

To create a new lab case from the worklist:

1. Under Actions, select Create New Lab Case. You are prompted to search for and select a patient. The Create New Lab Case window is displayed.
2. Enter the information for the lab case as needed. 
   Note: The Created Date, Associated Lab, Description, and Expected Date fields are required.
3. Click Create. The lab case is added to the Lab Case Management worklist, and the flask icon is automatically activated/updated throughout the patient interfaces.

Reopen a Closed Lab Case

If a lab case was accidentally closed, or needs to be sent back to the lab for corrections, you can reopen it.

To reopen a closed lab case:

1. From the Lab Case Management worklist, deselect the Hide Closed Lab Cases checkbox.
2. Click Apply Filter to apply the change. Closed lab cases are displayed in the list.
3. Select the lab case you want to reopen, and click Reopen Lab Case.