Two fillings done, one still to go
A patient has a course of treatment with three items. Two are done today. At the desk they say they will ring to book the last one once they have checked their work rota. They do not ring. Months later, the course is still open in the practice management system, the tooth has not been treated and the next recall reminder goes out as if nothing is outstanding.
Each individual case looks minor. Across a practice, there are many of them, and nobody has a list.
It happens most with patients who have several appointments ahead, such as a series of fillings or a root canal followed by a crown. The first visit goes well, and the rest depend on the patient remembering to ring.
Why courses of treatment stall
- Checkout is busy, and booking the next visit is easy to skip if the patient hesitates.
- The system shows the open course only if someone looks at the treatment plan.
- Patients who say they will ring are not followed up.
- Open courses are not reviewed routinely.
- Recall reminders do not mention outstanding treatment.
What stalled courses cost
Treatment the dentist decided was needed is not done. For NHS courses, an open course has contract and claiming consequences that your practice will know well. For private courses, income is delayed or lost. And a patient who returns much later may need more work than before.
It also clutters the records. A practice with many long-open courses cannot easily tell which are genuinely in progress and which were abandoned, and that makes every other report less reliable.
The open-course check we build
- Every day, open courses of treatment are read from your practice management system and compared with booked appointments.
- At checkout, reception sees a prompt when the patient in front of them has outstanding items and no next appointment.
- Patients who leave without booking get a message a day or two later with a link to book or a request to call, in your words.
- If they still have not booked after a period you set, a call task goes to reception with the plan summary.
- A review list shows courses open beyond a threshold, by clinician, for the practice manager to deal with according to your policies.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| At checkout, no next visit | Prompt on reception screen |
| Left without booking | Message with booking link |
| Still not booked | Call task with plan summary |
| Open beyond threshold | Listed for practice manager |
How long a course may stay open and what happens to courses that are not completed is decided by your practice, and for NHS courses by the rules that apply to you.
Fewer loose ends in the treatment book
Most patients book before leaving, prompted at the right moment. Those who do not are followed up without anyone keeping a list. Clinicians see fewer surprises at the next exam. The practice manager can see open courses at a glance.
Receptionists also find the prompt helpful because it gives them a natural reason to raise the next visit. The screen says treatment is outstanding, so asking to book is simply part of checkout rather than a push.
Does this happen at your practice?
- Patients say they will ring to book and do not.
- Courses of treatment stay open for months.
- Reception has no prompt at checkout for outstanding treatment.
- Nobody reviews open courses routinely.