The exam is done. The doctor has explained the crown and walked out to the next room. The patient is in the chair with a number in her head and no idea what insurance covers. The next ten minutes decide whether the crown gets done.
That ten minutes is the treatment coordinator’s job. Everything else on this page supports it.
What does the role own?
| Area | Duty |
|---|---|
| Presentation | Sit with the patient after the exam. Show the plan, the insurance estimate and the patient’s share. Answer cost questions without the doctor present. |
| Financing | Know the payment plan, the third-party finance option and the phasing rules. Have the forms ready. |
| Booking | Put the first appointment on the book before the patient leaves. |
| Follow-up | Call every unbooked plan within seven days, again at 30, and keep the outcome in the plan note. |
| Status | Mark plans presented, accepted, declined or deferred in the software so the reports mean something. |
| Pre-authorisations | Send them the same day for anything that needs one, and chase the ones outstanding. |
| Hand-off | Tell the front desk and the clinical team what was booked and what needs a pre-auth or a lab slip. |
What does the day look like?
Before the first patient
- Open the Daily Huddle or the day’s schedule. For each patient coming in: planned treatment not yet booked, insurance remaining, balance due.
- Check pre-authorisations due back today.
- Pull yesterday’s exams with a plan presented and no appointment. Those are today’s first calls.
Between patients
- Sit in on the plan conversation for anything over an amount the doctor sets, say $500.
- Book before the patient leaves. If they want to think, book a phone follow-up date instead and write it down.
- Update the plan status in the software before the next patient.
Afternoon
- Work the unscheduled treatment list for 30 minutes, newest plans first. The unscheduled treatment page shows how to rank it.
- Send pre-auths and update the tracking sheet.
- Confirm the lab cases arriving tomorrow match the schedule.
End of day
- Log every call: booked, call back on a date, declined and why.
- Note tomorrow’s big cases and what each patient was told about cost.
Which three numbers should the coordinator track?
- Case acceptance by patient and by dollars, monthly, by provider. The case acceptance page gives the formulas with examples.
- Same-day booking rate. Plans presented today that left with an appointment, divided by plans presented today. If 12 plans were presented and 7 booked, that is 58.3%.
- Unscheduled treatment under 30 days old. Count and dollars. This is the list the coordinator can still influence. If it is $22,000 on Monday and $14,000 on Friday, the week worked.
A fourth, if you have the data: time from presentation to booking. Shorter is better and it is the first thing that gets worse when the role is understaffed.
Which reports feed the job?
- Open Dental. Reports, Treatment Finder for planned and unbooked procedures; the Unscheduled List for patients with no future appointment; Insurance benefits on the family module for remaining maximums.
- Dentrix. Office Manager, Reports, Lists, Unscheduled Treatment Plans; the Treatment Planner case statuses; Continuing Care for the hygiene side.
- Eaglesoft. The unscheduled treatment report under Reports; Money Finder for planned treatment with benefits remaining; the pre-authorisation tracking in the insurance area.
What goes wrong?
- Plans charted but never marked presented, so the acceptance rate looks worse than it is.
- Follow-up calls logged nowhere, so two people call the same patient.
- The coordinator also running the phones. The follow-up is the first thing dropped when the phone rings.
- Cost estimates given without checking the remaining benefit, which turns into a surprise bill and a cancelled second visit.
What Calibic adds
The treatment view is LIVE. Calibic reads treatment plans, appointments, benefits and the ledger from Open Dental, Dentrix and Eaglesoft (read-only, it never changes a record) and keeps the ranked unbooked list current each morning, with acceptance by provider beside it. It separates found from recovered: a plan is recovered only when the software shows it booked, completed and paid. Calibic does not text or call patients today; that is coming. The calls stay with the coordinator.
Next step: the treatment product page shows the coordinator’s view.