Eaglesoft recall report: finding patients due with nothing scheduled

Running the recall report with the Recall Wizard

Patterson's Eaglesoft support site describes a recall report built from the Recall Wizard, the same tool offices use to send recall notices. The documented steps:

1. Go to Activities | Recall Wizard.
2. On the third window of the wizard, set Send To to the option for patients due for cleanings but with no scheduled preventive appointment. Patterson notes the label reads "Patients Due for Future Cleanings, but No Scheduled Preventive Appt." in earlier versions and "Patients Due for Cleanings but No Scheduled Preventive Appt." in version 17 and later.
3. Enter the date range of due dates you want. Patterson's example is next month's dates for next month's report. For an overdue list, use a range that ends today and starts at the oldest due date your team will work this round.
4. Process the Recall Wizard as usual.

Choosing the date range: due soon vs. overdue

The same report answers two different questions depending on the range you enter, and it helps to run both.

Due soon (next month's dates): patients coming due who haven't booked yet. These are the cheapest visits to save, because a reminder before the due date is usually enough. Many offices send these through their normal recall notices.

Overdue (a range ending today): patients whose date has already passed. Split this range into bands, such as 3 to 6 months, 6 to 12, 12 to 24 and 24+ months past due, by running the report once per range. Each band needs different wording, and you'll want to know which band is growing. Our dental recall text message templates and overdue dental recall letter samples are organized by those same bands.

Why patients go missing from the report

If a patient you know is overdue doesn't appear, Patterson's support site lists three things to check:

1. Receive Recalls is off. In Lists | Person, edit the person, click Preferences, and make sure Receive Recalls is checked.
2. The Next Recall date is wrong. In the same person record, check that the Next Recall field shows the right date.
3. Appointment types don't update the right recall. Under Lists | OnSchedule | Appointment Types, check that each preventive appointment type is set to update the next preventive appointment. Patterson also notes that recall is tracked for one type of service rather than by individual service codes.
4. Then spot-check. Compare five patients from each run against their records. If two or three look wrong, fix the setup before working the list, or the team will lose faith in it.

Money Finder: the second view

Patterson describes Money Finder as a tool that shows uncompleted treatment, patients due or overdue for recall, and patients who have not been seen in the last year, with the number of patients in each group and the dollars they represent. It also describes a Money Finder report of patients overdue for recall whose insurance covers preventive services in full, and a Maximize Insurance category for patients with outstanding treatment and remaining benefits.

That makes Money Finder useful for two things the Recall Wizard report doesn't show at a glance: the size of the opportunity in dollars, and which overdue patients have the fewest cost objections. Start calls with the group whose coverage makes saying yes easiest.

Patterson's materials also mention a Recall Note field, updated on the patient setup screen, that can carry a short note about uncompleted treatment onto the route sheet and reports. Keep anything clinical there, in the record, and out of any text or letter.

Working the report each week

1. Monday: run the overdue range and note the count per band.
2. Contact the most recently overdue first. They book most easily. Choose text, call or letter based on the contact details and consent on file.
3. Record every contact in the patient record so nobody calls the same person twice in one day.
4. Update records as you go: moved, transferred, new phone number, new insurance. Uncheck Receive Recalls only for patients who asked not to be contacted or have left.
5. Friday: count how many patients from Monday's run now have a preventive appointment. Watch that number over time, not just the size of the list.

Illustrative math: one office, one month

These figures are illustrative. Say the overdue run shows 210 patients, and 60 of them are 3 to 6 months past due. If a preventive visit is worth $175 and weekly contact books 18 of those 60, that's $3,150 in visits from one band. If Money Finder shows 40 overdue patients whose plans cover preventive care in full and the team books 15 of them, that's another $2,625, with fewer cost conversations along the way.

Those visits often lead to treatment found at the exam, which isn't counted here. The point is that the report already in Eaglesoft is a working revenue list, as long as someone works it every week.