Patient Letters

Patient letters can be created directly from the Patient File by clicking on the ‘Create a Patient document’ button as shown below on the Patient Tool Bar.

If EXDOC is installed these letters are automatically stored on the patient’s ‘Contacts’ tab and can be viewed and/or edited by double-clicking on the required letter.

Without EXDOC the practice will be aware of the creation of a letter, through the letter symbol, but the actual letter itself will need to be either saved manually on one of the practice computers or printed in duplicate and the copy held on file.

Scanning Documents

If EXDOC is installed, documents received by the practice or existing correspondence regarding the patient can be scanned into a patient’s file from the ‘Contacts’ tab.

To setup the scanner in EXACT:

It is likely the scanner will have been set up by the hardware installer, and the scanner setup should only be changed if:

• New hardware is installed
• The scanning is not working.

From the ‘Contacts’ tab, click on the button and a window similar to the following will appear:

1. Click on the required Source and the Select button.
2. The scanner driver will now be installed.

To Scan a Document:

1. Click on the button.
2. Refer to the Scanning Software instructions to scan the document.
3. After scanning of the document is complete, the following screen will appear:

   

   This window enables the user to identify the scanned document using the available fields.

4. Select the patient who the scanned image relates to. (‘Patient’ will default to the patient record currently active).
5. If undertaking a bulk scanning session, click the button from any patient record; select the correct patient in the Document Details window. This will save each scanned document into the correct patient record.
6. Either use the date the image is being scanned or the date the original was created in the ‘Date’ field.
   Set a policy for the practice as to which date should be recorded.
7. Enter a meaningful Description that will easily distinguish this document from others the patient may already have on file. If scanning a multi-page document the description should include the page number.
8. The ‘Creator’ field should be changed to the name of the person who authored the document.
   Choose a Standard for entering Names such as Last name, Initial.
9. There are 6 Document Types; choose the one that best represents the scanned document type.
10. Certain scanner software produces reversed images (white text on black background). If this occurs, tick the ‘Invert Mono Images’ when scanning, to correct the problem.
11. Click on the ‘OK’ button to save the scanned image. This may take up to a couple of minutes depending on the size of the document and the speed of the PC.
    When this has been completed the document is displayed on the ‘Contacts’ tab in the Patient File as shown in the following example:

    

    NOTE: The Contact Entry shows the symbol (arrowed). This identifies it as a Scanned Document (Image).

Important - Storage Space Requirements:
Scanned Files can take up considerable storage space. It is recommend that scan be done with a resolution of 150-200 dots per inch (dpi) in black and white (monochrome).
It is also advisable to crop pictures so that only the actual information is scanned and not any white space bordering the page. The smaller the area selected, the less storage space required. For example, a full-colour image at 400 dpi takes 64 times as much space as a monochrome image at 200dpi.

Scanning to PDF

1. Select Configure > Practice Settings.
2. Under the Format for Scanned Documents header, select the PDF (multipage support) option:

   

   Note that the indication of which scanned documents file types support single / multi-page scanning.

3. Select OK.

Scanning to PDF

Single Page:

Select the single page option to generate a PDF file with 1 page, regardless of what the printer does.

Please only place one page in the scanner when scanning a single page.
Printer types have variable behaviour with scanning. When you select either Single or Multi page scanning, the scanner's own application launches, but even if the scanner opts to scan more than one page, EXACT will only save one of those pages in the PDF file. To avoid variable results where EXACT saves either the first or the last of multiple pages.

Multi Page:

EXACT stores the scanned pages in memory after completing the multipage scan option.

Once all the pages are scanned, EXACT displays an option dialogue asking whether or not you wish to add more pages to the scanned document.

Select NO to generate the PDF file with the pages scanned to that point.

Select YES to resurrect the printer's scanning software while EXACT holds the previously scanned pages in memory, then add further pages for further scanning to memory.

Scanner Memory Limitation:

Attempting to scan too many pages causes the scanner machine to run out of memory.

The size of the PDF file varies depending on the type of document being scanned:

• A primarily white page will typically be about 50kb in size.
• A dense image can be up to 1000kb in size.

The scanner software will likely display an error message when the scanner memory limit is reached. This varies between scanner products.

Importing Documents

EXDOC provides the ability to select documents saved on a computer and import these into the EXDOC Document Management System; making these imported documents available from the patient ‘Contacts’ tab.

This means, documents created and saved prior to installing EXDOC can be placed into the patient’s record, providing a convenient place to access and view a patient’s letters.

To Import an Existing Document:

1. Click on the button on the patient's Contacts screen; a window similar to the following will appear:

   

   
   

   NOTE: The default File Types are for Documents. Only documents that match these File Types will be displayed. Click on the down arrow to see further options. If in doubt select All Files(*.*). Under this setting you will see all the Files in the folder being viewed.

   
   

2. Locate the document to import and highlight it, then click the ‘Open’ button or double-click on it. The following screen will appear:

   

3. This window enables the user to identify the imported document using the available fields.
4. Select the patient the document being imported relates to. (The patient will default to the patient record you are using).
5. If undertaking a bulk importing session, click the import button from any patient record; select the correct patient in the Document Details window. This will save each imported document into the correct patient record.
6. Either use the date the document is being imported or when it was created in the ‘Date’ field. Set a policy for the practice as to which date should be recorded.
7. The Description will default to the imported document name. If dissatisfied with this enter a meaningful Description that will easily distinguish this document from others the patient may already have on file
8. The Creator should be changed to the name of the person who authored the document. Choose a Standard for entering names such as ‘Last name’, ‘Initial’.
9. There are 6 Document Types; choose the one that best represents the document you have imported.
10. Click on the ‘OK’ button; the Document will now be displayed in the ‘Contacts’ tab. The symbol selected will depend on the Type of File imported.

NOTE: EXDOC has copied the original document and placed the copy within the EXACT Dental system. If required, delete the original document from your computer to prevent duplication.