Deleting Aged Data
- sarah.whiteacre (Unlicensed)
- Richard Harris
- Craig Obee
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Important Notes
Please use this tool with care as it can potentially delete important data with no means of undoing the deletion.
You require administration-level permission to delete aged data (you must be set as an Administrator under Configure > User Settings), or you need to belong to a Security Group to whom an Administrator has assigned permission specifically to use this tool.
If you attempt to run this tool while another user is running it, EXACT will pop up a warning and block your usage.
Backing up your database is strongly recommended because the Delete Aged Data procedure cannot be reversed. You will be asked if you have performed a backup of the database before being able to run the Delete Aged Data tool. EXACT does not check that this backup has been performed so it is entirely up to the practice to do this.
When EXACT looks for indications of whether a patient is active, it looks for both past interactions with the practice and for future scheduled interactions (so for example a patient may have been off the practice radar for 10 years, but actually have an appointment scheduled for next month, and is therefore considered as active).
When EXACT looks for indications of whether a patient is active, it differentiates between treatment charged and treatment completed because these don't necessarily occur simultaneously. A clinician may have completed treatment but only intends charging when some other condition is met - for example the patient has not been charged for anything in 10 years, but has three extractions completed in the last month, and therefore is considered active.
It is possible to delete the data of patients with a Debit balance - EXACT automatically writes off the debit balance before deleting the patient data.
It is not possible to delete the data of patients with a Credit balance. For such patients you will first need to make an equivalent adjustment in the patient file to bring the balance to zero, then refer back to the open Delete Aged Data tool screen.
Credit balance management must be done while the Delete Aged Data screen is open, otherwise EXACT sees the adjustment as a very recent transaction and disqualifies the patient from the aged data list.
Patients with no recorded Date of Birth (DOB) cannot normally be deleted as there is no means to confirm that they meet the minimum age requirements for deletion. However they can be deleted if they qualify for an Inactive Reason and you specify that reason in the Delete Aged Data parameters.
During the procedure, although all patient-identifying features are removed, patient transactions are retained against anonymous names in EXACT for reporting purposes. For example, the Invoiced Work by Owning Dentist Report still needs to reference invoiced work, and the Appointment Analysis Report still needs to reference appointments, even if these were made by aged data patients.
Deleted and Retained Data
Deleting Patient Aged Data
IMPORTANT:
You require administration-level permission to use this tool and all users must be logged off before. A backup must be taken before starting this process.
If you attempt to run this tool while another user is running it, EXACT will pop up a warning and block your usage:
To delete patient aged data
Select Administration > Delete Aged Data.
Read the warning:
Delete Aged Data Tool Warning: This tool will search for patients who have not had any activities on their accounts for the specified period. If selected, those patients' personal details will be obfuscated, but their historical activities will be retained. There is no undo to this process. It is strongly recommended that you take a backup before proceeding.
Select the Yes I have a valid Backup button only if you understand the consequences.
(If you are uncertain in any way click the Quit button to return to the EXACT main screen)The first page of the Delete Aged Data Wizard displays:
Read and follow the instructions.
Select the Next > button.
EXACT checks to see if you have sufficient security permissions for deleting from the documents and photos folder/s and the Xrays folder.
If you don't have sufficient permission you will see an error message:
The window includes a Re-check option. This allows you to edit security permissions and then check again.
When you have met all permissions requirements, select the Re-check button and the second screen of the Wizard displays:
The screen has two sections: Active patients and Inactive patients.
You can specify the parameters for deletion using Active, Inactive or both.
Change the default figures if required (Note that these are based on UK NHS specifications for deleting aged data).
WARNING: Consider changes to the default figures very carefully as it is possible to inadvertently delete large numbers of your active patients.
To delete the data of all Inactive patients leave the Inactive Reason field blank, otherwise choose an Inactive Reason by means of the selectors.
Patients with no recorded Date of Birth (DOB) cannot normally be deleted as there is no means to confirm that they meet the minimum age requirements for deletion. However they can be deleted if they qualify for a Reason Inactive, and you specify that reason.
From the View Inactive Reasons window you can add, edit or delete Inactive Reasons:
Select the Next > button.
The Delete Aged Data (identified patients) screen displays:
Identify patient data for deletion by checking the checkboxes.
In deciding which patient data to delete you can do the following:
Link to a patient File by clicking the patient's hyperlinked name.
Check if any outstanding treatments:
Check tooth history and if any uncharged treatments:
Check that no recalls are due:
Check the patient transactions:
Note that any debit amount displays in red text in the Delete Aged Data screen:
If you change the details for any patient you will be prompted with a caution that you need to un-select the patient to avoid data deletion.
With at least one patient selected the Delete Selected Patient Details button becomes active:
When you are certain of the selections, click the Delete Selected Patient Details button.
You will see a Final Confirmation window:Select Continue if you are certain.
A Deletion progress bar displays as the data is deleted:
You will see a Complete notification:
Select OK.
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