Get Your Patients Ready for the D7

Accurate practice setup is only part of meaningful D7 reporting. The information maintained in each patient’s chart also determines what appears on the D7 Patient Care Tracking report.

Review patient records regularly to make sure treatment dates, statuses, plans, and other treatment information reflect the patient’s actual treatment.

Use the D7 to Find Missing Patient Information

The D7 Patient Care Tracking report isn’t just for reporting. It can also help you identify patient information that needs attention.

Access the D7 Patient Care Tracking report by going to Matrix > D7 Patient Care Tracking.

As you review any report or category in the D7, look for missing or inaccurate information.

See something that needs to be updated? Double-click the patient top open their chart and make the correction.  

Use the D7 regularly to find missing information, update patient charts, and improve the accuracy of your reporting.

Assign the Treatment Coordinator

Select the Treatment Coordinator working with the patient. This allows you to track patient activity and D7 results by Treatment Coordinator.

Keep Treatment Statuses Current

A patient’s Treatment Status helps determine where they appear throughout the D7 Patient Care Tracking report so keeping it current is essential for accurate patient tracking.

Update the Treatment Status as the patient moves through each stage of the treatment process. Don’t skip intermediate statuses simply because the patient may eventually move into Active Treatment.

For example, accurately updating the Treatment Status gives you visibility into patients who are:

• Still deciding whether to proceed with treatment
• Being monitored or observed before treatment
• Waiting for specialty care to be completed
• In Active Treatment
• In Final Retention
• At another stage of your practice’s patient care process

If the Treatment Status doesn’t reflect where the patient is right now they may not appear where you expect them in the D7. For example, a patient who has started treatment but has not been moved to an Active Treatment status will not appear with your Active Treatment patients. Likewise, a patient in retention will not appear in the applicable Retention reporting if their status has not been updated appropriately.

Some Treatment Status changes can be automated by linking a status to an Appointment Type, but statuses should still be reviewed throughout the patient’s care to make sure they reflect the patient’s current stage.  For more information on having an appointment automatically update a treatment status, see the related articles at the bottom of this page.

Remember: Treatment Status isn’t just a chart label—it tells the D7 where the patient is in your practice’s treatment process.

Select the Treatment Disposition

While the Treatment Status identified where the patient is now, the Treatment Disposition identifies where the patient is headed next.  

At each appointment, review the patient’s Treatment Status and select the appropriate Treatment Disposition based on the next step in their care.

A Treatment Disposition must be entered before you can move to the Next Procedure field. If your practice has linked Treatment Dispositions to their Usual Next Appointment in practice set-up, the appropriate next Appointment Type can also automatically populate.

Keeping both the Treatment Status and Treatment Disposition current gives you a clearer picture of where each patient is now and where they are going next.

Verify the Active Treatment Phase and Plan

Make sure the patient’s correct Treatment Phase and Treatment Plan are active.

Also review previous phases and plans. Incorrect information on a past plan can affect D7 Patient Care Tracking data.

Verify the Treatment Method

Make sure the patient’s Treatment Method accurately represents the treatment being provided.

Treatment Methods allow the D7 Matrix to evaluate information such as treatment duration and financial performance across different methods.

Because a patient can only be assigned to one Treatment Method at a time, choose the method that best represents the patient’s current treatment.

Verify Estimated Treatment Length

Review the patient’s estimated minimum and maximum treatment length and make sure both values accurately reflect the expected treatment duration.

The D7 uses this information to determine Months Remaining and to identify patients who are:

• Near Treatment Finish Zone
• In Treatment Finish Zone
• Extended Treatment

Incorrect or missing estimates can make these groups less meaningful.

Review Treatment Start and End Dates

Make sure treatment start and end dates are populated correctly for each applicable Treatment Phase and Treatment Plan.

These dates help the D7 determine the patient’s treatment period and are used when calculating visit and financial information.

An end date is particularly important for Value per Treatment Visit and Value per Total Visit.  If the treatment case does not have an end date, these values will display as 0.  Additionally, once an end date has been entered, Tops stops calculating broken brackets as it's assumed with an end date that the appliances have been removed.

Review the Financial Status

If your practice uses Financial Statuses, select the appropriate Financial Status for the patient. The default Financial Status is Standard.

Financial Statuses can be customized in:

Tops Ortho > Practice Set-up > Labels > Financial Status

Keep the patient’s Financial Status current so your D7 reporting reflects the financial categories your practice has established.

Review the Appointment Information

Accurate appointment information is essential for D7 visit calculations.

Regular Treatment Visits are counted when the appointment is completed and falls within the patient’s treatment phase case period. Records, Recall, Consult, Retention, New Patient Exam, and Emergency appointments are excluded from the regular Treatment Visit count.

Emergency Visits are tracked separately and are included in Total Visits regardless of appointment status.  Example: If you schedule an emergency appointment and reschedule it to a different day, it counts as two emergency visits.

If an individual appointment has been classified incorrectly, review its appointment information and make the appropriate correction.

Complete and Dismiss Patients When Appropriate

When a patient has completed treatment and no longer requires retention visits, update the patient’s Treatment Status to Dismissed Indefinitely, and add a Dismissal Reason to provide additional insight.  

Then archive the patient by checking the Dismissed box.

Keeping completed patients active when they are no longer receiving care can make D7 patient tracking less representative of your current patient population.

Make D7 Maintenance Part of Your Workflow

The D7 reports the information entered into Tops Ortho. The more consistently your team maintains patient information, the more useful the report becomes.

As part of your regular workflow, review:

• Treatment Status
• Treatment Phase and Plan
• Treatment start and end dates
• Estimated treatment length
• Treatment Method
• Financial Status
• Appointment classifications
• Completion and dismissal information

Keeping these fields current gives your team a more reliable view of treatment progress, patient care, and practice performance.

Give Your Data Time to Build

Start using the D7 now to review your patients and identify information that needs attention. As your team consistently reviews Treatment Statuses, Dispositions, dates, and other patient information at each appointment, your D7 data will continue to improve.

After a typical 6-12 week appointment cycle, you’ll have even more complete information—giving you greater visibility into where your patients are throughout the practice.