Printing patient letters

You can print a patient letter by using a letter template in the system. You can print a standard letter by printing the template as-is or you can temporary customize it to better fit your needs and then print it. Modifications are only applied to the template temporarily, and the template reverts to its previous state when you navigate away from the letter templates.

Note: The patient letter or postcard can contain patient and practice information that has been merged into a letter template.

To create a letter for a patient

1. On the Letter to Patient window, select a letter template listed under a category.

   

2. (Optional) Change the contents and/or layout of the letter as necessary.

   Notes:

   • Changes you made to the letter is only applied to the printed letter, and cannot be saved. If you want to change the template permanently, you can do it on the Letters page.

   • A merge field displays in the template as text enclosed in square brackets (for example, [Patient_First_Name]), but the message that a patient sees will have the relevant information from your practice database inserted in place of the merge field (for example, [Practice Address] will be replaced with the practice address of a patient's preferred location).

   Tip: If you need to reset the entire content of the letter template back to its original text, clicktap Reset Letter Text.

3. (Optional) If necessary, set the Save to Document Manager toggle to No to prevent a copy of the letter being saved to the patient's document manager.

   Note: By default, the toggle is set to Yes to help Ascend Academic maintain a record of communications with the patient.

4. ClickTap Print Letter.

   A .pdf copy of the letter (merged with the applicable patient and/or practice information) displays on a new browser tab.

   Note: If a merge field corresponds to information that the patient does not have in their record, the merge fields are not merged with data:

   • Appointment reminder letter or postcard - If the patient does not have a future appointment, visit information cannot be merged.

   • Collection letter - If the patient does not have an aged balance that corresponds to the aging range of the letter, an account balance cannot be merged.

   • Treatment plan letter - If the patient does not have insurance coverage, insurance information cannot be merged. If the patient does not have a treatment plan, treatment plan information cannot be merged.

   • New patient welcome letter or postcard (before visit) - If the patient does not have a future appointment, visit information cannot be merged.

   • New patient welcome letter or postcard (after visit) - If the patient does not have a past appointment, visit information cannot be merged.

   • Recare due letter or postcard - If the patient does not have a future recare appointment, visit information cannot be merged.