When two patients marry or move in together, or an elderly patient moves in with a family member who also happens to be a patient, you can combine two separate patient accounts into a single family account. By combining two accounts, you ensure that you have the correct contact information for the patients and that a single guarantor is designated for all patients on that account.
Watch this video to learn how to combine two patient records. (Duration 1:00)
Additional Tips
- In the Family File to which you want to merge another patient’s record, you can select any family member and then click Edit > Edit Family Relations. Family 1 will display the head of household (guarantor) and all family members.
- In the Edit Family tab, you can select any member of Family 2 that you wish to merge (or move) into Family 1.
- When you combine families, you cannot select the head of household of Family 2, which has at least one dependent family member, to move to Family 1. You can only merge all family members, including the head of household, into Family 1.
- To move a dependent family member from Family 2 into Family 1, use the “Move” button. To move all members of Family 2 into Family 1, use the “Merge” button.
- When you separate family members with an insurance subscriber and dependent relationship, Dentrix will clear the dependent patient’s insurance information.
- You cannot move a patient if the patient has any outstanding insurance claims (claims that you have not received). You can wait until the claim is paid, or delete the claim and recreate it under the new account. However, you can merge patients with outstanding insurance claims from Family 2 into Family 1.
- To learn more about combining two patient records, read Editing Family Relationships in Dentrix Help.
Check Your Knowledge
If you have access to Dentrix, check your knowledge with this exercise.
- Switch to the Dentrix demo database.
(Skip this step if you are using the Dentrix Learning Edition software.) - Use the following information to combine two patient records:
- Patient Michael Smith is moving in with his daughter Dora Kenner, who is also a patient.
- Move Michael to Dora’s family record.
- Dora should remain as the head of household for the combined account.