> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bizaxl.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Clinic Settings
> How to configure Healthcare Settings for your dental clinic - patient notifications, billing rules, lab approvals, fee validity, inpatient settings, and all system-wide preferences.
Healthcare Settings is the master configuration page for the entire dental clinic system. Every setting here affects all users and all records. Configure these settings carefully before you go live, and review them whenever your clinic policies change.
Only users with the **Healthcare Administrator** role can access and modify Healthcare Settings.
***
## Opening Healthcare Settings
Go to Healthcare workspace → Settings card → **Healthcare Settings**
***
## Section 1: Patient Registration
| Setting | What It Controls | Recommended for Dental Clinic |
| ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Collect Fee for Patient Registration | Charges a one-time registration fee for new patients | Enable if your clinic charges a new patient registration or admin fee |
| Registration Fee | Amount charged | Set to your registration fee amount |
| Registration Item | Billing item for registration fee | Link to your registration fee billing item |
| Link Customer to Patient | Creates a billing customer record for each patient | Keep ON - required for all invoicing |
| Patient Name By | Whether to use First+Last Name or Full Name | Match your records style |
***
## Section 2: Notifications
Getting the notification messages right is important for a dental clinic. Patients need timely reminders, and for longer or more complex appointments, the message content should include practical preparation instructions.
| Setting | What It Controls | Recommended for Dental Clinic |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Send Registration Message | SMS to patient on registration | Enable with a welcome message |
| Registration Message | Text of welcome SMS | "Welcome to \[Clinic Name]. Please bring your previous dental records and X-rays (if any) to your first appointment. We look forward to caring for your smile." |
| Appointment Confirmation | SMS on appointment booking | Enable |
| Confirmation Message | Text of confirmation SMS | "Your dental appointment is confirmed for \[Date] at \[Time] with \[Doctor Name]. Please arrive 5 minutes early. If this is your first visit, please bring any previous X-rays and a list of your current medications. To cancel or reschedule, please call us at least 48 hours in advance." |
| Avoid Confirmation | Skip if confirmation already sent | Enable to prevent duplicate messages |
| Appointment Reminder | SMS before appointment | Enable |
| Reminder Message | Text of reminder SMS | "Reminder: Dental appointment tomorrow at \[Time]. Please arrive on time. For any queries, call us at \[Clinic Phone]." |
| Remind Before | How far in advance (hours:min:sec) | 2:00:00 (2 hours before) for most appointments |
**Sedation / Oral Surgery Appointment Tip:** For appointments involving IV sedation or general anaesthesia, the standard confirmation message template may not include nil-by-mouth instructions. Consider creating appointment type-specific reminder notes, or add the nil-by-mouth and escort requirement text to the confirmation message for all appointments, noting it is only relevant when specified by the clinic:
Suggested surgical appointment confirmation message addition: "If your appointment involves sedation, please follow these instructions: no food or drink for 6 hours before your appointment. You must bring a responsible adult who will drive you home and stay with you for the rest of the day."
***
## Section 3: Lab Configuration
| Setting | What It Controls | Recommended for Dental Clinic |
| ------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Do Not Print or Email Lab Tests Without Approval | Prevents releasing blood test results before a clinician review | Enable - pre-surgical results need clinical review before clearing the patient for sedation |
| Create Sample Collection for Lab Test | Auto-creates sample collection records | Enable if you collect blood samples in-house |
| Create Lab Test on SI Submit | Creates lab tests when invoice is submitted | Enable if patients pay before tests are processed |
| Result Printed Message | SMS when result is printed | "Your test result from \[Clinic Name] is ready. Your dentist will discuss the result at your next appointment." |
| Result Emailed Message | SMS when result is emailed | "Your test result has been emailed. Please check your inbox." |
***
## Section 4: Billing
| Setting | What It Controls | Recommended for Dental Clinic |
| ----------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Show Payment Popup | Payment collection popup at billing moments | Enable for front desk payment collection at each visit |
| Out Patient Consulting Charge Item | Billing item for outpatient consultations | Link to your dental examination/consultation billing item |
| Clinical Procedure Consumable Item | Billing item for procedure consumables | Link to a general dental consumables billing item |
| Allow Discharge Despite Unbilled Services | Permit discharge before billing is cleared | Disable for sedation patients - billing should be cleared before the patient leaves |
| Process Service Request Only If Paid | X-ray and lab orders only start after invoice is paid | Enable if your clinic collects X-ray fees before taking the X-ray |
| Income Account | Ledger for dental income | Link to your dental services income account |
| Receivable Account | Ledger for outstanding patient payments | Link to your accounts receivable |
***
## Section 5: Free Follow-ups
This setting covers post-procedure consultations that are included within the procedure fee.
| Setting | What It Controls | Recommended for Dental Clinic |
| ------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Enable Free Follow-ups | Allows free revisits after a paid consultation | Enable if post-operative reviews are included in procedure fees |
| Valid Number of Days | Duration of the free follow-up window | 30 days (covers standard post-operative review period after extractions) |
| Number of Patient Encounters in Valid Days | How many free revisits are included | 1 (one free post-operative review per procedure) |
Examples of how clinics apply this:
* Extraction fee includes one free 7-day post-operative review
* Scaling and root planing (periodontal treatment) includes one free 6-week review
* Root canal treatment includes one free recall X-ray at 6 months
***
## Section 6: Inpatient Settings (Sedation Cases)
| Setting | What It Controls | Recommended for Dental Clinic |
| --------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Inpatient Visit Charge Item | Billing item for practitioner visits to admitted patients | Link to your sedation visit fee item |
| Do Not Bill Patient Encounters for Inpatients | Inpatient consultations not billed separately | Enable if consultations are included in the sedation package fee |
| Validate Nursing Checklists | Prevents discharge if nursing checklist is incomplete | Enable for sedation cases - the pre-operative nursing checklist must be fully completed before any sedation procedure proceeds |
***
## Section 7: Clinical Orders
| Setting | What It Controls | Recommended for Dental Clinic |
| ------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Process Service Request Only If Paid | X-ray and blood test orders do not start until invoice is paid | Enable if your clinic requires pre-payment before investigations |
| Default Intent | Default intent for orders | Routine |
| Default Priority | Default priority | Routine |
| Default Code System | Medical coding standard used | ICD-10 |
***
## Patient History Settings
This controls which record types appear in the patient's history timeline.
Go to Healthcare workspace → Settings card → **Patient History Settings**
Recommended inclusions for a dental clinic:
* Patient Appointment (all visits)
* Patient Encounter (all dental examinations and consultations)
* Vital Signs (blood pressure and glucose before surgical procedures)
* Lab Test (pre-surgical blood tests)
* Clinical Procedure (all dental treatments, X-rays, surgical procedures)
* Diagnostic Report (OPG findings reports, IOPA reports)
* Clinical Note (any free-text notes)
* Inpatient Record (sedation procedure admissions)
Enabling all of these gives the dentist a complete picture of everything done for the patient without needing to search across multiple lists.
***
## Recommended Configuration Summary
| Setting | Value |
| -------------------------------- | -------------------------------- |
| Collect Registration Fee | Yes (if your clinic charges one) |
| Appointment Confirmation | ON |
| Appointment Reminder | ON, 2 hours before |
| Enable Free Follow-ups | ON, 30 days, 1 encounter |
| Lab Test Approval Required | ON |
| Show Payment Popup | ON |
| Allow Discharge Despite Unbilled | OFF (especially for sedation) |
| Validate Nursing Checklists | ON (for sedation safety) |
| Link Customer to Patient | ON |
***
## Troubleshooting
**Appointment confirmation SMS is not being sent**
Check that Appointment Confirmation is turned ON in Healthcare Settings and that the Confirmation Message text field is not empty. Check the patient's mobile number is recorded on their Patient record.
**Pre-surgical blood test results are being released before the clinician has reviewed them**
Turn ON "Do Not Print or Email Lab Tests Without Approval" and confirm at least one user has the LabTest Approver role assigned.
**The nursing pre-operative checklist is not preventing sedation procedures from proceeding when incomplete**
Turn ON "Validate Nursing Checklists" in Healthcare Settings and ensure the Nursing Checklist Template is linked to the relevant sedation procedure templates.
**Patients are being discharged from sedation without billing being completed**
Turn OFF "Allow Discharge Despite Unbilled Healthcare Services." The billing team must clear all procedure items before the inpatient record can be submitted for discharge.
**The consultation fee is not auto-filling when creating an invoice**
Check that the Appointment Type has a billing item linked in the Appointment Type record. Also confirm the "Out Patient Consulting Charge Item" is set in Healthcare Settings.
***
## Best Practices
* Test all notification messages with a test patient before the clinic goes live - check that the confirmation message reads well for different appointment types and includes relevant instructions
* Review Healthcare Settings with your front desk team and nursing team at least once a year - clinic policies change and the settings should reflect current policy
* For the free follow-up period, set it to exactly match what you tell patients at the time of procedure: if you say "call us for a free check within 2 weeks," set it to 14 days. Inconsistency between what is promised and what the system enforces creates billing disputes
* Keep the income account and receivable account settings in sync with your accounting team's chart of accounts - incorrect account mapping produces incorrect financial reports from day one
***
## Related Features
* [Appointments](/health-wellness/dental-clinic/appointments): Notification settings directly affect confirmation and reminder messages
* [Laboratory](/health-wellness/dental-clinic/laboratory): Lab approval settings control who can release blood test results
* [Billing and Finance](/health-wellness/dental-clinic/billing-finance): All billing rules are configured here
* [Inpatient Management](/health-wellness/dental-clinic/inpatient-management): Nursing checklist validation and discharge billing rules apply to sedation cases