Patient Recall Management
- What is Recall Management?
- Where to Find Everything
- Your Daily Worklist
- Working with Patients
- Viewing Recall History
- Setting Up Recall Types
- Decline Reasons Setup
- Reschedule Reasons Setup
- Appointment Status Setup
- Patient Record Details
- How Automatic Updates Work
- Quick Reference
1. What is Recall Management?
The Patient Recall Management system helps you keep track of when patients need to come back for their next appointment. It automatically:
- 📅 Tracks Recall Dates - Knows when each patient should return for their next exam
- 📞 Shows Who to Call - Creates a daily list of patients you need to contact
- 🤖 Updates Automatically - Calculates new dates when exams are completed
- 📝 Keeps History - Records all changes for tracking and auditing
Two Important Dates to Know
| Date | What It Means | When It Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Recall Date | When the patient should have their next exam (based on their recall type like "Annually" or "Every 2 years") | Only when an exam is completed |
| Follow-up Date | When YOU should contact the patient | When appointments are cancelled/rescheduled, OR when exams are completed |
💡 Simple Way to Think About It:
Recall Date = When the patient should come in
Follow-up Date = When you should call them
2. Where to Find Everything
Everything is organized under the Recall Management menu:
| Menu Item | What It's For | Who Uses It |
|---|---|---|
| 📋 Patients Needing Recall | Your main daily worklist - patients to contact | PCU staff (daily) |
| 📜 Recall History | See all recall changes made across all patients | PCU staff, Managers |
| ⚙️ Configuration (Usually set up by managers) | ||
| • Recall Types | Define periods like "Annually", "Every 2 years" | Managers |
| • Decline Reasons | Standard reasons when patients say no | Managers |
| • Reschedule Reasons | Reasons for cancelled/moved appointments | Managers |
| • Appointment Status | Status settings that trigger recall updates | Managers |
3. Your Daily Worklist
When you open Patients Needing Recall, you see your daily work queue. The system automatically shows you patients who need to be contacted today.
Figure 1: The Patients Needing Recall screen when all follow-ups are done for the day
What the Filters Mean
Notice the purple filter tags at the top of the screen. These automatically filter your list to show only patients who:
- Follow-up Due Today - Their follow-up date is today
- No Appointment Booked - They don't already have a future appointment
- Not Declined - They haven't declined their recall
ℹ️ Good News! When you see "No patients need recall follow-up today", it means you've caught up on all your calls for the day!
How to See More Patients
You can click the ✕ on any filter tag to remove it and see more patients. For example:
- Remove "Follow-up Due Today" to see patients with upcoming or overdue follow-ups
- Remove "No Appointment Booked" to include patients who already have appointments
- Remove "Not Declined" to see patients who previously declined
4. Working with Patients
When you have patients in your list, here's what you'll see and what you can do:
Figure 2: The patient worklist showing patients needing recall with their status badges
Understanding Each Column
| Column | What It Shows | Can You Edit It? |
|---|---|---|
| Patient | Patient's name with a link icon to open their full record | No |
| Cell / Other | Phone numbers to call | No (edit in patient record) |
| Recall Type | How often they should come in (Annually, Every 2 years, etc.) | ✅ Yes - click to change |
| Recall Date | When their next exam should be | ✅ Yes - click to change |
| Decline Reason | Why patient declined (if they did) | ✅ Yes - select when patient declines |
| Follow-up Date | When to contact them next | ✅ Yes - click to change |
| Notes | Your notes about this patient's recall | ✅ Yes - type your notes |
| Recall Status | Badge showing if recall is upcoming, due, or overdue | No (calculated automatically) |
| Follow-up Status | Badge showing if follow-up is upcoming, due today, or overdue | No (calculated automatically) |
| 📅 Button | Book an appointment for this patient | Click to book |
Understanding the Status Badges
Recall Status Badges:
- UPCOMING - Recall date is in the future (good!)
- DUE TODAY - Recall date is today
- OVERDUE < 30 DAYS - Less than a month overdue
- OVERDUE 1-2 YEARS - Significantly overdue (priority!)
Follow-up Status Badges:
- UPCOMING - Follow-up date is in the future
- DUE TODAY - You should call today!
- OVERDUE - Should have called already
- NO FOLLOW-UP SET - No follow-up date assigned
💡 Quick Tip: You can edit most fields directly in this list! Just click on a cell to change it. The system saves automatically.
When a Patient Declines
- Find the patient in the list
- Click on the Decline Reason column
- Select the appropriate reason (like "Will Call Back" or "Cost concerns")
- The Follow-up Date will automatically be calculated based on the reason you selected!
- Add any notes in the Notes column
5. Viewing Recall History
The Recall History screen shows you every recall-related change that's happened. This is useful for:
- Seeing what changes were made and when
- Knowing who made changes
- Understanding why dates changed
- Auditing and compliance
Figure 3: Recall History showing all recall-related activities across patients
Understanding the Action Types
| Action Type Badge | What Happened |
|---|---|
| Exam Completed | An exam was finished and the recall date was automatically updated |
| Follow-up Set | The follow-up date was changed (usually from a cancelled/rescheduled appointment) |
| Recall Updated | Someone manually changed the recall information |
| Patient Declined | Patient declined their recall - has a "Mark as Declined" button |
What Each Column Shows
- Date/Time - When the change happened
- Patient - Which patient
- Action Type - What type of change (see table above)
- New Recall Date - What the recall date was changed to
- New Follow-up Date - What the follow-up date was changed to
- New Recall Type - The recall type (Annually, etc.)
- Decline Reason - If declined, why
- By - Who made the change
6. Setting Up Recall Types
Path: Recall Management → Configuration → Recall Types
Recall Types define how often patients should return for exams. Your clinic sets these up based on clinical guidelines.
Figure 4: Configuration screen for Recall Types
Current Recall Types
| Recall Type | Months | Weeks | Days | Total Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annually | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 year |
| Every 2 years | 24 | 0 | 0 | 2 years |
| Every 3 years | 36 | 0 | 0 | 3 years |
| every day | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 day (for testing) |
ℹ️ Example: If a patient has "Annually" as their recall type and completes an exam today (January 5, 2026), their new recall date will be January 5, 2027.
Adding a New Recall Type
- Click the New button
- Enter a name (like "Every 6 months")
- Set the Months, Weeks, and/or Days
- Save
7. Decline Reasons Setup
Path: Recall Management → Configuration → Decline Reasons
Decline Reasons are standard reasons staff can select when a patient declines their recall appointment. Each reason has a built-in follow-up period.
Figure 5: Decline Reasons with their automatic follow-up periods
How Decline Reasons Work
When you select a decline reason for a patient, the system automatically calculates when to follow up:
| Reason | Follow-Up Period | Example Use |
|---|---|---|
| Already scheduled elsewhere | 3 months | Patient going to another provider |
| Cost concerns / affordability | 3 months | Patient can't afford it right now |
| Will Call Back | 1 month | Patient wants to check schedule |
| Too Expensive / Financial | 6 months | Significant financial barrier |
| Vision Stable / No Issues | 12 months | Patient feels no need for exam |
| Busy Schedule | 3 months, 2 weeks | Patient is too busy right now |
| Using Another Provider | No auto follow-up | Patient has switched providers |
| No Longer a Patient | No auto follow-up | Patient has left the practice |
💡 Pro Tip: When you select a decline reason from the patient list, the follow-up date is calculated automatically. You don't need to do any math!
8. Reschedule Reasons Setup
Path: Recall Management → Configuration → Reschedule Reasons
Reschedule Reasons are used when appointments are cancelled or rescheduled. These are selected on the appointment itself (not on the patient list).
Figure 6: Reschedule Reasons configuration
Available Reschedule Reasons
| Reason | Follow-Up Period | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| No Show | No auto follow-up | Patient didn't arrive for appointment |
| Late | No auto follow-up | Patient arrived too late |
| Reschedule | No auto follow-up | Appointment moved to another date |
⚠️ Note: These reasons are linked to appointment statuses that have "Reason Required" enabled. When such a status is selected on an appointment, staff must also select a reschedule reason.
9. Appointment Status Setup
Path: Recall Management → Configuration → Appointment Status
This is where you configure which appointment statuses trigger recall updates. This is the most important configuration for how the automatic system works.
Figure 7: Appointment Status configuration with recall trigger checkboxes
The Two Important Checkboxes
| Checkbox | What It Does | When to Enable |
|---|---|---|
| ☑️ Reason Required | Staff must select a reschedule reason. System updates the Follow-up Date only. | For statuses like: Cancelled, Rescheduled, No Show |
| ☑️ Update Recall | System automatically updates both Recall Date AND Follow-up Date based on the service or patient's recall type. | For exam completion statuses like: Checked Out, Exam Complete |
⚠️ Important Rule: A status can have only one of these checkboxes enabled, not both! They do different things.
Current Status Configuration
| Status | Booking Status | Reason Required | Update Recall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checked In | ☑️ | — | — |
| Walk In | — | — | — |
| Exam Complete | — | — | — |
| Checked Out | — | — | ☑️ |
| Scheduled | ☑️ | — | — |
| No Show | ☑️ | ☑️ | — |
| Rescheduled | ☑️ | ☑️ | — |
| Cancelled | ☑️ | ☑️ | — |
ℹ️ What This Means:
• When appointment is marked "Checked Out" → Recall date is automatically updated
• When appointment is "Cancelled", "Rescheduled", or "No Show" → Staff must select a reason, and follow-up date updates
10. Patient Record Details
You can view individual patient recall information from their patient record. Look for the Recall Logs button in the top area.
Figure 8: Patient form showing the Recall Logs smart button (top right area)
Finding Recall Information on a Patient
- Open the patient's record
- Look for the Recall Logs button in the button area at the top (shows a number indicating how many log entries exist)
- Click it to see all recall history for just this patient
Figure 9: Recall History filtered for a specific patient
💡 Note: The patient-specific recall history shows the same information as the main Recall History screen, but filtered to show only that one patient's records.
11. How Automatic Updates Work
Here's a simple explanation of when and how recall dates are updated automatically:
Scenario 1: Patient Completes Their Exam
What Happens:
- Front desk marks appointment as "Checked Out" (or any status with "Update Recall" ☑️)
- System looks at the service performed to find the recall type
- If no recall type on service, uses patient's default recall type
- Calculates new recall date (today + recall period)
- Updates both Recall Date and Follow-up Date
- Creates a log entry
- Shows a notification to the staff member
Example:
- Patient: John Smith
- Today: January 5, 2026
- Service performed: Comprehensive Eye Exam (has "Annually" recall type)
- Result: John's recall date is now January 5, 2027
Scenario 2: Appointment is Cancelled
What Happens:
- Staff marks appointment as "Cancelled" (or any status with "Reason Required" ☑️)
- System prompts for a reschedule reason
- Staff selects a reason (like "Patient Requested Reschedule")
- System calculates new follow-up date based on the reason's period
- Updates only the Follow-up Date (Recall Date stays the same)
- Creates a log entry
Example:
- Patient: Jane Doe
- Appointment cancelled with reason: "Reschedule" (2 week follow-up)
- Result: Jane's follow-up date is now 2 weeks from today
- Her recall date remains unchanged
Scenario 3: Patient Declines When You Call
What Happens:
- You call the patient from your worklist
- Patient says they don't want to come in
- You select a Decline Reason in the patient list
- System automatically sets the follow-up date based on the reason
- Patient is flagged as "Declined" (appears muted in the list)
Example:
- Patient: Bob Wilson
- You select decline reason: "Will Call Back" (1 month follow-up)
- Result: Bob's follow-up date is now 1 month from today
- Bob appears grayed out in the list until his follow-up date
12. Quick Reference
Daily Workflow Checklist
- Open Patients Needing Recall - your filtered worklist appears
- Work through each patient - call them, update notes
- If patient books: Click 📅 to schedule their appointment
- If patient declines: Select a Decline Reason - follow-up date auto-calculates
- If patient needs callback later: Set the Follow-up Date manually
- Add Notes about each call
- When list is empty, you're done for the day! 🎉
Status Badge Quick Guide
| Badge | Color | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Overdue 2+ Years | Red | 🔴 Highest - contact immediately |
| Overdue 1-2 Years | Red | 🔴 High priority |
| Overdue 6-12 Months | Orange | 🟠 Medium-high |
| Due Today | Blue | 🔵 Contact today |
| Upcoming | Green | 🟢 No action needed yet |
Where to Find Things
| I Want To... | Go To... |
|---|---|
| See patients to call today | Recall Management → Patients Needing Recall |
| See all recall changes made | Recall Management → Recall History |
| See one patient's recall history | Patient form → Recall Logs button |
| Add a new recall type | Configuration → Recall Types → New |
| Add a new decline reason | Configuration → Decline Reasons → New |
| Change which statuses update recall | Configuration → Appointment Status |
Remember!
| ✅ Exam Completed
Updates BOTH recall date and follow-up date |
❌ Cancelled/Rescheduled
Updates ONLY follow-up date |
🚫 Patient Declined
Updates ONLY follow-up date + flags as declined |
Patient Recall Management Module | Version 18.0.2.0.0