Eaglesoft: PMS Setup Guide

Topic

Eaglesoft Setup

For

Front Office Team

Read Time

~4 minutes

A step-by-step guide to managing your in-house dental membership plan in Eaglesoft.

Step 1: Design your membership plan structure

Before entering anything in Eaglesoft:

• Decide your membership fee (e.g., $299 annually).
• Define the included services (e.g., 2 exams, 2 cleanings, x-rays).
• Set guidelines (e.g., patient must stay on 6-month recall, max 3 broken appointments).
• Create add-ons if needed (e.g., a $149 perio rider).

Optional tier names:

• Silver Plan (e.g., seniors, 5% discount)
• Gold Plan (basic membership)
• Platinum Plan (includes perio maintenance)

Step 2: Set up employers for membership plans

Use the “Employer” feature in Eaglesoft to track membership start dates.

1. Go to List > Employer.
2. Create one employer per month (e.g., “Smile Advantage - Jan”, “Smile Advantage - Feb”, etc.).
3. Include the month and a number prefix to keep them organized alphabetically.
4. This lets you run marketing recall by plan renewal month (e.g., a reminder in December for January renewals).

Step 3: Create a dummy insurance company

Set up a non-billable insurance company to attach to your membership plans.

1. Go to List > Insurance Companies > New.
2. Name it the same as your employer (e.g., “Smile Advantage - Jan”).
3. Set Form Type to “None.”
4. Under Preferences, check Do Not Track Claims.
5. Use a dummy address like “Do Not Mail” to avoid accidental claim submissions.

Step 4: Create a fee schedule for your plan

This fee schedule reflects discounted fees and zero charges for included services.

1. Go to Lists > Fee Schedules > New.
2. Name it (e.g., “Smile Advantage Plan Fees”).
3. Set to 85% of UCR (or your desired discount).
4. Manually zero out fees for included services (exams, cleanings, x-rays).
5. Customize other fees (e.g., keep whitening at full price, round numbers for marketing).

Step 5: Link the membership to the patient

1. Open a patient record.
2. Go to the Preferences tab:
   • Attach the Smile Advantage employer.
   • Ensure no fee schedule is selected at the patient level (this overrides employer settings).
3. The patient is now enrolled.

Step 6: Walkouts and posting services

You can either:

• Use an “Exploding Code” for common bundles (e.g., “SmileAdv Visit, Adult”).
• Or post each service individually. The plan fee schedule will automatically zero out covered services.

Step 7: Show value to patients

1. Go to File > Preferences > Practice > Accounting.
2. Check the box: “Display Standard Fee and Adjustment on Walkout and Treatment Plan.”

Step 8: Handling monthly plans

1. Post the full annual plan fee to the account (e.g., $299).
2. Suppress statements if needed (Preferences > Account > Suppress Statements).
3. Each month, post a payment toward the membership.
4. Alternatively, use Eaglesoft’s Payment Plan feature to break it into 12 monthly installments.

Step 9: Automate membership icons (optional)

• To automatically display membership status on the schedule, contact Patterson Support to set up an Intellicare Indicator that triggers when a patient has the membership employer attached.
• The icon will display automatically, with no manual tagging required.

Step 10: Run reports to track production and compensation

To analyze how your plan is performing or to calculate provider credit, use the Managed Care Utilization report.

Report: Managed Care Utilization

• Go to Reports > Managed Care Utilization.
• Select your Smile Advantage fee schedule.
• Run it by provider and date range.
• It shows gross fees (UCR), adjusted fees, and quantity.

Use this data to:

• Track usage.
• Credit providers for exams (if desired).
• Allocate plan revenue.

Bonus tips

• Add special codes for “Additional Cleaning” or “Extra Perio Visit” so they are not auto-zeroed.
• Rebuild your plan’s fee schedule after fee increases (do not edit the existing one, create a new one).
• Use Money Finder to track hygiene retention of uninsured patients.

Access the Eaglesoft PMS setup guide

Related guides

• PMS Setup Guide (universal overview)
• Tracking Doctor Payments in Multi-Doctor Practices