Automation Overview

Open Automation from the main clinic workspace.

Automation shows operational work as kanban boards. Each card is a record that needs attention, and each column is a stage. The team can review queued records, open patient context, move cards forward, export stage data, and create focused board views for different workflows.

Configuration links

• Notification Templates
• Users
• Branches and Rooms

Stages and custom views are configured directly inside Automation with the Configure button.

Main automation boards

Automation can show these boards from the left-side board selector:

• Visits: appointments grouped by workflow stage.
• Follow-Ups: patients who need attention after a canceled visit, recall, or past visit.
• Tasks: clinic tasks that need to be reviewed or completed.
• Invoices: patient invoices that need billing follow-up.
• Requests: patient portal requests that need team action.

Laboratory and insurance boards may appear as placeholders when those workflows are not enabled yet.

Follow-Up modes

The Follow-Ups board has additional modes:

• Canceled: patients connected to canceled visits.
• Recalls: patients with planned recall tasks.
• Past Visits: patients whose previous visit should be reviewed for the next step.

Use these modes when the clinic wants one place for the receptionist, coordinator, or doctor to see who should be contacted next.

Date, search, and filters

Use the top toolbar to control what appears on the board:

1. Use the previous and next arrows to move the board date.
2. Click the date to choose a specific day.
3. Use Search to find records by patient, task, invoice, request, or appointment details.
4. Open the filter button beside search to apply detailed filters for the selected board.

Filters change depending on the board. For example, Visits can be filtered by appointment fields, Invoices by invoice and patient fields, and Tasks by task and patient fields.

Work with cards

Each card represents a real record. Click a card to open the side panel with patient or record details.

For example:

• A visit card opens appointment and patient context.
• A follow-up card opens the related patient context.
• A task card opens the patient task, or the task itself when it is not linked to a patient.
• An invoice card opens the patient and invoice context.
• A request card opens the related patient request context.

Use the default board when you need to move records through workflow stages. Drag a card to another column to update its stage. If the destination stage has an automated action, Dentaltap can open the related action instead of only moving the card.

Custom views are best for focused layouts and filtered worklists. They help a team see a specific slice of work without changing the default board setup.

Create Stage

Stages are the columns of an Automation board.

1. Open Automation.
2. Select the board you want to configure, such as Visits, Follow-Ups, Tasks, Invoices, or Requests.
3. Click Configure.
4. Click Create Item.
5. Enter the stage Label.
6. Choose No Action when the stage should be manual.
7. Choose an Automated Action when moving a record to the stage should trigger a related workflow action.
8. Click Create Item.

Use clear labels that describe the team’s next action, such as “To Contact”, “Confirmed”, “Needs Doctor Review”, or “Payment Follow-Up”.

Create Custom View

Custom views let the team save a focused board layout and filters.

1. Open the board you want to customize.
2. Apply the search filters you want the view to remember.
3. Use the custom view bar at the bottom of the board.
4. Click Create View.
5. Enter a clear view name.
6. Save the view.

After a view is created, use Configure while that view is active to adjust its filters and stages. The popup shows a Filters button with the active filter count, and Save Filters stores the filter setup for the view.

Manage stage actions

Open Configure to manage the stages for the current board or active custom view.

• Drag the handle beside a stage to reorder columns.
• Open a stage to rename it or change its action.
• Use No Action for a manual stage.
• Use Automated Actions when the stage should connect to a record action.
• Click Save Changes after editing a stage.

Keep the board order close to the real clinic process. The first columns should usually represent new or unreviewed records, and the last columns should represent completed, contacted, or closed records.

Column actions

Click a column header to expand its actions.

Export Records

Use Export Records when the clinic needs a CSV of the records currently queued in that stage. The export includes patient details and record-specific fields for the selected board.

This is useful for reconciliation, supervisor review, or offline worklists.

Send Message

The Send Message action is designed for bulk communication from a kanban stage. When enabled, it lets the team pick patients from a column, choose an SMS, messenger chat, or email template, send the message, and move the patients to another stage.

For example, a receptionist could send a recall message to everyone in “To Contact” and then move those patients to “Message Sent”.

Prepare message content in Notification Templates. In this context, Chat means messenger or social communication channels, such as WhatsApp, when those channels are connected for the clinic.

Update Stage

1. Open Automation.
2. Select the board or custom view.
3. Click Configure.
4. Click the stage you want to update.
5. Change the label or action.
6. Click Save Changes.

Delete Stage

1. Open Automation.
2. Select the board or custom view.
3. Click Configure.
4. Open the stage you want to remove.
5. Click Delete.
6. Confirm the deletion.

Delete a stage only when the team no longer needs that part of the process. If records are still using that stage, move or review them first so the board stays understandable.

Rename or delete a Custom View

Use the custom view bar at the bottom of the board.

• Choose Default View to return to the standard board.
• Open a saved view and rename it when the workflow name changes.
• Delete a saved view when the clinic no longer uses that focused board.

Deleting a custom view removes the saved layout and filters. It does not delete patients, appointments, invoices, tasks, or requests.