Fuse Release Highlights

Learn about the latest Fuse updates

Based on user feedback, we’re continuously making updates to make Fuse an even better practice management solution.

If you have questions, please contact our experts at the Patterson Technology Center.

Form Test

Updates released April 4, 2024

Access carrier website from claim notes

You can now access the website for an insurance carrier from the Claim Notes window, which allows you to easily link to the specified site while reviewing or creating claim notes to streamline benefits  and claim status checks for the carrier.

Updates released March 26, 2024

Electronic insurance processing

eClaims processing has been restored, and you can resume submitting electronic claims from within Fuse after some initial setup. You will need to use the DentalXChange website for your eAttachments, real-time eligibility checks and eRAs at this time. We are working to bring the remaining insurance services back within Fuse workflows and will have more news soon.
 
For required Getting Started steps and the latest updates, click the Important Updates button in Fuse.

This release also includes the following updates:

  • Report: The Service History Report will now display results when filtered for all services
  • Report: Improved performance for the Receivables by Provider report.
  • Dashboard: Corrected an issue with the totals on the Projected Net Production widget

Updates Released March 7, 2024

Insurance: Improved Claim Status Icons

You can now streamline the process of reviewing claims using our improved claim status icons. Hover over an icon to view a tooltip and easily interpret its meaning. Click on an icon to open the associated screen, allowing you to take action without using the ellipsis menu.
 
There are five claim status icons:

  • Red Triangle with Exclamation icon indicates a Validation Error
  • Paper icon indicates the claim has Claim Notes
  • Umbrella icon indicates a Carrier Response on predetermination
  • Red Circle with Exclamation icon indicates the claim is Rejected
  • Paperclip icon indicates the claim has Attachments
 
How it works:
 
  • Navigate to Business | Insurance | Claims & Predeterminations
  • Hover over an icon to see the tooltip
  • Click an icon to open the associated screen

This release also includes the following updates:

  • Practice At A Glance: Corrected an issue with the Collections at Checkout widget when a payment made during checkout was left unapplied.
  • Account: Corrected an issue to prevent the entry of an invalid date during the Encounter/Checkout process.

Updates released February 1, 2024

Account: account notes expanded to 2000 characters

You can now include more details in an account note, allowing you to more thoroughly document account situations in a single note entry. With the expansion to accept 2000 characters, you will save time by eliminating the need to spread details across multiple notes and make it easier to review notes when auditing an account.
 
How it works:

  • Navigate to Patient Overview | Account Summary or Transaction History
  • Select “Add a Note” to create an account note
  • Input the details to be documented
    • The description field will now accept up to 2000 characters
  • Select “Save”

Insurance claims: view claim alert history for rejected claims

You will now have improved visibility into alerts for claims that display a status of Rejected to make it easier to manage your insurance claims. Previously only the most recent alert was available, and the “View Alert History” will now show all alerts returned from the clearinghouse for rejected claims. The additional information will save you time by making it more clear what actions are needed to move the claim forward.
 
How it works:

  • Navigate to Business | Insurance | Claims & Predeterminations
  • Locate a claim with the status of “Rejected”
  • Select “View Alert History” from the ellipsis menu
  • Review the Claim Alert History details for a history of the alerts returned from the clearinghouse regarding this claim
  • Select “Close”

This release also includes the following updates:

  • Report: corrected an issue with the totals displayed on the Pending Claims report for claims originating from multi-provider encounters

Updates released January 18, 2024

Reporting: Filter the Pending Claims report by provider

You can now filter the pending claims by provider to easily identify pending claims for a specific provider when needed.
 
How it works:

  • Navigate to Business | Reports | Pending Claims
  • Select desired filter criteria
    • Use the “Provider” filter to include only pending claims for the selected provider(s)
  • Select “Apply Filters”

This release also includes the following updates:

  • Dashboard: Improved data refresh of the Pending Claims widget when selecting a new location

Updates released January 4, 2024

CDT 2024 updates

The American Dental Association (ADA) has released its updated Codes on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature for 2024 (CDT 2024).  The changes include several new codes and revisions, as well as a new category of service.
 
Click here for resources available regarding CDT 2024.
 
Fuse Configuration
Some configuration is needed before you can begin using the CDT 2024 service codes in Fuse.
 
Configuration steps:

  • Add and modify service codes
    • Add the new services into your Service Codes list
    • Modify the revised codes to make the applicable updates to Description or Service Type
      • Note: The new Sleep Apnea Services category will be available for selection beginning 1/5/24.
  • Assign fees to the newly added services
    • By default, the newly added service codes will be assigned a $0 fee.
  • Set insurance coverage levels for the new Sleep Apnea Services category (as applicable)
    • By default, this service type will be set to estimate 0% coverage for all plans
 
Refer to configuration instructions for more details:
 

 

This release also includes the following updates:

  • Dashboard: Improved data refresh of the Pending Claims widget when selecting a new location
  • Dashboard: Improved data refresh of Schedule Utilization widget

Updates released November 30, 2023

Insurance: Submit member ID on claims

Some insurance policies assign a member ID to each family member and require that number to be submitted on the ADA claim form in place of the policy holder ID. Within Fuse you can now save a member ID in a patient’s insurance information and submit the member ID instead of policy holder ID on insurance claims when required by an insurance plan.
 
How it works:

  • Configure a plan to submit member ID
    • Navigate to Business | Insurance | Plans
    • Create or edit a plan
    • Under “Identify Policy Holder by” select the ‘Member ID’ option
    • Save the plan
  • Record the member ID for a patient
    • When assigning insurance to a new or existing patient:
      • Enter the applicable number in the “Member ID” field
  • When a claim is generated, the member ID for the patient will populate onto the claim form

Plan setup
Patient insurance setup
Claim preview

Mass updates user notification

You will now be presented with a notification message when a mass patient transfer or mass appointment transfer has been completed. This message informs you when a transfer operation has been completed, allowing you to view a report of the update details.
 
How it works:

  • Navigate to Business | Mass Updates | Mass Patient Transfer
  • Select desired transfer type
    • Mass Patient Transfer
    • Mass Appointment Transfer
  • Select applicable criteria
    • Location
    • Provider Type or Appointment State (depending on transfer type)
    • From/To
  • Select “Run” to process the transfer
  • Notification will appear in the lower right corner informing you the transfer has completed

This release also includes the following updates:

  • Improved performance when printing mailing labels from the Preventive Care tab of Patient Management
  • Improved performance when adding an email address to a patient.

Updates released November 16, 2023

Reporting: Filter the Service Code Productivity by Provider report for a specific code

You can now generate the Service Code Productivity by Provider report for a single code to track service-specific production more efficiently. This enables you to easily analyze data for situations such as paying or bonusing providers based on production for certain services.

How it works:

  • Navigate to Business | Reports | Service Code Productivity by Provider
  • Select desired filter criteria
    • Use the “Service Code” filter to include only results for the specified service
  • Select “Apply Filters”

Reporting: Filter the Payment Location Reconciliation report by the distributed location

You can now generate the Payment Location Reconciliation report based on the distributed location. This enables you to identify payments that were received at one location but distributed (fully or partially) to services that from a different location, and easily determine dollars that you may need to internally transfer between locations.
 
How it works:

  • Navigate to Business | Reports | Payment Location Reconciliation
  • Select desired filter criteria
    • If desired, use the “Distributed Location” filter to include only the portion of payments that were distributed to services from the selected location(s)
  • Select “Apply Filters”
 
The report below includes payments received at Tiny Smiles Clinic, and including all Distributed Locations:
 

The report below includes payments received at Tiny Smiles Clinic, but filtered for only Distributed Location of Chicago Clinic:

Reporting: Filter the Net Production by Provider and Day Sheet reports to include deletions and voids

You can now choose whether to include deleted and void records in your production reporting using the “Deleted/Voided” filter, available on the Net Production by Provider and Day Sheet reports. This enables you to easily generate reports based on your situational needs.
 
How it works:

  • Navigate to Business | Reports | Net Production by Provider
  • Select desired filter criteria
    • Use the “Deleted/Voided” filter to determine whether to include deleted and void transactions
      • If “Deleted/Voided” is not checked, applicable deleted and void transactions will be excluded in the report results
      • If “Deleted/Voided” is checked, applicable deleted and voided transactions will be included in the report results
  • Select “Apply Filters”
 
The report below excludes deleted and void transactions (“Deleted/Voided” filter is not checked):

The report below includes deleted and void transactions (‘Deleted/Voided’ filter is checked):

This release also includes the following updates:

  • Users will be prompted to accept the End User License Agreement (EULA) when logging into Fuse for the first time after the update.
    1. Note: you can review the EULA at any time within Fuse by navigating to Help | About | View Current EULA

Updates released October 19, 2023

This release includes the following updates:

  • When editing the estimated insurance value from the Treatment Plan, you are now able to consistently enter an estimation up to the full amount of the charges less the estimated insurance adjustment.
  • The Accounts with Offsetting Provider Balances will now display a message to notify you if, on occasion, the data displayed on the report is slightly delayed from current values.

Updates released September 28, 2023

This release includes the following updates:

  • Insurance Carriers: When you edit a plan linked to the carrier, you will now be navigated back to the insurance carrier once you complete the plan modifications.
  • Appointment Letters: When generating a letter that includes an appointment date, the date will now populate correctly for appointments that fall after 7:00 p.m.
  • Reports: The Unassigned/Unassigned Credits report now prints the correct header information.
 
Note: The next Fuse update is scheduled for October 19.
 

Updates Released September 14, 2023

This release includes the following updates:

  • Payment type options now populate correct in applicable report filters
  • The Clinical Summary on Patient Overview is now properly updated when an appointment is deleted
  • Improved performance when creating a batch of statements
  • Improved performance when searching for a patient

Updates released August 31, 2023

Clinical note templates: Create ad-lib questions with no pre-defined response options

You now have added flexibility when using Ad-Lib questions in your clinical note templates. When creating a note template, you can now set up an Ad-Lib question without providing any pre-defined response options. Using this configuration presents only a text field for freeform response entry when completing a patient’s clinical note.
 
How it works:

  • Navigate to Practice Settings | Chart | Clinical Notes Templates
  • Add a new template or edit an existing template
  • Select Add Prompt and choose Ad-Lib
    • Enter desired wording into the Text Before Response and Text After Response fields
    • Leave the Responses field blank to allow only for freeform response entry
  • Save the note template

Question setup:

Question in use:

This release also includes the following updates:

  • Text entered in freeform text fields (such as list of patient medications) is no longer cut off when printing a completed medical history
  • Information on the printed Patient Clinical Notes report now matches the data presented when viewing the report
  • The Net Production by Provider report now works correctly when filtering for individual provider(s).

Updates Released August 3, 2023

Fuse Master Classes now available!

Are you interested in learning more about Fuse? You can now build your expertise through a complimentary ongoing training opportunity: Fuse Master Classes. These educational sessions, led by a Patterson Dental Software Trainer, are FREE for all Fuse customers. The fall 2023 schedule is now available.

To find the session information:

  1. Click on the Resources tab within Fuse and click on the first “FUSE Master Class Fall Schedule” document at the top of the list. 
    1. This opens a PDF with details on each training and either a link to the registration page or to the recording.

What if I missed a session?

  • There is no need to fret! A recording of each session will become within a week after the session is completed.
  • Simply reference the Fuse Master Class schedule document in the Resources tab to link to the recording.

Updates released July 20, 2023

Fuse Engagement: Conversation forms PDF saved

When you send a form to a patient from the Conversations area of Fuse Engagement, the completed form can now be saved to the patient record as a PDF document. This automatic form upload will improve efficiency as you will no longer need to manually upload the completed form to Patient Documents.

How it works:

  • Navigate to Fuse Engagement | Conversations
  • Send a form to a patient using a template message
  • When prompted, select a provider to link to the for
    • If no provider is selected, the completed form will not auto-save to the patient record

Once the patient completes the registration form, a PDF copy will be added to the Patient Documents

Updates Released July 6, 2023

View unmatched ERAs

You will now be able to view all ERAs even when Fuse cannot match any open claims to the remittance advice data.
 
How it works:

  1. Navigate to Business | Insurance | ERA
  2. You will see a visible indicator signifying when an ERA is unmatched
  3. You can take the following actions with an unmatched ERA:
    1. View ERA
    2. Mark As Completed
    3. Mark As Not Completed

Note: At this time, you cannot apply a bulk payment using an unmatched ERA. However, you are able view the ERA so that you can locate the applicable insurance claim(s) and post the payments in Fuse manually.