This article covers how to create a User in MacPractice. It also touches on how to configure user privileges in order to restrict access to various areas of MacPractice. You can read more specific information in the User Reference article located here.

Creating New Users

After logging in for the first time and setting up your office reference (covered in this article here) you'll need to set up Users so your staff can log into MacPractice on the Server and Clients. MacPractice recommends creating a separate user for each person who will be using the system, NOT for each computer.  This will ensure that you can always track their actions and control their access.

First, navigate to the References ability in MacPractice and select Users at the bottom of the sidebar. Click the triangle to expand the node.

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Initially you will only see the Admin User account. For security reasons, we recommend changing the password for this user or disabling the user completely. This can be done by selecting the admin User in the side bar, then clicking the Set Password button in the middle of the detail window. Enter a new password that is at least 8 digits and is not the word "password". This password will need to be entered twice to be verified.

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If you would like MacPractice to generate a random password, click the Generate and Print Password button. Click OK to save this new password.

Before leaving a User record, make sure that you save your changes by going to the Edit menu and selecting Save Record or by using the keyboard shortcut, Command-S. These changes will take effect the next time the user logs into MacPractice.

Before you begin adding users you may also decide to set up the default user (labeled "Default" in the sidebar) which will carry forward generic information into all new User records. For example, if you would like all users to have the same address and email address you may enter it into the Default record. All future created User records will contain that address and e-mail address.

To create a new User, click the green plus in the sidebar.

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You will notice that several fields appear in red. This means they are required fields. In addition to the first and last names, each user will need a username and password and a user ID. The User ID is used when tracking actions within MacPractice such as the Ledger and various Reports. The User ID must be unique for each user. User ID's can be anything you wish, such as the user's initials or a number. Set each user's username and password as well as any other demographic information you choose.

You will also want to evaluate at this point whether a user is intended to be a Provider. You can denote a Provider User by checking the "Is Provider" checkbox below the Professional Title field. A Provider User can be selected when creating charges, and has many ramifications regarding claims, reports, and other features in MacPractice. Provider-specific functions are covered in the User Reference article located here. If you do opt to mark a User as "Is Provider", you'll want to navigate to the Provider Tab and ensure that the "Provider Shown on Claim" field is properly set.

You can also assign the user to a Privileges group in the Privileges tab.

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Note that you cannot change the User's privileges here. Privileges in MacPractice are controlled entirely by User Group Privileges, which are covered in the next section of this article.

Remember to save the User record when you finish creating the user by using the Edit Menu and selecting "Save Record" or the keyboard shortcut, Command-S. For more detailed information regarding User References, you can read the User Reference article here.

Setting User Privileges

User Group Privileges allow you to control what each user or group of users can do in MacPractice. Privileges are accessed in the References ability by selecting User Group Privileges in the sidebar.

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By default, MacPractice has an Administrator group, an Others group, and a SuperAdmin group which cannot be changed. The SuperAdmin group is a fail-safe that may need to be used by the Support Department in the event all administrators forget their passwords. You may use this User Group Privilege for any users you wish to grant full access to all features in MacPractice. If you have purchased the Kiosk option for EMR or EDR you will also see a Kiosk user group.

To create a new user group, click the green plus button in the sidebar, just like when creating a new User record. You will need to give the group a name, which can be anything like Scheduling, Front Office, Billing, Office Manager, etc... 

From there, select an ability on the left and uncheck the actions you do not wish the user to perform, or check the privileges you do wish them to perform. For example, you may want to make sure most users cannot edit their own privileges or the privileges of others. To do this, select References on the left and uncheck Edit Users and Group Privileges.

You will notice when you click on an ability, the area on the right displays a short description of what the ability does. Keep in mind some privileges may affect whether another privilege is applicable or not. For example, a user needs the View Ledger privilege checked before they can Create Transactions. 

You will need to associate the newly created User Group Privileges to a specific user. Select the intended user in the sidebar and then navigate to the Privileges tab. Select the User Group Privilege from the pop up menu. You will see a summarized list of that group's enabled privileges. In order for this change to take effect, the user will need to log out and back into MacPractice.

When you're done configuring your User Group Privileges, don't forget to assign each User to a group!

For more information on User Group Privileges, please refer to this article.

Once you've completed this task, you'll want to review your Preferences and References next.