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As an Administrator, you will be in control of how the office operates. MacPractice is widely customizable to meet the needs of many different types of offices and specialties. Most of this customization is done in the Preferences window, located within the MacPractice menu.

To watch a video of this topic, click here.

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Nearly every area of the MacPractice software has a Preferences Category tied to it. You can scroll through the Categories on the left. By clicking a particular Category, the Preferences for that area are brought up on the right side of the window. 

The function of some Preferences may not be clear until you start using the ability, so you will likely need to come back to review and customize your Preferences later. You should also note that some Preferences are Global - meaning they affect every user in MacPractice. Other preferences are Local - meaning they only affect the current computer. You can see a list of Local and Global Preferences here.

If you would like to make sure all computers use the same Preferences, you can save your preferences in the database by selecting General in the Preferences' window sidebar and using the Preference Options pop up menu.

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Once you have saved the Preferences in the database via the Preferences Option pop up menu, you can then load those Preferences on any other computer on the network. From there, users can make minor adjustments if they desire. Keep in mind, however, that there is also a User Group Privilege that can restrict users from viewing the Preference window. You'll need to determine whether all users should be able to access Preferences or not.

References

Another way MacPractice is customized to your office's unique needs is through the References. Setting up References in advance will save time later on and help ensure the lists you use are clear without duplicates or unnecessary items. 

References are located in the References Ability on the toolbar.

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Most offices combine methods by setting up some References in advance and creating others on-the-fly as they use the system. As a new office, the function of some References may not be clear until you start using the ability so you may need to come back and review your references at a later time.

Some References are required before you can fully use MacPractice: Users, Provider Users, Offices. We recommend setting up Fee Schedules, Facilities, Insurance Companies before learning user roles as this information is makes it easier to learn and practice Clinical and Ledger workflows. After becoming familiar with MacPractice, you'll want to set up items such as Recalls/Follow Ups, Referrers, Supercodes, Tax Rate and Type. Some things like Incident Names or enabling Forms can be set here and then defaulted in the Preferences. 

Additional Database Setup

Many abilities in MacPractice require some setup before usage. For example, you cannot use the schedule features until you have resources (columns) created. Please see the individual setup guides in each ability in the Knowledge Base for detailed information.