The References ability hosts references used in other abilities within MacPractice.

Generally, Reference records can be added to the References Ability with the sidebar plus button, then selected within corresponding menus or used as filters within Reports. For example, records added to the Payment Type Reference node can be selected as payment types in a patient's Ledger, then tracked through the Daily Posted/Procedure Date Day sheet or Gross Receipts Reports.

References are often used within specific tasks and may be added directly through the related Ability rather than the References ability. Likewise, the documentation for using a specific Reference may be within the guide to that Ability.

Below is a list of each Reference Category, and a general description of its purpose. These are organized by the order in which they appear in the References Ability.

Billing

• Adjustment Types: This category governs Adjustment Types that are used in conjunction with Negative and Positive Adjustments in the Ledger.

• Bank Accounts: This Reference Category allows you to organize multiple accounts to overview in the Accounting Ability.

• CDA Lab Codes: This reference category contains any lab codes associated with the Canadian Dental Association. This is used when Canadian Claim Fields are enabled in your localization preferences.

• Discharge Status: The Discharge Status Reference will list reasons patients were discharged. These will then be added to the New Charge window in a patient's Ledger.

• Facility: Facility References are used when selecting a Facility on a New Charge.

• Fee Schedule: A Fee Schedule contains all Procedure Codes that can be selected when creating Charges in the Ledger.

• Financial Status: Contains all Financial Statuses that can be selected in the Account Tab of the Patients Ability.

• Incident Name: The Incident Name Reference keeps a record of all the names used for Incidents.

• Incident Type: The Incident Type Reference keeps a record of all the Types used for Incident. Incidents are used everywhere in MacPractice from EMR, EHR, Notes to the Ledger, Clinical and Dental Charts.  

• Insurance Companies: The Insurance Company Reference contains all Insurance Companies that can be added to a Patient's chart in the Primary and Secondary Tabs of the Patients Ability.

• Ledger Colors: The Ledger Colors Reference controls the color-coding for ledger line items in the Ledger Tab of the Patients Ability. 

• Offices: The Office Reference contains information about your office.

• Payment Type: The Payment Types Reference contains all available Payment Types that you can select then posting payments in a patient's Ledger.

• Place Of Service: The Place of Service Reference is a record of the designation for places which can be added when creating or editing Charges.

• Procedure Category: The Procedure Category Reference is a collection of the various Procedure Categories in the MacPractice database.

• Procedure Types: Procedure Types are defined by insurance companies, but are generally universal across most carriers. Some examples of Procedure Types include Diagnostic, Restorative, Preventive, Labs, Radiography, and so on. 

• Supercode: Supercodes (also known as "explosion codes", "master codes", or "expansion codes") allow you to enter a single code into MacPractice that will automatically post a set of multiple procedures.

• Tax Rate: The Tax Rate Reference category is used in the New Charge window and to create a Tax Type for the Fee Schedule.

• Tax Type: The Tax Type Reference category is used in the Fee Schedule area to default the desired Tax Rate.

Charting

• Charting Material Colors: The Charting Material Colors reference category allows you to adjust the color coding when working in the Dental Tab of the Patients Ability.

• Common Clinical Notes: Commonly used Clinical Notes can be added to the Common Clinical Note node in References in order to quickly add the note within Charting.

• Tooth Number: The Tooth Numbering Reference category allows you to adjust the Tooth Numbering system. These are normally selected in Preferences > Localization.

Clinical

• Allergies (Custom): The Allergies (Custom) Reference is used to manually add an allergy to a custom list of Allergies, should the Allergies (FDB) Reference not contain an allergy you wish to track for a patient.

• Allergies (FDB): The Allergies (FDB) reference category contains allergies that can be associated to a patient. These records are codified with the ePrescribe ability and cannot be modified.

• Chief Complaint: The Chief Complaint Reference is a list of primary reasons a patient may visit the office.

• Clinical Decision Rule: The Clinical Decision Rule Reference category is used to set Clinical Decision Rules that can trigger alerts off of criteria that you set.

• Diagnosis (Custom): The Diagnosis (Custom) Reference contains diagnosis codes custom defined by the office. These can be added to your ICD9 or ICD10 Favorites when selecting diagnosis codes

• Favorites ICD10 Diagnoses: The Favorites ICD10 Diagnoses Reference is a list of every ICD10 code that has been designated a Favorite. This area also allows users to enter an Aliases for the code.

• Favorites ICD9 Diagnoses: The Favorites ICD9 Diagnoses Reference is a list of every ICD9 code that has been designated a Favorite. This area also allows users to enter an Aliases for the code.

• Lab Panels (Common)

• Laboratories: The Laboratories Reference category contains any Laboratories available when adding a Lab to a Charge in a patient's Ledger.

• Medication Route: The Medication Route Reference contains a list of all available medication routes when you select a Route for a particular Medication in the Rx Ability. 

• Medications (Custom): The Medications (Custom) Reference is used to manually add a medication or edit an existing medication added through the Medications Manager.

• Medications (FDB): The Medications (FDB) Reference is used to manually add information for usage in the Rx Ability.

• Pharmacy: The Pharmacy Reference can be used to list Pharmacies.

• User Alert Response Type: This Reference is used in conjunction with the Clinical Rule Decision Reference category, where you can define the types of User Alert Responses that can be issued.

Communication

• Communication Methods: The Communication Methods Reference allows the user to enter in any type of communication method. This information can then be used in the Patient ability > Patient tab > Communication sub-tab.

• Communication Types: The Communication Types Reference allows the user to create communication types. This information can then be used in the Patient ability > Patient tab > Communication sub-tab.

Forms

• Care Slip: The Care Slip Reference category is used to manage your different Care Slips that can be utilized in EHR forms and the Encounter Tracker.

• Forms: The Forms Reference is a repository of all default and custom forms within the MacPractice Database. Every Statement Form, Care Slip, Address Label, Claim Form, Prescription Form, etc. are all contained within this Reference.

• Postcard Comment: The Postcard Comment Reference is simply a place to keep a set of comments that can be applied to your postcards.

• Statement Message: The Statement Message Reference is where you can store a template for various Statement Messages that you set in the Account tab.

Patient

• Account Alerts: This Reference category contains all your Account Alerts which you can add to a patient's Account.

• Attorneys: The Attorney Reference keeps track of all of the attorneys in MacPractice. These can be assigned to various incidents.

• City State Zip: The City State Zips Reference allows the user to enter in the postal information for any city.

• Custom: The Custom Reference is completely user-definable. Some offices use this area to list a patient's preferred pharmacy, or indicate medical study participation. 

• Emergency Contact Type: The Emergency Contact Type Reference stores the options when selecting a Relationship to Patient to Emergency Contact records on a patient's chart.

• Employers: The Employers Reference contains a record of all of the employers in your database. These are used in the Employers Table of the Primary and Secondary Tabs of the Patients Ability.

• Ethnicities: The Ethnicities Reference Node contains the available options when selecting a patient's Ethnicity, located in the Patients Ability > Patient tab > Race/Ethnicity sub-tab.

• Languages: The Languages Reference contains the available languages that are available to be set as "Preferred Language" in the Patient Tab.

• Order Type: The Order Type Reference controls what Order Types are available when creating and editing Orders in the Orders Tab of the in the Patients Ability.

• Patient Alerts: This Reference category contains all your Patient Alerts which you can add to a patient.

• Races: The Races Reference contains all the available options when selecting a patient's Race in the Patients Ability

• Follow-Ups/Recalls: This node is used to maintain (add, edit, delete) Follow-Ups and Recall types. Keep in mind the verbiage is different depending on the flavor of MacPractice your office is running, but both Follow-Ups (MD, DC, 20/20) and Recalls (DDS) work exactly the same.

Referrals

• Referrer Reasons: The Referral Reasons Reference is a log of reasons you can add to a Referral in the Patient Tab for the reason why a patient was referred to or from another provider.

• Referrer Specialty: The Referral Specialty Reference category contains all of your Referral Specialties which you can select for a Referrer.

• Referrer Types: The Referrer Types Reference contains all the available Referrer Types that you can set for a Referrer.

• Referrers: The Referrers Reference category contains all of the Referrers that you can add to a Patient's chart in the Patients Ability.

System

• Export Presets: An Export Preset is a selection of pull fields that be used to extract information out of a created List, typically generated from a Report. These are typically used to include additional information that isn't precent in the report or in the list. 

• Menu Commands: The Menu Commands Reference is used to edit or create keyboard shortcut equivalents for items found in the Menu Bar.

Users

• Patient Portal User: The Patient Portal User Reference Node allows you to create Patient Portal Users that can then be assigned to particular patients. This allows the Portal User to access the patient's information via the Patient Portal.

• User Group Privileges: The User Group Privileges Reference contains all of your User Groups that can be selected from the Users Reference. In essence, you first configure a User Group Privilege, and then apply those templates to Users.

• Users: The User Reference is where all of the information for your office's MacPractice Users are held.