The Transparencies feature in 7.3 and earlier is controlled by the Transparencies node in the Schedule Ability. This folder node contains all of your Transparency Types, which you can add or remove by clicking the Green Plus or the Red Minus. With those set, you can select a Type in the sidebar and then click and drag to "paint" Transparency Blocks on the Schedule, much like how you create Appointments in the Appointments node.

However, it's important to note that the finer details of how those Types are used is controlled in the Drawer, underneath the Transparencies Tab. You can open the Drawer by clicking the icon in the lower left hand corner.

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The Drawer has functionality that changes depending on where you are in MacPractice. In the Schedule, if you have anything in the Transparencies node selected, you'll see the Transparencies Tab. This is where you can fine-tune how a Transparency type works, and also allows you to customize block information.

The Transparencies Tab in the Drawer is split into four sub-tabs. You'll note that above the sub-tabs, there's a field for the Transparency Type Name, and a Color selector.

Let's break down the functionality of each of these sub-tabs in turn.

Block Tab

The Transparencies Block tab sets the parameters for a selected transparency block. The Block field displays the name of the block and is based off the name of the overall transparency. The All Resources checkbox sets the block to repeat across all resources for a given day. The All Day checkbox expands the block through the entirety of a day. It is recommended that both checkboxes be checked for days when the office is closed or unavailable.

Repeats

Below the Start and End time fields is the Repeat menu, which allows for repeating transparency blocks, similar to repeating appointments.

There are 6 options in the Repeat menu:

• None: Do not repeat the block.

• Every day: Repeat the block every day, until the End condition is reached.

• Every week: Repeat the block every week, on the same day, until the End condition is reached.

• Every month: Repeat the block every month, on the same day, until the End condition is reached.

• Every year: Repeat the block every year, on the same date, until the End condition is reached.

• Custom: The Custom option allows for complex rules to be set for the repeating block. After selecting Custom a new area will appear in the drawer:

For Custom Repeats there is a Frequency menu with 4 options:

• Daily:  Daily repeats allow for a secific number of days between the block repeats. By default this is set to "1".

• Weekly: Weekly repeats allow the block to repeat every X weeks, on selected days of the week. For example, a transparency can indicate that the office is closed early every other Tuesday and Thursday, by entering "2" in the "Every X Weeks" field, and selecting T and T from the week day selector.

• Monthly: Monthly repeats allow the block to repeat either on selected dates each month (for example, on the 1st, 15th and 30th of every month), or repeat the block every first Monday, third Tuesday, and so on.

• Yearly: Yearly repeats allow the block to repeat during select months each year and/or for select days during select months each year. For example, a transparency created on the 14th and set to repeat every year in January will appear every January 14th. Below the month selector is a checkbox that allows the block to repeat on every first, second, third or fourth day of the week (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and so on).

Below the Repeat menu is the End menu, providing three options:

• Never: The transparency block will be repeated indefinitely.

• After: The transparency block will end after a certain number of repetitions.

• On Date: The transparency block will stop repeating after the specified date.

After selecting your Custom repeat options click OK to save the changes. After setting up a repeating system for a transparency block, the Options menu below the All Resources and All Day checkboxes can be used to either:
         

• Apply the repeat rules to all other blocks associated with this transparency.

• Remove the repeated instances of the transparency block.

Additional options for the transparency block can be set in the Rules tab.

Rules Tab

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The Rules tab has 3 rules that can be applied to a given transparency block:

• Allow Selected Procedures: This option allows only approved procedures that are listed in the Allowed Procedure table in the bottom half of the Rules Tab. You can add codes to this table by clicking the green plus button. A search window with all codes across all fee schedules will appear. Choose the code(s) that should be allowed within the transparency block:

  When treatments are added to an appointment within the transparency, any disallowed procedures will prompt the following error:

• Confirm Appointment Scheduling: Appointments scheduled on a transparency with this rule will prompt for confirmation. This may be useful for emergency or urgent care sections of the schedule.

• Don't Schedule Appointments: This rule disallows any appointments from being scheduled over the transparency. Attempting to do so will result in the following alert:

All Blocks Tab

The All Blocks tab allows for the management of all transparency blocks within a transparency.

Above the list of all blocks in the selected transparency is the Options menu to manage the transparency:

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• Remove Repeats: This option will remove any repeat rules from the selected transparency, and remove all repeat instances of the block from the schedule.

• Remove Blocks: This will delete the selected block(s) from the transparency. Deleted blocks cannot be retrieved.

• Apply Selected block rule to other blocks: Select this option to apply the selected transparency block's rules (including repeat rules) to other blocks within the transparency. A search window will appear allowing the selection of the block or blocks to apply the rules to:

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History Tab

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The History Tab allows you to review updates made to the currently selected Transparency Type in the Schedule's Transparencies node. It will tally up when Transparency Blocks are inserted and updated, and which user made that change.