Watch: 60-second guide
Prefer to read? Everything in the video is covered below.
Appointment Aut...
Response Time
Our insights show that responding to new patient requests within 1 business hour significantly boosts the chances of securing an appointment and ensuring the patient’s visit. This golden window of opportunity is where engagement turns into action, setting the foundation for a strong patient-practice relationship.
We understand the dynamics of dental practice operations; thus, the clock on this crucial business hour starts ticking only during your official working hours. If a request lands in your inbox after hours, rest assured, the countdown pauses until you're back, ready to make great first impressions. This approach ensures that every new patient interaction begins on the right note, without compromising your work-life balance.
By prioritizing prompt responses, you're not just filling your schedule; you're building trust and demonstrating your commitment to patient care. Let's make every minute count towards providing unparalleled dental experiences!
Prefer to read? Everything in the video is covered below.
Your Opencare membership fee covers more than patient requests. Here's what's included, and how your fee adjusts each month.
What your membership includes
Profile visibility: your Opencare profile is seen by hundreds of prospective patients each month, including people who later call or book with you directly rather than through Opencare.
Your membership also includes:
Practice management software (PMS) integration and installation
OpencareAI, for eligible practices
Staff training
Marketing and operating strategies
Live phone support
Premium and Elite memberships
Practices with Super Practice status can choose a Premium or Elite membership for even more visibility. Your Customer Success Manager can confirm your current status and options.
How your fee adjusts each month
Your monthly fee adjusts automatically based on the number of patient requests you receive that month.
Requests received in the month
Your membership fee
0–3 requests
Fee waived
4–5 requests
50% off
6–7 requests
25% off
8 or more requests
Full fee
Good to know
The adjustment is based on how many requests you receive, not on how many appointments are scheduled or completed.
Where to find your membership fee
Open the Menu and click Billing. Below your appointments for the month you'll see your Membership fee. If your fee is adjusted, the discount appears on the line below it as Courtesy Discount.
Tips to get more requests
Respond quickly to patient requests and messages.
Highlight what sets your practice apart on your profile.
Book a training session with our team to get the most out of Opencare.
Work toward Super Practice status for more visibility.
Questions about your membership fee or a specific invoice? Contact your Customer Success Manager, or reach us at prime@opencare.com, through Live Chat, or by phone at 855-572-8500. We're happy to help.
Prefer to read? Everything in the video is covered below.
Once an appointment's date has passed, let us know what happened. This is called verifying (or reconciling) the appointment, and it keeps your billing accurate.
Open the appointment
In your Appointments tab, go to To Do's and click Needs Verification.
Click Verify next to the patient.
Check the visit date
Check the date and time under When did the patient visit your practice? and edit it if needed. Then choose whether the patient came in.
If the patient came in
Click Confirm attendance.
Select the procedures that were done and the value of the treatment plan presented, then click Next.
Select any future appointments scheduled with the patient, then click Submit.
If the patient didn't come in
Click Patient did not attend appointment.
Under What happened?, choose Rescheduled Appointment, Cancelled Appointment, or Patient No-show.
Add a reason if the patient shared one (optional).
Let us know if you'll be coordinating with the patient to reschedule by clicking Yes or No. If you select Yes, the appointment goes back to your To Do's under Needs Scheduling.
Tip: mark a No-show instead of cancelling
If a patient misses their appointment, you don't need to cancel it beforehand. Let the scheduled date and time pass, then verify it and select Patient No-show. This is especially useful when a patient doesn't give advance notice, and it keeps your records clean and your cancellation rate lower.
Verify from the Billing section
You can also verify appointments from the Billing section. Open the Menu and click Billing.
Any appointment with a Reconciled Status of Needs Verification has a Verify button. Click it to follow the same steps as above.
Important: Billing on the 6th
Appointments that haven't been verified or reconciled will be billed on the 6th of the month. We recommend verifying each appointment and making sure appointments aren't left in the Requested status on the day it's set to occur to avoid being overcharged.
If a request is still pending in To Do's › Needs Scheduling, you can defer it in the Billing section between the 1st and 5th of the month.
Having trouble verifying your appointments? Contact us at prime@opencare.com, through Live Chat, or by phone at 855-572-8500 Monday - Friday 9 AM to 5 PM EST. We're happy to help.
Introducing Opencare AI: Features, Setup & Practice Controls
Watch: 1-minute guide
Prefer to read? Everything in the video is covered below.
Available for integrated practices
OpencareAI is only available to practices that are integrated with Opencare.
What is OpencareAI?
OpencareAI is an AI-powered assistant that replies to new patients on your practice's behalf and helps them complete their booking on Opencare. It works alongside your front desk by handling common questions, collecting key details, and moving patients toward scheduled appointments.
It's designed to save your team time and help you capture more bookings, without changing how your practice runs day to day.
What OpencareAI does
Depending on your settings and the patient's needs, OpencareAI can:
Reply instantly to patient inquiries, even after hours
Answer common questions about availability, location, insurance, services and next steps
Collect booking details such as preferred times, urgency and reason for visit
Guide patients to complete their booking
Schedule and confirm appointments in Opencare and write them into your practice software, when Appointment Writing is turned on
Benefits
Faster response times: patients are more likely to book when they get an immediate reply, especially outside business hours.
Less admin work: OpencareAI handles the repetitive back-and-forth so your team can focus on patients in the office.
More captured bookings: keeping patients engaged through each booking step helps reduce drop-off.
A consistent patient experience: patients get helpful, consistent answers, even when your front desk is busy.
See who's handling each conversation
In your Appointments tab, each appointment shows a label: AI Handling or Practice Handling. This tells you whether OpencareAI or your team is managing the conversation.
Take over a conversation
Your team can step in at any time. You might take over when:
The patient has a complex request, such as specialty treatment or detailed insurance questions
The patient is frustrated or needs reassurance
You want to offer an alternative time or clarify details
A human decision is best
Open the appointment from your Appointments tab.
At the bottom of the chat, click AI Assistant Mode and switch to Manual Mode.
Send your message as you normally would.
In Manual Mode, your team sends all messages and OpencareAI stops replying in that conversation. To hand it back, switch to AI Assistant Mode again. This works well once you've solved a specific issue and want OpencareAI to handle basic follow-up.
Manage your OpencareAI settings
OpencareAI and Appointment Writing work hand in hand, but each has its own page under Settings and can be turned on or off separately.
Opencare AI: replies to patients
Go to Settings and click Opencare AI.
Turn the Opencare AI replies to patients toggle on or off. Your change saves right away.
When Appointment Writing is also on, OpencareAI can schedule and reschedule appointments right in the chat.
Appointment Writing: schedule and write to your practice software
With Appointment Writing on, OpencareAI schedules and confirms the appointment in Opencare, then writes it into your practice management software (PMS). If writing is unsuccessful, the request is sent to your team to schedule.
Go to Settings, click Appointment Writing, then click Edit.
Turn Enable Appointment Writing on or off.
Set your defaults: Default Appointment Name, Default Appointment Duration, Default Provider and Default Operatory.
Under Operatory to Provider Mapping(s), choose which operatory/column each provider's appointments should be placed in.
Under Who can be scheduled automatically?, choose All patients or In-network only (see below).
Click Save.
All patients or In-network only?
All patients: OpencareAI can schedule every appointment request. In-network only: OpencareAI only schedules requests from patients with in-network insurance. Requests from out-of-network patients stay with your team, so you can review them first and decide whether the patient can still be seen.
Tip: choose a dedicated operatory/column (for example, "Opencare") so your team can quickly spot and review appointments booked through Opencare.
Turning OpencareAI off
Because the two features are separate, you choose how much to turn off:
Replies only: in Settings › Opencare AI, turn off Opencare AI replies to patients. Your team handles all patient messages manually. Appointment Writing stays as it is unless you turn it off too.
Appointment Writing only: in Settings › Appointment Writing, click Edit, turn off Enable Appointment Writing and click Save. OpencareAI keeps replying to patients but won't schedule appointments or write them into your practice software.
Everything: turn off both. OpencareAI stops replying to patients, and no appointments are scheduled or written into your practice software automatically.
You can turn either feature back on at any time from the same pages.
FAQs
Who can use OpencareAI?
OpencareAI is available to practices that are integrated with Opencare.
Does OpencareAI change how patients book?
No. It's designed to help patients complete their booking, not to disrupt your workflow. Your practice keeps full control over scheduling rules and settings.
Is OpencareAI free?
Yes. OpencareAI is currently available to eligible practices at no additional cost.
What information is added to our PMS when OpencareAI schedules an appointment?
OpencareAI includes the information it collected from the patient, such as their name and contact details. Appointments are also tagged in your PMS so you can see which ones were added by OpencareAI.
I can't find these settings in my Opencare Dashboard. Can you help?
Yes. Our Practice Support team is happy to walk you through your account.
Questions about OpencareAI? Contact us at prime@opencare.com, through Live Chat, or by phone at 855-572-8500 (Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM EST). We're happy to help.
Please note: this is an Opencare Practice Support line only and is not intended for patients.
Appointment Automation Settings: How to Configure OpencareAI for Your Practice
Watch: 60-second guide
Prefer to read? Everything in the video is covered below.
Appointment Automation is where you control how Opencare handles your new patient requests, from the first message to the appointment appearing in your schedule. You choose how much Opencare AI handles and how much stays with your team, and you can change it anytime.
Already using Opencare AI or Direct Write? Your settings carried over automatically. There's nothing you need to do.
Go to Settings, then select Appointment Automation and/or Opencare AI.
Turn the toggles on or off to match what you want for the Opencare AI. As for Appointment Automation, you will need to select Edit then toggle on or off from there.
Click Save.
What each setting does
Setting
What it does
AOpencare AI replies to patients
Opencare AI responds to new patient messages on your behalf, 24/7. It answers questions, collects insurance details and checks availability. Your team can take over any conversation at any time.
B/B1Auto-write scheduled appointments to your practice software
Every appointment scheduled through Opencare, by your team or by Opencare AI, is added to your practice management software (PMS) automatically. No manual entry.
B2Automatically schedule confirmed appointments
Confirmed appointments are scheduled without staff review. They move from To Do's > Needs Scheduling to Upcoming Appointments in Opencare. You will be able to choose who can be scheduled automatically between All patients or In-network only.
Which setup fits your practice?
Here are the most common ways practices set this up, from most automated to fully manual. You can switch between them anytime.
Setup
Settings
Good for
⚡ Fully hands-off Opencare AI replies, books the appointment and writes it to your PMS.
A on, B on (B1 filled in), B2 = All Patients
Practices that want new patient bookings to run on their own, start to finish.
🔍 Hands-off, with an insurance check Same as above, but out-of-network and uninsured patients are checked first.
A on, B on (B1 filled in), B2 = In-network only
Practices that want automation for most patients but prefer to review out-of-network cases.
🤖 AI talks, your team books Opencare AI handles the messages. Your team decides whether and when to book.
A on, B off
Practices that want to save time on messaging but keep full control of the schedule.
📋 Your team talks, Opencare enters it Your team messages patients. Confirmed appointments go straight into your PMS.
A off, B on (B1 set), B2 = All patients
Practices that like talking to patients directly but want to skip manual PMS entry.
🙌 Fully manual Your team handles conversations, scheduling and PMS entry.
A off, B off
Practices that prefer to manage everything directly.
Handle one patient yourself
If Opencare AI is on but you'd like to handle a specific patient personally, you can switch just that conversation to manual. Nothing else changes.
Open the appointment in your Appointments section.
Switch from AI Assistant Mode to Manual Mode.
Opencare AI stops responding for that patient only, and your team takes over.
Switch back to AI Assistant Mode anytime. It picks up where things left off.
This option only appears when Opencare AI (A) is on.
FAQs
Opencare turned on Opencare AI for my practice. What changed?
Your practice was moved to the fully hands-off setup: Opencare AI replies to new patients, books into the availability you've already set, and writes appointments to your PMS. Your availability and existing settings didn't change.
Can I use In-network only if Opencare AI is off?
No. The In-network only option relies on Opencare AI to check out-of-network patients, so it only works when A is on.
Does this work with my practice management software?
Appointment Automation works with any PMS that's integrated with Opencare. Not sure if yours is? Contact our Practice Support Team (details below) and we'll confirm.
How will I know if an appointment wasn't written to my PMS?
It shows up in your Opencare dashboard under Needs Scheduling or Needs to be Synced. No separate alert is sent. Filter for appointments tagged Practice Handling to find them quickly.
Why does Opencare AI sometimes hand an appointment back to my team?
It hands over when it can't finish a request on its own: no available time was found, or the patient asked something outside what it knows. The conversation is tagged Practice Handling so your team can take over.
If I update an appointment in my PMS, will Opencare update too?
Not yet. Opencare can send appointments to your PMS, but changes made in your PMS don't sync back to Opencare. It's on our roadmap, and we'll share updates when it's available.
Can I customize the messages Opencare AI sends to patients?
Not right now. We're focused on expanding what Opencare AI knows so it can handle more conversations naturally on your behalf. It uses the information in your practice Profile to answer questions, so keeping your Profile up to date helps.
How does automation affect response time?
With Opencare AI on, patients get a reply in seconds. Without it, practices take about 3.6 hours on average to send a first response. Faster replies mean a better chance of booking.
What if a patient asks for a time that isn't available?
Opencare AI offers alternative times rather than turning the patient away. If it can't pull up live availability, it hands the conversation to your team.
Can Opencare AI schedule across two different operatories?
Not yet, but it's on our roadmap. We'll share more when it's ready.
What patient information does Opencare AI collect, and how does it reach my practice?
It focuses on confirming how the patient will pay: insurance details if they're insured, or confirmation that they're paying out of pocket. Some of this transfers to your PMS automatically, with some limits (insurance card images, for example, can't be sent directly). Everything is available through the Opencare link included with every written appointment.
Will appointments auto-verify if Opencare AI has access to my PMS?
Auto-verification is separate from Opencare AI. It needs access to your financial records, not just your calendar. Reconciling appointments early still helps avoid incorrect billing.
Need a hand?
Our Practice Support Team can help you find or change these settings.
📧 prime@opencare.com 📞 +1 855-572-8500, Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM ET
This line is for practice staff only and isn't intended for patients.