What's New?Opencare now has an Appointment Automation settings page. It's one place where you con...
Introducing Opencare AI: Features, Setup & Practice Controls
What is OpencareAI?
OpencareAI is an Artificial Intelligence-powered assistant that helps your practice respond to new patient inquiries and support booking completion on Opencare. It works alongside your front desk by handling common questions, collecting key details, and moving patients toward scheduled appointments.
OpencareAI is designed to save your team time and help you capture more booking opportunities, without changing how your practice runs day-to-day.
What does Opencare AI do?
Depending on your settings and patient needs, OpencareAI can:
✅ Respond instantly to patient inquiries (even after hours)
✅ Answer common questions (availability, location, insurance, services, next steps, etc.)
✅ Collect booking details (preferred times, urgency, reason for visit)
✅ Guide patientsto complete booking through the appropriate flow
✅ Support scheduling workflows, including writing appointments into your PMS (if eligible and configured)
Benefits of Using OpencareAI
💬 Faster response times
Patients are more likely to book when they get an immediate response; especially outside business hours.
☕ Reduced admin workload
OpencareAI handles repetitive back-and-forth so your team can focus on in-practice priorities.
🗒️ More captured bookings
By helping patients stay engaged and complete booking steps, OpencareAI helps reduce drop-off.
👥 Consistent patient experience
Patients receive helpful, consistent answers and guidance even during busy front desk periods.
Configure OpencareAI to write appointments into your PMS
If your practice is eligible for PMS writing, OpencareAI can be configured to write appointments into your Practice Management Software (PMS) in the operatory/column of your choosing.
What you'll need before you start:
Your practice must be integrated with Opencare
Your PMS must be OpencareAI supported
How to configure the operatory/column for PMS Writing:
Find the Appointment Automation Settings and click on the pencil icon on the right to edit your preferences
Look for the Writing to PMS section and turn on the Toggle labelled Write scheduled appointments to PMS
Select the Default Appointment Length and Default Provider
Under Operatory to Provider Mappings, select where OpencareAI should place booked appointments for each provider
Click Save at the bottom of the settings
🖥️ Once saved, appointments created through OpencareAI will be written into the selected operatory/column (when applicable).
Tip: Choose a dedicated operatory/column (e.g., "Opencare") so your team can quickly identify and review Opencare-generated appointments.
How to take over a conversation from OpencareAI
When looking at your Appointments section, you will see a label for each patient indicating whether the communication is being handled by AI or your Practice. Your team can jump in at any time if you want to personally handle a patient conversation.
When you might take over:
The patient has a complex request (specialty treatment, detailed insurance questions, etc.)
The patient is frustrated or needs reassurance
You want to offer an alternative time or clarify details
The AI has reached a point where a human decision is best
How to take over:
Open the patient conversation in your Appointments section
Switch the toggle from AI Assistant Mode to Manual Mode
Send your message as you normally would
When you take over, messages will be sent manually by your practice staff, and OpencareAI will stop responding unless you re-enable it for that thread.
Tip: If you take over to solve a specific issue, you can often return the thread back to OpencareAI afterward to continue handling basic follow-up.
Turn OpencareAI off
Since OpencareAI and Appointment Automation work together, you have control over how much you want to disable. You can turn off AI features at different levels depending on what works best for your practice.
Before turning it off
We're constantly improving OpencareAI and regularly ship updates based on practice feedback. If something isn't working as expected, we'd love a chance to help first — many issues can be resolved through small configuration changes.
📩 Contact our Product Manager atkelvin@opencare.com or reply to your Opencare email with:
What happened
A screenshot (if possible)
What you expected instead
Disabling OpencareAI — choose your level
Go to Settings → Appointment Automation to manage your toggles and Click Edit.
🗣️ Reply level — Turn off AI responses only Toggle off Opencare AI replies to patients 24/7. Your team will handle all patient communication manually. Any other automation features that were enabled (write to PMS, auto-scheduling) will remain active.
📝 Auto-write level — Turn off PMS writing & scheduling Toggle off Auto-Write appointments to PMS. When this is disabled, Auto-schedule is automatically turned off as well. Appointments will no longer be written to or scheduled in your PMS automatically.
🚫 Fully disable all features To turn everything off completely, ensure all toggles are in the OFF position before saving:
Opencare AI replies to patients 24/7
Write appointments to your practice software
Auto-schedule appointments
Refer to the screenshot below to confirm all toggles are off.
Once all features are disabled, OpencareAI will no longer respond to patients on your behalf, and no appointments will be automatically written to or scheduled in your practice management software.
FAQs
Does OpencareAI change how patients book?
OpencareAI is designed to support booking completion, not disrupt your workflow. Your practice retains full control over scheduling rules and settings.
Is OpencareAI free?
Yes. OpencareAI is currently available to eligible practices at no additional cost.
Can I turn OpencareAI back on later?
Yes. You can re-enable OpencareAI at any time using the same settings.
What information will be included in our PMS if the appointment is scheduled by OpencareAI?
OpencareAI will include any information it was able to collect from the patient (i.e., Patient's name, contact information, etc.). The appointments will also be tagged in your PMS, indicating which ones were added by OpencareAI.
I cannot locate these settings in my Opencare Dashboard. Can you help me?
Our Practice Support Team will be happy to help you navigate through your account. They can be reached by: 📧 prime@opencare.com 📞 +1 855-572-8500Monday to Friday9 AM to 5 PM EST
Please note: This is an Opencare Practice Support line only and is not intended for patients.
Streamline Your Bookings with Opencare Integration
Are you looking for a way to make your practice more visible, book more appointments, and reduce the time your staff spends on scheduling? Our Opencare Integration is the solution. This feature connects your practice management software directly to the Opencare platform, helping you grow your practice efficiently and securely.
How It Works
Opencare Integration uses proprietary software to connect with your existing practice management or scheduling software. It identifies open appointment slots in your calendar based on parameters that you control.
Customizable Search: The software can be set up to read single or multiple columns in your calendar to find openings for specific time durations you require. It can even read columns sequentially for appointments split between different columns.
Patient Requests: Available slots are then offered to prospective patients on the Opencare platform. When a patient selects a time, it comes to you as a booking request.
You Retain Full Control: Appointments are not confirmed until you accept them in your Opencare portal. This ensures you always have the final say. If a requested time doesn't work, you can still use the traditional method of sending the patient a list of available time slots to choose from.
Key Benefits of Integration
By connecting your practice management software to Opencare, you can achieve significant improvements:
Increased Appointment Volume: Practices see an average 20% increase in scheduled appointments.
Greater Visibility: Integrating raises your practice's ranking on the Opencare website, giving you more exposure to new patients.
Improved ROI: Attract more patients and increase your return on investment.
Time Savings: Your staff will spend less time on the phone and manually booking appointments, freeing them up for other important tasks.
Secure and Compliant
Your practice's data security is a top priority. The Opencare Integration is:
100% HIPAA Compliant: The system adheres to all HIPAA regulations.
Secure: It uses 256-bit SSL encryption to protect your data.
Read-Only Access: The software only reads your open schedule slots. It does not overwrite any data in your practice management system or access any other patient information.
Compatibility and Cost
There is no downside to setting up the integration if you use compatible software.
Compatible Systems: We work with many major practice management systems, including Dentrix, Open Dental, Eaglesoft, ABELDent, Tracker, and more.
Growing List: Our list of compatible software is always expanding. If you're unsure about your system, please reach out to us.
Free Setup: As of Fall 2025, we are offering to set up the integration free of any additional cost or charges.
Appointment Automation Settings: How to Configure OpencareAI for Your Practice
What's New?
Opencare now has an Appointment Automation settings page. It's one place where you control how Opencare handles your new patient requests, from the first message to the appointment showing up in your schedule.
You can choose how much you want OpencareAIto handle automatically, and how much stays with your team. There's no wrong answer. It's whatever works best for your practice.
✅ Already using Opencare AI or Direct Write? Nothing changed for you. Your settings were automatically moved over, and you don't need to do anything.
What the Settings Do
When you open Appointment Automation in your settings, a grey banner at the top will show you in plain language exactly what your practice is set up to do right now. It updates as you make changes, so you can see what you're about to save before you hit Save.
The page has three sections, each with a simple toggle:
Toggle
What it controls
A Opencare AI replies to patients 24/7
When this is on, AI responds to new patient messages on your behalf. It answers questions, collects insurance info, and checks availability. Your team can jump in at any point.
B Write appointments to your practice software
When this is on, any appointment confirmed through Opencare automatically shows up in your practice management software (PMS). No need to enter it manually.
B1 Default appointment details
Sets the default label, provider, and operatory used when an appointment is written to your PMS. You'll need to fill this in when B is turned on.
C Auto-schedule appointments
When this is on, Opencare books appointments automatically and move from your To Do's - Needs Scheduling to Upcoming Appointments only, not your practice management software(PMS). When it's off, your team handles all scheduling.
C1 Which patients get auto-scheduled?
Only shows up when C is on. Choose All patients to auto-schedule everyone, or In-network only to have out-of-network patients reviewed by AI before anything gets booked.
💡 Good to know: If you have both AI (A) and Write to your practice software (B) turned on, Auto-schedule (C) will lock on automatically. That's expected. If AI is talking to patients and writing to your PMS, scheduling needs to happen in between. To change this, just turn off A or B first.
Which Setup Fits Your Practice?
Not sure where to start? Here are the main ways practices set this up.
📋 Your team talks to patients and Opencare handles the scheduling software entry
Toggles: A off, B on, B1 filled in, C on, C1 = All patients
Your team manages all patient conversations as usual. When a patient confirms an appointment, it gets written to your practice management software automatically with no manual entry needed.
Good for: Practices that like staying in direct contact with patients but want to save time on admin.
🤖 AI talks to patients and your team decides who gets booked
Toggles: A on, B off, C off
AI handles the back-and-forth with patients. It collects their info, answers questions, and checks availability. Your team still makes the final call on whether to book and when.
Good for: Practices that want to free up time on messaging while keeping full control over the schedule.
⚡ Fully hands-off: AI, auto-scheduling, and practice software writing all on
Toggles: A on, B on, B1 filled in, C on (locked), C1 = All patients
AI responds to patients, books the appointment, and it goes straight into your practice management software. All without your team needing to do anything. This is the most automated option available.
Good for: Practices that want new patient bookings to run on their own from start to finish.
🔍 Fully hands-off, but out-of-network patients get an extra check first
Toggles: A on, B on, B1 filled in, C on (locked), C1 = In-network only
Same as above with one difference: if a patient is out-of-network or uninsured, AI checks their details and collects insurance info before anything gets scheduled. Your team can then decide whether to proceed.
Good for: Practices that want automation for most patients but prefer to personally review out-of-network cases.
🙌 Fully manual: your team handles everything
Toggles: A off, B off, C off
No automation at all. Your team manages all conversations, scheduling, and practice software entries directly.
Read the blue banner at the top. It tells you what your practice is currently set up to do
Adjust the toggles to match what you want
Click Save
Turning Off AI for One Specific Patient
If AI is on for your practice but you want to personally handle a specific patient, you can switch that one conversation to manual without changing anything else.
Open the appointment in your Appointments section
Switch from AI Assistant Mode to Manual Mode
Your team takes over and AI stops responding for that patient only
You can switch it back to AI at any time and it'll pick up right where things left off
Note: This option only appears when AI is turned on for your practice.
FAQs
Do I need to do anything now that this has launched? Probably not. If you were already using Opencare AI or Direct Write, your settings carried over automatically. Just log in, check the blue banner, and confirm it looks right.
Why is Auto-schedule greyed out, and I can't turn it off? This happens when both AI (A) and Write to practice software (B) are on. It's intentional. With both running, scheduling needs to happen automatically in between. Turn off either A or B, and you'll be able to adjust it.
Can I use In-network only if AI is off? No. The In-network filter only works when AI is on because AI is what handles the out-of-network patient check.
Does this work with my practice management software? Appointment Automation works with any PMS that has an integration with Opencare. If you're not sure whether your software is supported, reach out to our Practice Support Team, and we'll confirm for you.
How will I know if an appointment wasn't written to my PMS? It'll show 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 the system sometimes hand an appointment back to my team? The AI passes things to your team when it can't complete a request on its own — either no available time was found, or a patient asked something outside its knowledge. When that happens, the conversation is flagged and tagged "Practice Handling" for your team to 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 won't sync back to Opencare. This is on our roadmap, and we'll share updates when it's available.
Can I customize the messages the AI sends to patients? Custom message templates aren't available right now. We're focused on expanding what the AI knows so it can handle more conversations naturally on your behalf.
How does automation affect response time? With automation on, patients get a response instantly. Without it, practices average about 3.5 hours to first response. Faster replies mean a better chance of booking!
Can the AI schedule across two different operatories? Not yet, c but it's on the roadmap. We'll share more details when it's ready.
What if a patient requests a time that isn't available? The AI offers alternative times rather than turning the patient away. If it can't pull up live availability, it escalates to your team.
What patient information does the AI collect? The AI focuses on confirming payment — if the patient has insurance, it collects their insurance details; if not, it confirms they're paying out of pocket.
How does that information reach my practice? Some information transfers to your PMS automatically, but there are limits (insurance card images, for example, can't be sent directly). Everything is accessible via the Opencare link included with every written appointment.
Will appointments auto-verify if the AI has access to my PMS? Auto-verification is separate from OpencareAI. It requires Opencare to have access to your financial records, not just your calendar. Reconciling appointments early still helps avoid incorrect billing.
I can't find these settings. Can someone help?
Of course! Reach out to our Practice Support Team: 📧 prime@opencare.com 📞 +1 855-572-8500 — Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM EST
Please note: This line is for practice staff only and is not intended for patients.