How do I get a treatment plan accepted digitally by the patient?
A digitally accepted treatment plan is a staged plan with costs that the patient confirms online, with the confirmation stored with a date and time. It replaces the verbal "we'll think about it" with a decision you can track.
Short answer
- You build the plan from the odontogram: tooth, procedure, stage, duration, cost.
- You add alternative options (for instance a metal-ceramic or an all-ceramic crown) so the patient can compare.
- You send the plan by email or through a secure link, with the total and the staging.
- The patient accepts online, and the acceptance is stored with date, time and the chosen option.
- From the accepted plan you generate the appointments per stage, in the right order.
What the plan must contain
- The tooth (FDI notation) and the diagnosis for each procedure.
- The proposed procedure, the stage and the estimated number of sessions.
- The cost per procedure and the total, with alternative options listed separately.
- What insurance covers and what the patient pays.
- The responsible dentist and the date the plan was issued.
Legal context (Romania)
Romanian Law no. 46/2003 on patients' rights requires informed consent: the patient is entitled to know the proposed procedures, the alternatives and the risks before deciding. A written treatment plan, with options and costs, explicitly accepted, is the practical way a practice evidences that information. The data in the plan is health data, a special category under art. 9 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and Law no. 190/2018 — so it travels over a secure channel, not in a public message.
Practical example
Example: the patient needs a root canal on tooth 36 and a crown. The plan has two stages (endodontics, then the crown), two crown options at different prices and a total for each option. The patient gets the link, picks the all-ceramic option and accepts in the evening, from their phone. The front desk sees the acceptance in the morning and books the first stage, with the second stage placed in the calendar three weeks later.
Common mistakes
- Giving only the total, with no stages: the patient sees a big number and postpones the decision.
- Not storing the acceptance with a date and time — in a dispute you have nothing to show.
- Sending a plan containing health data over insecure channels.
- Not stating what insurance covers: the patient expects a different amount at the desk.
How 4dental helps
- A treatment plan generated from the odontogram, staged, with costs and alternative options.
- Digital acceptance by the patient, stored with date, time and the chosen option.
- Appointments generated automatically from the stages of the accepted plan.