Letter Templates

Gentu has a powerful template system which allows you to create and edit custom letter templates to automate your correspondence with both patients and practitioners

You can create or edit letter templates through the Letter Template settings menu, which is located in Settings > Letter Templates.

Create a letter template

1. Navigate to Settings > Letter Templates.
2. Click on the + to the right of the Letter Templates heading.
   
3. This will open the Letter Template editor window.
4. Before you begin, please enter a name for your template in the field directly above the document.
5. Once you have configured your template, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click Save. 

You can now edit and arrange elements of the letter to suit your needs. Please see our Letter Writing Tools and Functions article for more details of all the tools available to you. 

Edit letter templates

You can edit existing letter templates at any time.

1. Navigate to Settings > Letter Templates.
2. Select the letter template you wish to edit.
3. Click the Edit button in the top right.
4. Make the required changes to your template.
5. Scroll to the bottom of this page and click Save. 

Letter references

Letter references allow you to automatically insert information about the patient, addressee, procedure, and so on, into the letter. They can also be used to insert the current date, any CC'd doctors, and the sender's name into the letter.

Insert a letter reference

1. Place your cursor into the letter where you'd like the referenced information to appear.
2. Click the References icon. 
3. Select the desired reference from the drop down menu.
   

Inserting a reference will create a placeholder within the letter, highlighted in teal.

When you then generate a letter using this letter template, the placeholder will be replaced by information referenced from the patient's file.

In the example above, you can see how the reference placeholders are replaced by the patient's full name, date of birth, and address; as entered in their Patient Details.

Note: you may wish to add descriptors for your letter references. For example, by typing in "Mobile phone number:" before inserting the Patient > Mobile Phone reference.

References, once inserted, can be moved by clicking and dragging.

Reference formatting

Certain references can be formatted to achieve the desired look, or to allow you to select which event - such as a procedure or appointment - are referenced.

Address formatting

All address and cc references can be formatted to single-line or multi-line format. This includes the addressee.address, patient.address, cc_info, and cc_info_fax references. 

To format the address or cc reference, simply click on the reference to open a pop up window where you can select the desired formatting.

You can change the address or cc formatting at a letter template level, or within an individual letter.

Date formatting

All date references can be formatted into short, long, or full format.

Click on the date field to reveal a pop up menu where you can select the desired format.

If you wish to change the date formatting of the procedure date or appointment date references, you will need to click on the date placeholder and then select the Formatting tab in the pop up menu.

The date format can be set on a letter template level, or for an individual letter as needed.

Event selection

If you would like to include appointment or procedure details in a letter, it is possible to select the appointment or procedure event which is referenced in the letter.

Presently it is only possible to select the 'Next' or 'Previous' event.

To select the event, you must first add the event date (i.e. appointment date or procedure date) reference into the letter:

1. Add the Procedure Date or one of the Appointment Date references into the letter.
2. Click the event date placeholder. A pop up menu will open.
   
3. From the Quick List tab, select the Next or Previous option as needed.

If you wish to change the date formatting, you can select the Formatting tab and select the date formatting option here.

Note: If the patient does not have an upcoming procedure or appointment, the quick list will state 'No appointment'. Selecting this will result in no information populating into the letter.

The 'Next' or 'Previous' event can be set on a letter template level, or for an individual letter as needed.

Quote template

Gentu comes with a pre-built template for quotes & fee estimates.

When you open the quote template via Settings > Quote Templates, you will see the grey area of the template which contains hardcoded information. It is not possible to edit any information from this grey section of the template. This is to ensure the integrity of the printed quote.

The hardcoded information includes:

• The letterhead (your Default letterhead is always used),
• Addressee details,
• Patient details,
• Item details, including the fee, rebate, and gap amounts, and
• Total estimated cost.

You can edit the lower half of the quote template to include information relevant to your practice, such as your payment details, payment terms, and any disclaimers.

Once you have made the desired changes, simply scroll to the bottom of the page and select Save to save the changes.