Nobody followed up
The patient said "let me check my diary," and there is no diary. The plan sits on the report until someone has time, and the patient has moved on. Elva follows up on every plan, on the timing you set.
InsuranceUnscheduled Treatment Follow-Up
Dental Unscheduled Treatment Follow-Up That Explains What They Already Need
The dentist has already diagnosed it. Elva follows up on every treatment plan that was never booked, works out what the patient's plan pays, and sends the estimate in writing with a way to book and to pay, so patients know what to expect before they decide.
Reads diagnosed treatment
Verified estimates
Payment options
Book from the plan
Central Park Worklist
16 Open2 Urgent
All 16Eligibility 3Claims 3
Maria Lopez
Eligibility check failed for today's appointment.
Eligibility failed
James Chen
Coverage detail needs manual verification.
Manual eligibility
Patricia Davis
Card lists "BlueCross" — cannot match to known payer.
Carrier unresolved
Patricia Davis Carrier unresolved
Mark resolved
Payer"BlueCross" (ambiguous)
AppointmentMay 1 · 10:00 AM
AI's suggested next step
Open patient record to confirm BCBS plan
7 candidate BCBS plans match the card design. View the card photo and insurance section to clarify.
Open patient recordHow unscheduled treatment follow-up works with Elva
1
Find Workable Treatment
Elva reads diagnosed, unscheduled treatment from your practice system and filters out what is already booked, too old to chase, or can't be reached.
2
Work Out the Estimate
It checks the patient's plan, deductible, remaining maximum and benefit date, and holds any patient whose benefit information is too old to quote.
3
Follow Up and Book
By text, email or phone, on the timing you set. The estimate arrives in writing on the patient's plan page, where they can book and see payment plans and financing options through Elva Pay.
4
Hand Over the Hard Conversations
Patients with questions, or who need to talk it through, reach your team with the benefits and the estimate already worked out.
Elva never quotes an estimate by voice. A phone call can invite and explain, and the numbers always arrive in writing.
What Elva checks before it follows up on treatment
Recorded treatment — only procedures a provider has recorded, never treatment nobody diagnosed
Treatment age — treatment older than 18 months may no longer reflect the mouth, so those patients move to reactivation
Already booked — treatment that is already on the schedule is left out, and anyone who books stops receiving messages
Contact details — patients with no mobile number or email are left out and counted, so you can see who can't be reached
Opt-outs — patients who opted out are never contacted, and replying STOP ends texts at once
Plan and fees — what this patient's plan pays for this procedure, worked out from their plan and not from memory
Deductible — whether it has already been met, so the estimate isn't higher than it should be
Remaining maximum — how much of the annual maximum is left, and what happens to it when benefits reset
Benefit freshness — benefit information more than 14 days old isn't quoted from, and the patient is held instead of guessed at
Estimate in writing — estimates are never quoted by voice, because a spoken number can't be re-read and leaves no record
Payment options — Elva Pay shows payment plans and financing options when they are available
Booking — patients can book from the message or from their plan page
Replies — questions are answered, and anything clinical goes to your team
That list is what a good treatment coordinator works out before picking up the phone. Elva does it for every patient on the list, not only the ones someone has time to call.
Stop Letting Diagnosed Treatment Sit Unscheduled
In a 20-minute demo we show how a patient's estimate is worked out, what the patient sees on their plan page, and what your team gets when a conversation needs a person.
What unscheduled treatment follow-up does
Unscheduled treatment follow-up is the process of contacting patients whose diagnosed treatment was never booked, explaining what they need and what it will cost, and getting it scheduled. Elva does it automatically for every treatment plan a provider has recorded, by text, email and phone.
Unscheduled treatment is care that was diagnosed and presented but never booked. The dentist has examined the patient, decided what they need and written it down, so nobody has to be sold anything new. It sits unscheduled for three reasons: nobody followed up, the money was never explained, or benefits expired unnoticed.
By hand, the follow-up means pulling the plan, verifying benefits, working out the estimate, calling, explaining, and answering the money question, which can take about 20 minutes a patient. It competes with tomorrow's schedule every day, so it is usually the first job dropped.
Elva follows up only on treatment a provider has recorded, and it works from verified benefits. Treatment older than 18 months may no longer reflect the patient's mouth, so those patients go to patient reactivation instead, where the conversation starts from a different place.
Four reasons diagnosed treatment stays unscheduled
The money was never explained
It isn't always that the treatment is expensive. Often it is unexplained: the patient heard a number with no context and went home to think. Elva sends a written estimate built from the patient's own plan.
Benefits expire quietly
Plan years reset, and benefit the patient has already paid for disappears. Neither the patient nor the practice notices until January. Elva checks what is left and what happens at the reset before it writes a word.
The follow-up takes too long
Pulling the plan, verifying benefits, working out the estimate and making the call can take about 20 minutes a patient. That is why it is the first job dropped. Elva covers the work your team can't staff and hands them only the conversations that need a person.
Illustration, not a result: a practice has 300 patients with workable unscheduled treatment. At 20 minutes each, that is 100 hours of work. At the pace the California Dental Association suggests for working a report, 10 to 20 patients a week, it takes 15 to 30 weeks. Patients whose treatment is more than 18 months old go to patient reactivation, and unused benefits reminders cover the year-end deadline.
Screenshot
A fine-print flag on a planned case — the clause Elva matched and the date logic that triggered it.
Unscheduled Treatment Follow-Up Built for Your PMS
Elva runs alongside your practice management system rather than replacing it, with real-time sync across Dentrix, Dentrix Ascend, Open Dental, Eaglesoft, Curve Dental, Denticon, and CareStack.
It reads diagnosed treatment from your system and writes each booking back, so a patient who books drops off the list. Payments made through Elva Pay post back to the patient's ledger automatically.
Elva
Eligibility engine
Two-way sync · Real-time
Authorized API Partner
Official API Vendor Partner
Systems supported
Dentrix
Dentrix Ascend
Open Dental
Eaglesoft
Curve Dental
Denticon
CareStack
Unscheduled treatment follow-up that runs on your practice's rules
Rules you can review. Who is included, the channels and the timing, and what every message must say are all yours to set. On AI calls, whether Elva announces itself as automated is set per practice.
A provider confirms what is clinical. Elva can't send a phasing proposal until a named provider confirms the delay is safe, and it records who confirmed it and when.
Only what was diagnosed. Every message refers to a procedure a provider has recorded. Elva never suggests treatment nobody diagnosed, never quotes an estimate by voice, and holds patients whose benefits are too old to quote.
Handled to HIPAA standards. Patient data moves under a signed business associate agreement, encrypted at rest and in transit, and messages carry only what's needed to book a visit.
One treatment plan, paid twice
When a patient has more treatment than remaining benefit, doing everything now means the plan pays only what is left. Splitting the plan either side of the benefit-year reset lets the plan pay twice. Working that out takes the fee schedule, the benefit position, the remaining maximum, the deductible status and the coverage for each procedure, reconciled patient by patient. Software can do it in seconds. By hand it is a long job, so it rarely gets done.
Illustration, not a result: a patient has $340 left this year and $1,500 from January, and the deductible is met. Do all $1,660 of treatment before 31 December and the plan pays $340, so the patient pays $1,320. Do the perio in December and the crown in January and the plan pays $914, so the patient pays $746. Same treatment, same clinical order, and the patient keeps $574.
Elva shows the patient the full arithmetic, including the $116 of this year's maximum that can't be used either way because no remaining procedure fits inside it. That line appears on the staff screen and on the patient's page. Phasing delays a diagnosed procedure, which is a clinical decision, so Elva can't send a phasing proposal until a named provider confirms the delay is safe. The Send button stays disabled until they do, and who confirmed it and when is recorded.
Screenshot
The same discrepancy three weeks later — carried from the eligibility check into the claim, the denial queue, and the answer RCM Brain gives back.
Why unscheduled treatment deserves a system
Cost is the barrier patients name. In 2023, 21% of US adults delayed or went without dental care because of cost, a far higher share than for medical care (8%).
Source: Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, "How does cost affect access to healthcare?" (analysis of the 2023 National Health Interview Survey), 10 March 2026. Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Working the list by hand is slow. The California Dental Association's suggested goal for a team member assigned an unscheduled-treatment report is 10–20 patients contacted per week.
Source: California Dental Association, "How to fill the patient schedule in the dental practice," 3 December 2025. Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Benefits are often left unspent. In 2024, only 2.9% of group dental PPO enrollees reached their annual maximum, so for most patients the year ends with benefit unused.
Source: National Association of Dental Plans (NADP), 2025 Dental Benefits Report: Plan Design (2024 data), as reported in "New Data Sheds Light on Dental Benefits and the Cost of Serving Enrollees," 25 November 2025. Retrieved 5 October 2026.
FAQ
What is unscheduled treatment in a dental practice?
Unscheduled treatment is care a provider has diagnosed and presented to the patient but that hasn't been booked. It sits in the patient's chart as a treatment plan with no appointment. Following it up means contacting the patient, explaining what they need and what it will cost, and getting it onto the schedule.
How do I follow up on unscheduled dental treatment?
Start with the list of treatment a provider has recorded but never booked, contact each patient promptly, explain what they need and what it will cost, and make booking easy. Elva does this automatically: it filters the list, works out each patient's estimate from their plan, follows up by text, email and phone, and hands the hard conversations to your team.
When and how often should we follow up?
Several consultants recommend first contact within 48 to 72 hours of presenting the plan, with more follow-up over the weeks after. In Elva, the timing, channels and number of touches are set by your practice, and it stops when the patient books or opts out.
Who should work the unscheduled treatment report?
Usually a treatment coordinator or the office manager, between everything else, which is why it is often the first job dropped. Elva works the list every day and hands your team only the conversations that need a person, with the estimate already worked out.
How do I find unscheduled treatment in Open Dental or Dentrix?
Most practice systems have a report for it, such as Treatment Finder in Open Dental and the Treatment Manager in Dentrix. These give you a long list that still has to be filtered and worked by hand. Elva reads the same treatment data from your system, filters out what is booked, too old or unreachable, and does the follow-up.
Is following up on unscheduled treatment the same as selling?
No. Every message refers to a procedure a provider has already recorded, and the message is "you already need this, here's how to pay less for it." Elva never suggests treatment nobody diagnosed.
Does this increase case acceptance?
Case acceptance begins in the chair, with how treatment is presented. Elva covers what happens after the patient leaves: follow-up, an estimate they can read, and ways to book and pay. We don't publish an acceptance figure, because results depend on the practice and the patients.
How does Elva work out the estimate?
From the patient's own plan: what it pays for that procedure, whether the deductible is met, how much of the annual maximum is left, and what happens at the reset. If the benefit information is more than 14 days old, Elva holds the patient instead of guessing. The estimate always arrives in writing, never by voice.
Can patients book and pay from the message?
Yes. Patients can book from the message or their plan page, and pay through Elva Pay, which shows payment plans and financing options when they are available. Payments post back to the patient's ledger automatically.
What is phasing, and who approves it?
Phasing splits a treatment plan across the benefit-year reset so the plan can pay twice. It delays a diagnosed procedure, which is a clinical decision, so Elva can't send a phasing proposal until a named provider confirms the delay is safe. Who confirmed it and when is recorded.
Does this work with my practice management system?
Elva syncs in real time with Dentrix, Dentrix Ascend, Open Dental, Eaglesoft, Curve Dental, Denticon, and CareStack. It reads diagnosed treatment from your system and writes bookings back, so a patient who books leaves the list immediately.
Is patient information protected?
Elva is built for dental practices and is HIPAA compliant. We sign a business associate agreement with every practice, data is encrypted at rest and in transit, and messages carry only what's needed to book a visit. Patients can stop texts instantly by replying STOP.
Ready to Follow Up on the Treatment They Already Need?
See how Elva works out each patient's estimate, and what the patient would see on their plan page.