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Overview

A case is the main object in Pilot. It represents a specific instance of work for a customer, such as a dental restoration, orthodontic treatment, or other service. Each case contains detailed information about the work to be performed, the products used, and the associated production schedule.

In all other parts of documentation, we refer you to the prerequisites as a note. However, in this overview, we emphasize the importance of understanding how case processing works in Pilot from a larger, organizational perspective. So, the following sections are essential to grasp before diving into the specifics of case management:

  • Overview of Production Flow: Understand how production schedule is created.
  • Products: Familiarize yourself with the products used in cases, including how they are priced and managed.
  • Doctors: Learn about the doctor entity, which is crucial for managing customer relationships and case assignments.
  • Billing Accounts: Understand how billing accounts are used to manage financial transactions related to cases.
  • Invoices: Get to know how invoices are generated for cases and how they relate to billing accounts.
  • Payments and Credits: Get to know how payments and credits are applied to cases and billing accounts.
  • Shipping Routes: Learn about shipping routes and how they are used to manage the logistics of case delivery.

Case Management Overview​

Case Lifecycle​

A case goes through several stages in Pilot, each representing a different phase of the case lifecycle. Understanding these stages is crucial for effective case management:

  1. Entry. This status is intended for the pre-production phase. It is assigned in two situations:

    • When a case is accepted through our IOS portal and the "Go Live" flag was off.
    • When a case is created manually, and the "Go Live" button was not pressed.

  2. Live. This status is intended for the production phase, to indicate that the case is accepted and the products on it are being manufactured. It is assigned when the "Go Live" button is pressed or if the case is accepted through the IOS portal with the "Go Live" flag on.

  3. Hold. This status is used when a case is temporarily paused or requires additional information before proceeding. A hold case can have a hold reason.

  4. Outsourced. This status is used when a case is sent to an external partner for production or fulfillment. To outsource a case, you need to have the Outsourcing Partners set up.

    Outsourcing Rules
    • Only cases with status "Live" or "Hold" can be outsourced.
    • You can only outsource to the same outsourcing partner once.
    info

    Every outsourced case can be returned from outsource or the outsource can be cancelled. If the case has any outsourceable steps, they will be marked as outsourced, rescheduled based on the step's OS duration, and the technician will be the outsourcing partner.

  5. Shipped / Invoiced. This status is used when a case has been shipped to the customer or the case was invoiced, respectively. We do not enforce order of shipping vs invoicing a case, so either one of these statuses can appear first.

  6. Closed. This status is used when a case is both shipped and invoiced. It indicates that the order was fulfilled and the bill was sent.

Creating a Case​

Case Components​

Every case must have the following:

  • To "Go Live": patient name, doctor-office pair, and (unique) casepan if those settings are enabled.
  • To ship: office shipping address and a shipping route.
  • To invoice: a billing account associated with the doctor-office pair.

Cases can have additional components, such as:

  • Line Items: Each case can have multiple line items, which represent the products or services provided. Line items can be added, modified, or removed as needed.
  • Production Schedule: if you have configured production steps and templates.
  • Linked Cases: if you have a remake or a multi-stage product, you can link the previous case to specify which product is being remade and for what reason. Remake connections also mark the current case as a remake.
  • Additional Steps: ad hoc steps that have to be performed on the case. E.g., a case came in with distorted scans (or no scans at all!), so you need to communicate it to the doctor, but you need to assign that task to someone and give it a due date.
  • Custom Fields: additional fields that you can add to track information that we don't provide the fields for by default. You can add custom fields in Admin → Settings → Custom Fields.
  • Attachments: non-scan files that are associated with the case, such as photos or other documents.
  • Scans: digital files that represent the patients' dental anatomy, such as STL, PLY, or other 3D scan file formats.
  • Activity: contains case comments, doctor-lab messages, and case problems. This is where you can track the communication history and any issues that arise during the case lifecycle.
  • Event Logs: a chronological record of all events and actions taken on the case, providing a detailed audit trail.

Remake Identification​

If you accept the case from IOS portal, we automatically identify if the case is a potential remake based on the office(s) of the scanner mappings and patient name. In App Settings, you can configure to narrow the identification criteria down by including the search for the notation. If we have any matches, you will see a yellow pulsating buttons with the number of remakes identified.

If you create a case manually, to start looking for remakes, you need to input patient name and select a doctor-office pair (in any order). Then, you will see the same yellow pulsating button with the number of remakes identified.

If you create a remake connection (link) to another case, the current case will be marked as a remake and the line item remake menu will become available. There, you can track which item is being remade, the remake reason, and the remake units.

Combining Shipments​

If the setting is on, Pilot will automatically recommend the shipments to combine your current case into. This helps streamline the shipping process and can reduce shipping costs.

The algorithm goes like this: Pilot will look for all shipments created between the last and the next pickup time specified on your shipping route that is from the same shipping provider. If there are any potential shipments to combine with, you will see a dialog pop up with the list of recommended shipments. You can select to either combine the current case with one of the shipments, create a new shipment with the current route and add cases from the selected shipment into this new one, or simply create a new shipment for the current case.

Communication​

Communication is a key aspect of case management in Pilot. All case activity is located under "Activity" tab on the case view. Pilot provides several ways to communicate with doctors and other team members:

  • Case Comments: Internal comments that can be added to the case for team collaboration. These are visible only to users with access to the case.
  • Doctor-Lab Messages: Messages that can be sent to the doctor associated with the case. These messages are visible to both the lab team and the doctor.
  • Case Problems: Issues that arise during the case lifecycle can be logged as case problems. These are used to track and resolve issues that may impact the case's progress or quality. Case Problems are created automatically and you can find all case problem descriptions in the settings.

Custom Fields​

Custom fields allow you to track additional information that is not covered by the default fields in Pilot. You can create custom fields in Admin → Settings → Custom Fields. These fields will appear after case type / case tags selection but before the doctor notes.