What is a Failed Writeback?

Overview

Failed writebacks are logs of information within the Legwork software, found under To-Do lists > Failed Writebacks. The information is categorized by:

• Patient Name
• Appointment Time
• Writeback Event
• Acknowledged

Patient Name

• The patient names are clickable blue hyperlinks that direct you to the patient’s details under the Patients tab.

Appointment Time

There are two types of content in the Appointment Time column:

1. Actual Appointment Date and Time: The scheduled date and time of the patient’s appointment.
2. Placeholder Date and Time (aN-aN-aN @ aN:aN PM): Indicates an issue with the patient form being uploaded to the practice management software.

Writeback Event

• This column shows the date the appointment was confirmed or the form was approved.

Causes of Failed Writebacks

• Appointment Confirmations: Issues may occur when a patient texts “C” to confirm or clicks the confirm button in a confirmation email. This could be due to a pause in our syncer or an out-of-sync issue requiring a repair.
• Multiple Failed Writebacks: If you see multiple failed writebacks for appointment confirmations, it indicates a need for a syncer repair. Please contact your Legwork support team to resolve this.

Importance of Acknowledging Failed Writebacks

• When a failed writeback occurs, you will receive an email from Legwork with the subject “Unread appointment status notifications.” The email body will inform you that the syncer was unable to write to your practice’s software for various reasons.
• You will receive this message daily until all the writebacks are acknowledged. This email serves as a reminder to reach out to the support team for further investigation.
• Once acknowledged, you should no longer receive failed writeback emails for syncer issues unless a larger issue, such as a repair, needs to be addressed.

Additional Information

• Failed Writebacks Location: Found under the To-Do List tab. They represent confirmations we have tried to write into your practice management software but were unable to connect to your server. This can be caused by power outages, your server being turned off, or a loss of internet connection at your office.
• Working from the Failed Writebacks List: You can see what appointment we attempted to confirm in your system. Make any necessary changes in your practice management system, then click Acknowledge next to the Failed Writeback that you have addressed.
• Writebacks Definition: When data from Legwork is updated in a connected Practice Management System (Dentrix, Cloud9, OpenDental, EagleSoft, Curve, etc.), we call this a Writeback.

Handling Failed Writebacks

• Interruption of Communication: If communication between a Practice Management System (PMS) and Legwork is disrupted (e.g., server is turned off, power outage, internet disruption), the Failed Writebacks need to be acknowledged in Legwork.
• Manual Updates: Tasks that failed to write to the PMS may need to be manually updated. For example, if a patient responds to an appointment reminder to confirm an upcoming appointment during an interruption, you will need to manually mark the appointment as confirmed within your PMS. The Failed Writeback acts as a task list so you know what effort may be required.
• Clearing the List: Once you have updated the PMS, acknowledge the writeback(s) to clear the list.

Acknowledging a Failed Writeback

1. Log into Legwork CRM.
2. Navigate to the To-Do Lists tab.
3. Click Failed Writebacks in the left navigation bar.
4. Individually acknowledge each item by clicking the “Acknowledge” button for the individual item OR click the “Acknowledge All” button at the top of the list.