5.3.3 Utilizing Merge Fields

Our final lesson will focus on the Merge Field functionality. By utilizing all of the available tools at hand, we can personalize our letters for each patient.

Merge fields have already proven invaluable in the labels lesson. We designated data drop-points to automatically populate patient names and address information for our labels. In this lesson, we’ll use the same principles to see how we can creatively use our merge field functionality.

If you still have the letter created in the previous lesson open, you can skip ahead to the Using Merge Fields section below. If not, the steps below will help you get started.

Retrieving the Report:

We will retrieve our patient email report saved in the previous lesson as it already has access to patient emails.

1. Select the Patient tab and Patient list Category.
2. Select the Custom button on the right.
3. Highlight the report you want to retrieve.
4. Press Select.

This report should have a Pat Email column with a filter: Contains- @.

Generating and Extracting the Report:

• Select the Search button.
• Select the Select All button.
• Select the Letters button.
• Select the Create Letter button.

You will find Microsoft Word has opened a new window on your taskbar. Navigate to this “Document 1” Word window.

We now have a Word document which has access to data from Power Practice.

Using Merge Fields:

At this point you can paste your letter template as we did in the previous lesson.

Once you have a text body to work with, you can begin personalizing the generic message template to address your patients automatically.

In the Word window, you should be working in the Mailings tab. Within the available options at the top you will find an Insert Merge Field button.

The Insert Merge Field option allows you to drop in data to designated points within the document. Simply highlight the item you wish to see replaced with data from Power Practice and choose the appropriate merge field from the dropdown.

You can experiment with your report fields/columns and find the relevant items you wish to include in your personalized messages. All you need to do is add those items to the Selected box before begging the merge process (before pressing Letter, Create New). Any field added to the Selected box while editing the report should be accessible within the Insert Merge Field dropdown.