Overview
Denticon offers two categories of adjustments:
- Production Adjustments – Affect charges and production totals.
- Collection Adjustments – Affect payments, collections, and income totals.
Understanding the difference between these adjustment types is essential to ensure accurate reporting, provider compensation calculations, and ledger management.
What is a Production Adjustment?
A Production Adjustment directly affects the charges posted to a patient's account by either increasing or decreasing production.
Because production adjustments modify patient charges in the same way as adding or removing a procedure, they appear in the Charges column on the Daily Journal Report, even though they are technically adjustments.
Examples of Production Adjustments
- Courtesy Discounts
- Employee Discounts
- Other charge-related account adjustments
Impact of Production Adjustments
✅ Affect patient charges
✅ Affect provider production totals
✅ Included in net production calculations on reports
✅ Appear in the Charges column on Daily Journal reports
❌ Do not affect income totals
Provider Allocation Behavior for Production Adjustments
Patient adjustments are allocated toward outstanding procedures associated with the specific provider tied to the adjustment.
Important Notes
- Adjustments can only be allocated to procedures associated with the matching provider.
- Only the specific provider's outstanding procedures will be considered.
- If there are no outstanding balances for that provider, the adjustment will not calculate against any procedure and will remain as a credit on the account.
What is a Collection Adjustment?
A Collection Adjustment affects the collections or payments recorded on an account.
These adjustments impact income reporting rather than production reporting.
Impact of Collection Adjustments
✅ Affect income totals
✅ Affect collection reports
✅ Affect provider compensation for practices that pay providers based on collections
✅ Appear in income allocation reporting
❌ Do not affect production totals
Entering an Adjustment in Denticon
Adjustments are entered similarly to posting a patient payment.
Steps to Enter an Adjustment
- Access the patient's ledger.
- Select the Adjustment Types radio button.
- Choose the appropriate adjustment item.
- Enter the adjustment amount.
- Leave Apply To set to Responsible Party (recommended) to apply the adjustment toward the most outstanding balance.
- Click Apply.
How Denticon Calculates Adjustments
Denticon recognizes only four adjustment combinations:
| Adjustment Type | Effect |
|---|---|
| Production / Negative (Prod / -) | Decreases production |
| Production / Positive (Prod / +) | Increases production |
| Collection / Negative (Coll / -) | Decreases collections/income |
| Collection / Positive (Coll / +) | Increases collections/income |
Selecting the Correct Adjustment Type
When to Use a Production Adjustment
Use a Production-type Adjustment when:
- The office wants to affect provider production totals.
- Provider compensation is based on collections, and the adjustment should not affect collection totals.
When to Use a Collection Adjustment
Use a Collection-type Adjustment when:
- The office wants to affect provider collection totals.
- Provider compensation is based on production, and the adjustment should not affect production totals.
Understanding Adjustment Descriptions
Important: The adjustment description does not determine how the ledger is affected.
The only fields that control ledger calculations are:
- Adjustment Type (Production or Collection)
- Adjustment Sign (Positive or Negative)
The adjustment description is simply used to help the office identify and distinguish adjustments within the patient ledger.
Best Practices When Entering Adjustments
Always verify the following before posting an adjustment:
Patient Specific
Ensure you are working within the correct patient record.
Provider Specific
Verify that the adjustment is being entered for the correct provider and amount.
Location Specific
For multi-location organizations, confirm that the correct office location is active before entering the adjustment.
Reporting Considerations
| Report Area | Production Adjustment | Collection Adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| Patient Charges | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Net Production | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Provider Production Reports | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Income Reports | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Collection Reports | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Collection-Based Compensation | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Production-Based Compensation | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
Key Takeaway
When deciding which adjustment type to use, focus on what reporting metric should be affected:
- Choose Production Adjustments when adjusting charges or production totals.
- Choose Collection Adjustments when adjusting payments, collections, or income totals.
Remember: the adjustment type and sign determine reporting behavior—not the adjustment description.