Referral sources are sometimes duplicated or entered incorrectly. This can cause the process of data entry and reporting on referrals to become more complex and potentially confusing. With this release, you can now merge/combine referral sources in Dentrix Ascend.
To merge referral sources
1. On the Referral Sources page (Settings > Referral Sources), click a referral to view the corresponding Referral Information. Then, click the new Merge button (in the lower-right corner).

Security Rights:
- The existing security right has been renamed from “Manage referral sources” to “Create/edit referral sources,” but that right still allows a user to create or edit a referral source.
- A new security right, which is labeled “Merge referral sources,” allows a user to merge referral sources. This right is available only if the user has the “Create/edit referral sources” right. Also, this right is NOT granted to any users by default.
The Merge Referral Sources dialog box appears so you can merge the selected referral source with another one. The Select Referral Source tab is selected by default.

2. In the Select a referral source to merge with box, begin typing your search criteria, and then continue typing as needed to narrow down the results list. If there are many results, the results lists may consist of multiple pages.
Note: You can specify how many results to display per page.

3. Select the correct referral source.
4. Click Next.
The Select Primary Referral Source tab is selected.

5. Select the referral source which will remain after the merge is complete.

Note: The number of patients referred by both referral sources will be combined into the selected referral source.
6. Click Next.
The Confirm Referral Source tab is selected so you can double-check what the results of the merge will look like after completion.

Warning: This action cannot be undone. When referral sources are merged, patients associated with them will be consolidated into the selected primary referral source.
7. Click Merge.
When the merge process is complete, a green “Success” message appears.
Notes:
- When the merge process is complete, an entry is created in the Audit Log.
- Reports will continue to pull referral data as they did previously, except now the data are more consolidated.