The Three Opportunities: Hygiene, Treatment & Balance
Last updated: July 22, 2026
Overview
Every patient in the huddle is checked against three opportunity types — Hygiene, Treatment, and Balance (billing). On the appointment card these appear as chips, with a "X of 3" count. A lit chip means there's something to act on and is clickable; a greyed/locked chip means nothing is outstanding in that category.
Clicking a lit chip opens the opportunity detail window — a tabbed view for that patient and appointment. A header strip repeats the patient (name, age, phone) and appointment (time, duration, status) context, and each tab carries a "!" badge when its opportunity is lit.
What Lights Each Opportunity
Opportunity | Lights up when… |
|---|---|
Hygiene | The patient — or an active family member — has unscheduled, unsatisfied continuing (recall) care due. |
Treatment | The patient has planned, treatment-related procedures with a cost greater than $0. |
Balance | The patient has an outstanding balance. The chip also shows the balance amount. |
Inside Each Tab
Hygiene
Lists each family member due for hygiene, with their due date (or "Unscheduled"). Because Huddle checks the whole active family attached to the patient, you can capture overdue recall for family members while today's patient is already in front of you. If nothing is due, the tab shows "No hygiene opportunities."
Treatment
A table of the patient's planned treatments — procedure code, plan date, and cost — with a total dollar figure. This is the diagnosed-but-unscheduled work you can present and schedule while the patient is in the chair. If none, the tab shows "No planned treatment opportunities."
Balance
The patient's outstanding balance, broken out by aging bucket so you can have an informed payment conversation at check-in or checkout:
Current
30–60 days
60–90 days
90+ days
Total
If there's nothing owed, the tab shows "No outstanding balance."
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is a chip greyed out? There's nothing outstanding in that category for that patient — no recall due, no planned treatment, or no balance.
Q: Where do these come from? They're read live from existing TeamCare data — continuing (recall) care for hygiene, planned treatment plans for treatment, and account balances for billing. Huddle reflects the current state of those records rather than storing its own list.
Q: Why does the Hygiene tab list people other than today's patient? Hygiene checks the patient's whole active family, so you can book overdue recall for family members during today's visit.
Q: The Treatment tab is empty even though I know the patient needs work. Why? The Treatment opportunity only counts planned, treatment-related procedures with a cost greater than $0. Work that isn't entered as a planned treatment (or is $0) won't appear here.