PMS Case Acceptance: Presented, Accepted, Planned & Declined Explained
Last updated: September 29, 2026
Overview
TeamCare can measure case acceptance from two different sources:
Source | Where the numbers come from | What gets counted |
|---|---|---|
Staff | Treatment plans your team creates and presents in TeamCare (checkouts, Day Sheets, the plan builder). | Treatment plans |
PMS | Procedures synced from your practice management system (Open Dental, Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Dentrix Ascend, Curve, etc.). | Individual procedures |
This article explains the PMS source: what Presented, Accepted, Planned, and Declined mean, which date a procedure reports on, what's left out, and why the numbers won't match the Staff view.
Key concept: PMS case acceptance answers "Of the treatment we planned on these dates, how much is now scheduled or done?" It reads your PMS chart directly, so no one has to enter anything in TeamCare.
When You'll See PMS Numbers
PMS numbers appear automatically when your practice syncs with a PMS and either:
your practice doesn't use TeamCare Treatment Plans, or
no one logged a TeamCare treatment plan during the period you're looking at.
Otherwise TeamCare shows Staff numbers. On the Presentation dashboard you can switch sources with the Staff / your PMS name toggle in the top right.
Where PMS numbers show up
Place | How to tell it's PMS |
|---|---|
Analytics → Treatment Plans → Presentation | The PMS button in the toggle is selected. In Count view, a note says counts are individual procedures, not treatment plans. |
Doctor Leaderboard → Treatment Plans columns | A grey PMS badge next to the Treatment Plans header. Only Presented ($), Accepted (a %), and Avg / Procedure show, because the other columns only exist for staff-entered plans. |
Analytics overview → Case Acceptance tile | Uses the same source as the Presentation dashboard for the same period, so the tile and the dashboard it opens always agree. |
News Feed → Treatment Plans daily post | Reads "There were N treatments planned in the PMS on…" |
News Feed → New Day Sheet post | Shows a Treatment Planned (PMS) section instead of Treatment Plans. |
The Numbers
Every procedure your PMS marks as treatment-planned lands in one bucket, based on its status today:
Number | What it means | PMS procedure status |
|---|---|---|
Presented | All treatment planned during the period. Always equals Accepted + Planned + Declined. | Treatment planned, scheduled, completed, or declined |
Accepted | Presented treatment that the patient has moved forward on. | Scheduled (attached to a booked appointment) or Completed |
Planned | Presented treatment that isn't scheduled or done yet. | Still treatment-planned, not on an appointment |
Declined | Presented treatment the patient turned down. | Marked declined or made inactive in your PMS (e.g. an Open Dental inactive treatment plan). Some PMS connections also mark treatment declined when its appointment is cancelled. |
Planned and Declined together are Unaccepted. Both count against your acceptance %. On the Presentation dashboard, the Unaccepted tile and the charts show them combined, and the table shows them on separate rows.
Acceptance % = Accepted ÷ Presented. By default it's calculated on dollars. Switch the dashboard to Count to see it by number of procedures.
A worked example
Dr. Lee plans five procedures on March 3rd:
Procedure | Fee | Status today | Bucket |
|---|---|---|---|
Crown #3 (D2740) | $1,200 | Completed | Accepted |
Core buildup #3 (D2950) | $300 | Completed | Accepted |
Filling #14 (D2392) | $250 | Scheduled for next week | Accepted |
Implant #19 (D6010) | $2,250 | Still planned | Planned |
Veneer #8 (D2962) | $1,000 | Patient declined | Declined |
Presented: 5 procedures, $5,000
Accepted: 3 procedures, $1,750
Planned: 1 procedure, $2,250
Declined: 1 procedure, $1,000
Acceptance: $1,750 ÷ $5,000 = 35% by dollars (3 of 5 = 60% by count)
Which Date a Procedure Reports On
PMS case acceptance uses the date the procedure was treatment-planned in your PMS (in Open Dental, the procedure's Date TP). It does not use the appointment date or the completion date.
A crown planned on January 30th and completed on February 15th counts in January as Accepted. It doesn't show up in February.
To see work being finished in a period, use the completed/production views instead. Those are based on the procedure's completion date.
Past Periods Keep Updating
Buckets use each procedure's status as of today. That means:
Last month's acceptance % usually goes up over time as patients schedule and complete treatment. A procedure moves from Planned to Accepted in the month it was planned.
Looking at the same period twice can give different numbers. That's expected, not a data problem.
News Feed posts are a snapshot taken when the post was written (usually early the next morning).
What's Counted — and What Isn't
PMS case acceptance only counts treatment procedures. These are left out:
Excluded | Why |
|---|---|
Diagnostic codes (D0xxx) — exams, X-rays, evaluations | Diagnosing isn't presenting treatment. |
Preventive codes (D1xxx) — cleanings, fluoride, sealants | Routine hygiene, not case acceptance. |
Cancellation / missed-appointment codes | Configured per practice; not treatment. |
Procedures with no code | Can't be classified. |
Deleted procedures | No longer in the chart. |
Dollars are the procedure's full fee from your PMS. They are not the patient portion or the insurance estimate.
Who Gets Credit
PMS procedures only record the treating provider, so:
Doctors and hygienists are credited for the procedures charted under their provider in the PMS.
Front desk and assistant views have nothing to show in PMS mode. Those roles only get credit through staff-entered TeamCare treatment plans.
Want front desk credit for case acceptance? Present plans through TeamCare checkouts and Day Sheets. See How Case Acceptance Tracking Works.
Seeing the Patients Behind a Number
On the Presentation dashboard in PMS mode, click the icon next to Presented, Accepted, or Unaccepted, or click a number in the table (including Planned and Declined). A drawer lists every patient behind that number, with their procedure count, dollars, and planned dates. Expand a patient to see each procedure, its provider, and its status.
The Unaccepted list is your follow-up list: every patient with treatment presented in the period that isn't scheduled or done yet.
PMS vs. Staff — Why They Don't Match
Staff | PMS | |
|---|---|---|
Unit | One treatment plan (can hold many procedures) | One procedure |
Date | The originating appointment/exam | The date the procedure was treatment-planned in the PMS |
"Accepted" means | Patient chose to schedule, or the plan was completed | Procedure is scheduled or completed in the PMS |
Not accepted | Deferred (patient said "not now") | Unaccepted: Planned (not scheduled yet; the PMS doesn't record why) or Declined |
Declined treatment | Tracked as a decision | Counts against acceptance |
Credit | Doctor, hygienist, and front desk | Treating provider only |
Averages | Average per plan | Average per procedure |
Because of these differences, the two sources measure related but different things. Compare each source to itself over time rather than comparing one to the other.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why does my dashboard say "PMS" when we use TeamCare treatment plans? No staff-entered plans were logged in the period you're viewing, so TeamCare fell back to your PMS data. Pick a period with plans, or click Staff in the toggle.
Q: What's the difference between "Planned" and "Deferred"? Deferred is a Staff-only decision: the patient told your team "not now." Your PMS doesn't record that, so in PMS mode anything not yet scheduled or completed shows as Planned, whatever the reason. Treatment marked declined or inactive in your PMS shows as Declined.
Q: Does declined treatment lower our acceptance %? Yes. Treatment marked declined or inactive in your PMS stays in Presented and counts as Unaccepted, the same as treatment that's still planned. Click the Declined number on the Presentation dashboard to see which patients and procedures are behind it.
Q: Our acceptance % dropped even though nothing changed. Why? If your team marked old treatment declined or inactive in the PMS (for example, cleaning up a patient's chart), that treatment now counts as Declined in the month it was originally planned.
Q: Why did last month's acceptance % go up? Patients scheduled or completed treatment that was planned last month. Those procedures moved from Planned to Accepted in the month they were planned.
Q: Why is a procedure completed this month missing from this month's numbers? It was treatment-planned in an earlier month, so it reports there. PMS case acceptance follows the planned date, not the completion date.
Q: Why are our counts so much higher than our number of treatment plans? PMS counts procedures. A crown with a buildup is 2, and a quadrant of fillings could be 4 or more.
Q: Why does the leaderboard show "Avg / Procedure" instead of "Avg / Plan" in PMS mode? PMS numbers count procedures, not treatment plans, so the average is the fee per procedure. It will look lower than the Staff view's per-plan average.
Q: Why don't cleanings, exams, or X-rays show up? Diagnostic (D0) and preventive (D1) codes are excluded. They're routine care, not presented treatment.
Q: Why does our front desk show $0 on the PMS view? The PMS only records the treating provider, so PMS numbers credit doctors and hygienists only. Front desk credit comes from presenting plans in TeamCare.
Q: A treatment was booked but still shows as Planned. Why? It needs to be attached to the scheduled appointment in your PMS. A procedure sitting on the treatment plan while the patient has an unrelated appointment still counts as Planned. Numbers also update on your PMS's normal sync schedule.
Q: Are the dollars what the patient owes? No. They're the full procedure fee from your PMS, before insurance.