Recall Files

For each recall code you need two files. How you name the files is critical. The names contain within them the first five characters of the individual recall code. This is best described by showing you some example codes and their corresponding file names. For instance if you use recall code "HP" the corresponding files are:

M6RHP.DAT and M6SHP.DAT

More examples are:

Recall Code        File Names        

APPT        M6RAPPT.DAT        

1                M6R1.DAT        

10                M6R1O.DAT        

6MONTH        M6R6MONT.DAT        

The following will not work because the first five characters of each recall code are not unique:

Recall Code        File Names        

LETTER1        M6RLETTE.DAT        

LETTER2        M6RLETTE.DAT        

For your files, the M6R....DAT file is the header file. If you are using the SSI® recall forms, this file should be an empty file because there is no header. All that is needed is for the file to exist (see SSI® Note below for instructions on creating an empty file). If you are using the recall program to create a recall report you may want to include a header to appear at the top of the first page. Using a text editor such as DOS EDIT or Notepad you can create any header you wish. Never use tabs when creating your text file.

The M6S....DAT file is the body of the recall and must be the same length as the requested letter/document. This file contains your entire recall message and any request codes for information that you want pulled in from the patient database in the format: [*01*] . If you have multiple recall reasons then all the M6S*.DAT files must be the same length. If you use the standard SSI® snap-apart recall forms you must be aware that they are exactly 33 lines long. If you use DOS edit or another text editor that shows line and character position, you want to set up your file so that:

The patient's address starts at line 27, character 11. If you use the recall for creating reports instead of recall forms, you are not really limited to the spacing. Just remember that the neater you create the report, the easier it will be to read and interpret. A standard piece of 8 1/2 X 11 paper is 66 lines in length and approximately 80 usable characters wide if you use a standard dot matrix printer. If you use a laser printer the measurements may be different depending on the font, proportional spacing, etc. You cannot use a laser printer with a snap-apart form. This type of form requires an "impact" printer. A laser printer does not "hit" the paper; it "coats" the paper like a copy machine so the image is only on the top copy.

In the \ssiwin\1 sub-directory is a sample file named RECALL.TEM that can be copied from \ssiwin\1 into your data account to use as a starting template. The command to copy this file into your account is:

COPY \ssiwin\1\RECALL.TEM \ssiwin\30XXXX\M6SHP.DAT

Print the sample file and study how it is setup.

The next step is to use your favorite text editor to make appropriate changes. Request codes can be used to pull in specific information on each patient. For instance, "[*25*]" will cause the patients account balance to print. This would be useful in a collection letter. The RECALL.TEM file uses the following request codes,

[*10*]

[*11*]

[*12*]

to pull in the guarantor name, street address and city-state-zip, respectively. You can find a complete list of request codes at the end of the CUSTOM REPORT section.

Once you have edited your recall, save the file as a DOS text or ASCII file. Be sure to test your recalls before using them for a complete run.

SSI® Note Since the recall program removes the recall tag from each account as it creates the letter, it is important to set up and test recall codes and their corresponding letters/forms before beginning to tag patient accounts.