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Basics of a Pilot LMS Case

A beginner's guide on case processing in Pilot LMS: case lifecycle, fields, available actions,

Written by Mykyta Medvediev

Overview

A case is the main object in Pilot. It represents a specific instance of work for a customer, such as a dental restoration, orthodontic treatment, or other service. Each case contains detailed information about the work to be performed, the products used, and the associated production schedule.

Case Information

Every case in Pilot contains the following information:

Core Fields

  1. Case Status: The current stage in the case lifecycle (see Case Lifecycle below)

  2. Patient: The patient's name for whom the work is being performed

  3. Casepan: The physical pan identifier for the case

  4. Customer: The doctor-office pair for whom the case is being created

  5. Due Date: When the case needs to be in the doctor's office

  6. Ship Date (not visible): When the case needs to be shipped to meet the due date. This is automatically calculated based on the due date minus the number of days the shipping route takes (accounting for Saturday/Sunday shipping availability)

  7. Invoiced Date: When the case was invoiced. This can only be adjusted after invoicing but before the case goes into a statement

  8. Shipped Date: When the case was shipped. This can only be adjusted after shipping the case

  9. Patient Appointment Date and Time: When the customer expects the patient for their appointment (can also be used to track custom shade appointments)

  10. Case Type: User-defined dropdown values for categorizing cases

  11. Tags: User-created tags with colors for easy filtering and organization of cases into lists

  12. Doctor Notes: Notes provided by the customer for this order

  13. Billing Notes: Lab's internal notes that will appear in the "Memo" field on the case invoice

  14. Shipping Route: By default, selected from the customer office's default shipping route, but can be changed as needed

  15. Charge Shipping: Whether to charge the customer for shipping (uses the shipping route's "Cost to Customer" property)

  16. Tracking Number: The tracking number of the shipment (when applicable)

Core case properties, part 1
Core case properties, part 2

Custom Fields

If Pilot LMS does not provide some field, you can add an unlimited number of custom fields. The custom fields can be required to be filled out, enforced to be unique, or be calculated automatically. Read more about Custom Fields in a separate article.

Case Lifecycle

A case goes through several stages in Pilot, each representing a different phase of the case lifecycle. Understanding these stages is crucial for effective case management:

Case Statuses

  1. Entry: This status is intended for the pre-production phase. It is assigned in two situations:

    1. When a case is synced via one of our IOS integrations

    2. When a case is created manually, and the "Go Live" button was not pressed yet

  2. Live: This status is intended for the production phase, indicating that the case is accepted and the products are being manufactured. It is assigned when the "Go Live" button is pressed or if the case is accepted through the IOS portal with the "Go Live" flag on

  3. Invoiced: This status is used when a case has been invoiced

  4. Closed: This status is used when the invoice was finalized and the case is "closed"

  5. Deleted: This status is used when you don't want to proceed with the case but want to keep a record of it. Deleted cases can have a deletion reason (e.g., "Cancelled"). You cannot delete invoiced and closed cases

Status column when you're searching for cases

System Flags

In addition to having typical lifecycle statuses, cases can simultaneously have other states that are binary flags (true/false):

  • Hold: This flag is used when a case is temporarily paused or requires additional information before proceeding. A case on hold can have a hold reason specified under "Dropdown Values" in settings

  • Outsourced: This flag is used when a case is sent to an external partner for production or fulfillment. To outsource a case, you need to have Outsourcing Partners set up

  • Shipped: This flag is used when a case is shipped. Once the case is closed, shipping/unshipping is not possible

  • Closed: This flag is used when a case's invoice is finalized. An invoice is always present with this flag.

Outsourcing Rules

  • Only cases with status "Live" can be outsourced

  • You can only outsource to the same outsourcing partner once

  • If a case has any products with an outsourcing production template, Pilot automatically re-creates the production schedule based on that template

Actions in Entry Status

While a case is in Entry status, you can:

  • Go Live: Schedule the case and move it to production, status becomes Live

  • Put on Hold: Temporarily pause the case with a hold reason

  • Delete Permanently: Remove the case completely from the system

  • Delete with Record: Delete the case but preserve a record with a deletion reason (e.g., "Customer Cancelled")

  • Merge Cases: Combine this case with another case in "Entry" or "Live" status if it's a duplicate. This moves attachments and scans from the source case to the destination case

  • Manage Exception Tasks: before this case is scheduled, add and assign work tasks to your teammates in order to proceed.

  • Manage Tags: put cases into custom, color-coded lists

  • Send Messages and Comments, and Log Calls

  • Change all case properties, except:

    • Invoiced Date

    • Shipped Date

    • Tracking Number

  • Manage Line Items

  • Manage Files

Actions in Live Status

When a case is in Live status, you can:

  • Invoice: Create an invoice for the case

  • Delete with Record: Delete the case but preserve a record with a deletion reason (e.g., "Customer Cancelled")

  • Ship: Mark the case as shipped and create a shipment

  • Outsource: Send the case to an external partner

  • Print:

    • Work Ticket: Production documentation for the lab

    • Draft Invoice: Preview of the invoice before finalizing

    • Package Label: Label for the case package

    • Crown Label: Label for individual crowns or units

  • Manage Exception Tasks: add and assign work tasks to your teammates in order to proceed.

  • Manage Production Tasks: add/remove/update production tasks

  • Manage Line Items

  • Manage Tags: put cases into custom color-coded lists

  • Send Messages and Comments, and Log Calls

  • Change all case properties, except:

    • Invoiced Date

    • Shipped Date

    • Tracking Number

  • Manage Files

Actions in Invoiced Status

When a case is in Invoiced status, you can:

  • Un-Invoice: remove the invoice for this case

  • Ship: Mark the case as shipped and create a shipment

  • Print:

    • Work Ticket: Production documentation for the lab

    • Invoice: Actual invoice document

    • Package Label: Label for the case package

    • Crown Label: Label for individual crowns or units

  • Manage Exception Tasks: add and assign work tasks to your teammates in order to proceed.

  • Manage Production Tasks: add/remove/update production tasks

  • Send Messages and Comments, and Log Calls

  • Change case properties:

    • Invoiced Date

    • Billing Notes

    • Custom Fields

Actions in Deleted Status

  • Restore: Puts the case back into Live or Entry statuses, depending on whether the case was scheduled before

Actions when Outsourced

  • Return from Outsource: outsource was successful and the case was received back

  • Cancel Outsource

  • Manage outsourced production tasks

  • Everything else in Live status

Actions when Hold

  • Release Hold

  • Everything else in Live status

Actions when Shipped

  • Invoice: Create an invoice for the case

  • Print:

    • Work Ticket: Production documentation for the lab

    • Invoice: Actual invoice document

    • Package Label: Label for the case package

    • Crown Label: Label for individual crowns or units

  • Unship: remove shipment from this case

  • Check shipment status (if using UPS or FedEx)

  • Change case properties:

    • Tracking Number

    • Due Date

    • Shipped Date

Case Tabs

Details Tab

Main tab of the case information:

Details Changelog Tab

The tails Changelog tab provides comprehensive audit logs for every single activity and event that happened on the case, including:

  • Who made changes and when

  • What fields were modified

  • Status transitions

  • Production task updates

  • Communication history

  • And much more

This detailed events log ensures complete transparency and accountability for all case-related actions.

Best Practices

  • Use case tags to organize and filter cases by type, priority, or other criteria

  • Link remake cases immediately to maintain accurate tracking and prevent confusion

  • Leverage custom fields to track lab-specific information that's important to your workflow

  • Review the Events Log when investigating case issues or tracking down specific changes

  • Use billing notes to communicate important information that should appear on invoices

  • Star cases, just like you would "star" an email - a catch-all category for "Important".

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