Skip to content

First day with Ordo

This page is the orientation. After you finish it, you should be able to sign in, find the inbox, open a sample file, and know which buttons are safe to click.

1. Sign in

Go to the Ordo website your practice was given.

On the sign-in screen you will see two modes:

  • Demo — practice with sample data. Safe. Nothing is written to your real Open Dental.
  • Actual — your live practice. Use this only when you are ready to work real EOBs.

For a first day, choose Demo. Then either:

  • Click through as the demo user (no real password needed in Demo), or
  • In Actual, sign in with email and password, or request a one-time email code.

More detail: Sign in.

2. Look at the left sidebar

The sidebar is the building directory. From top to bottom you will typically see:

  1. Ordo (the logo) — you are in payment operations.
  2. Modules — EOB Dashboard, Patients, Reports, Docs.
  3. Practice — Clinic settings (if your role can open it).
  4. App mode — Demo or Actual toggle, plus a HIPAA-ready note.

If a module is missing, that is normal. Your role hides what you are not allowed to use. A Viewer will not see posting buttons. An insurance reviewer may not see Clinic settings. See Roles and who can do what.

3. Open the EOB Dashboard

This is the inbox. Each row is one uploaded remittance file, not one patient.

You will see:

  • How many files were uploaded today
  • How many still need a person to look at them
  • How many payments have been posted
  • Files that failed to read

Under the summary is the file list. You can search by file name, filter by status (Uploaded, Extracting, Extracted, Failed, Archived), and filter by uploaded date (today, last 7 days, last 30 days, this month).

If your role allows it, there is an Upload EOBs button. Demo may already have sample files so you can skip uploading.

4. Open one file

Click a row. You land on that remittance’s patient list.

Do this in order the first time:

  1. Tick the checkbox next to one patient (or a few).
  2. Click Fetch Open Dental. This loads matching chart data so the Open Dental tab is not empty.
  3. Click the patient name.
  4. Look at the three tabs:
  5. EOB Review — what Ordo read from the PDF.
  6. Open Dental — the claim Ordo thinks is the match, line by line.
  7. Audit — the individual checks (name, date of service, procedure codes, amounts).

Opening a patient before Fetch

If you open a patient before clicking Fetch Open Dental, you will only see the EOB side. That is expected, not a bug. Go back, select the patient, fetch, then open again.

5. Learn the two “commit” buttons

On the Open Dental tab you will eventually see:

Button What it means in plain language Writes to Open Dental?
Approve match “Yes, this is the right claim.” No
Post payment “Write the insurance paid amounts now.” Yes (Actual mode only, when connected)
Reject match “This is the wrong claim. Throw this match away.” No

Post payment stays off until the match is approved. That is on purpose: two steps, two chances to stop.

In Demo, posting is simulated. In Actual, posting writes InsPayAmt (the plan covered amount from the EOB) onto the Open Dental procedure lines.

Walk through a full example: Post a payment.

6. Peek at Patients and Reports

  • Patients is the same extracted people, but across every file. Use it when someone asks “where is Maria Santos?” and you do not remember which PDF she was on.
  • Reports is the operations scoreboard. Filter by uploaded date and by which EOBs you care about. Archived files are left out.

7. What not to do on day one

  • Do not switch to Actual and upload a real patient EOB unless your practice has already gone live with Ordo. Until then, use Demo or synthetic (fake) files.
  • Do not click Post payment on a claim you have not read. Approve is cheap; posting is the real write.
  • Do not assume a green “Match” on every line means the patient is correct. Always glance at the Audit tab if something feels off.

A first-day checklist

Copy this and tick it off:

  • [ ] I can sign in (Demo is fine).
  • [ ] I can find EOB Dashboard in the sidebar.
  • [ ] I can open a file and see a list of patients.
  • [ ] I know I must Fetch Open Dental before the Open Dental tab has live chart data.
  • [ ] I know Approve match does not post, and Post payment does.
  • [ ] I know my role may hide some buttons, and that is expected.

When you are ready, read What is a module? or jump straight into Inside an EOB. For a full button catalog, see What each operation does.