3 Reasons To Update Your Practice’s Dental Software

The dental practice management software you chose when you opened or purchased your practice fit your needs at the time, but a lot has changed over the years. First, your practice has evolved. Second, technology has continued to advance in remarkable ways. And third, your patients’ expectations have changed. You’ve also learned much through your own and your staff’s experience about how well the software and the software vendor suit or don’t suit your needs. It’s likely time to sit down with your staff and evaluate just how well your practice management software is keeping your office running at peak efficiency.

Your Practice Has Evolved; Make Sure Your Dental Software Is Keeping Up

You probably started small, doing basic cleanings, extractions, and fillings. Today your practice has grown to include a larger staff, multiple specialties such as crowns and implants, and more patients coming through the door. The software that handled your scheduling and billing in your practice’s youth might not be keeping up with your progress. If you have a full schedule and need to keep your workflow moving quickly, the manual processes of your old software such as patient check-ins, charting, and claims validations are likely slowing you down.

Dental Technology Has Evolved; Your Dental Practice Management Software Has to Stay Ahead

Consider how technology has changed just since you last purchased practice management software. Impressions, crowns, implants, patient scheduling, insurance claims, month-end reporting, and more have all undergone remarkable changes in just the last few years. Your dental software should stay ahead of these changes, integrating with the latest intraoral cameras, giving you flexible access to images, communicating with patients, and presenting automated efficiency reports.

Today’s Patients Don’t Act Like Their Predecessors

Patience is not one of your patients’ attributes. They want easy access to your practice. Including scheduling appointments, downloading forms, and learning about dental care. They also want to be reminded when it’s time for an appointment or recare, and each wants their reminder in a different way: text, email, phone call, or traditional postcard. And when they visit, they expect you to present their treatment plan in a way they can understand, and they want your staff to understand their insurance coverages. Your dental software should automate all these tasks so your staff doesn’t get overwhelmed trying to keep your patients happy while filling chairs.

Start Now with a Formal Review

Don’t think of your software as a necessity like the plumbing in your building. Use it as an enabler¹ that takes your practice to greater efficiencies and success. Start with a dental software review. Talk with your staff and make a list of what works and what doesn’t. Include two scores on a one-to-10 scale, bad-to-good. One score for the importance to your practice and the second score for how well your dental practice management software serves your practice in the following categories:

• Overall ease of use
• Can you and your staff use the dental software without hiccups and manual steps?
• Learning curve
• How long does it take to train new staff members?
• Attracting new patients
• Do you have tools to promote your practice online?
• Scheduling and communicating with patients
• Can you easily schedule patients and remind them of appointments?
• Managing your website
• Is your website up to date?
• Managing online reviews
• Can you easily gather reviews from happy patients and post them online?
• Charting
• Do you have everything you need from clinical information to treatment planning in one place?
• Integrations
• Does your dental software integrate with other software and equipment so they feel like one system?
• Claims, reimbursements and billing
• Can you file your claims and attachments electronically, and does your software validate and track claims?
• Depth and clarity of business performance reports
• Do they give you an easy-to-understand look at the health of your practice, and are they customizable?
• Training and support
• Does your vendor provide training, and are the support people responsible, knowledgeable, and enjoyable to work with?

If you find that your system no longer meets your needs, , it’s time to start your search for dental practice management software that does. A software purchase can be very complex, considering all the add-on services, integrations, and payment options. Speak with a representative and make sure they are patient and answer all your questions completely.

Start researching practice management systems that are well known and have many years of experience, such as Dentrix, which can connect your practice technology into one management system and one workflow, so your team can work smarter.

_{¹ Dentaltown, “Technology: The True Foundation of Your Practice,” Gerald Bittner Jr., DDS, https://www.dentaltown.com/magazine/article/6268/technology-the-true-foundation-of-your-practice}