Dental Practice Management: Avoid Practice Failure

Can dental software stop a practice from failing?  What causes a dental practice to fail? Both good questions, and ones that will be answered in this article.

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Can Dental Software Stop a Practice From Failing?

Can dental software stop a practice from failing?  Not necessarily.  When a practice reaches the point of failure, it is usually too late for anything, even good software to stop that downward spiral.  Software is usually deployed when the practice is setting up or during a conversion process.

Usually, during conversion, legacy systems that are still necessary are incorporated into the new dental software system, hopefully as seamlessly as possible, however, there are no guarantees.  Ironically, implementation of the wrong dental software can adversely affect the dental practice.  If the software is too difficult to use, or it doesn't communicate interoffice, it could be a contributing factor towards the practice shutting its doors.

What Causes a Dental Practice to Fail?

What causes a dental practice to fail?  To put it succinctly: bad decisions.  If a dentist puts their practice somewhere that doesn't have the greatest visibility, and relies solely on foot traffic, then within three years tops, they will be likely calling a realtor.  Word of mouth, while an often effective way of getting new patients isn't everything.  A good, well-run practice should hire a marketing firm, and take advantage of the Internet.  In addition, if the rent is cheap but the visibility is bad, then that is merely a matter of getting signage to improve the visibility of the dental practice.  Another way that practices mess up is in how they think about themselves.  If they think of themselves as a business first, and a service second, they are more likely to prosper.

Ultimately, a dentist has to wear a lot of hats, and know where to delegate.  In addition to working on the oral health of his or her patients, a dentist also has to be a boss, a referee, and a traffic cop.  Everything must interconnect together and allow the practice to run smoothly.  Why a smoothly running practice is more likely to succeed than one that isn't the greatest is simple: reputation.  Remember when we discussed word of mouth?  If your practice gets a reputation for being badly managed, everyone is going to look for another dentist instead of filling your waiting room.  So use the tips and tricks that work, such as installing dental practice management software.

DentiMax, LLC
4115 E. Valley Auto Dr.
Suite 101
Mesa, AZ 85206
(800) 704-8494
http://www.dentimax.com

Running a Dental Practice: Choosing the Right Software

Dental software is one of the tools that you will likely need in order to run a successful dental practice.  The key to running a practice is to run it like a business.  However, there is a lot more to running a practice...

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Dental Practice Management

The success of a dental practice depends on a lot of factors.  First off, there's the location of your practice.  This may sound trivial but the location of your dental practice will determine the clientele you're going to have.  If you set up your practice in a run down strip mall in a very bad neighborhood, it's very likely you're not going to attract patients that can pay your fees.  If you set up a practice in a fairly upscale area, however, you're going to get fairly affluent patients.  The next thing that you need to add to your list, is to hire competent and professional employees.  Nepotism doesn't work where dental practices are concerned, unless they are good at what they do.  If you hire your brother, cousin, sister, what have you to save money and they're rude to your patients, or don't know one end of dental software from the other, then you're going to end up losing patients.  Next on the must have list is equipment.

Dental Office Equipment and Software

If you're setting up a new practice, get a digital X-Ray machine.  One, they're safer than those old school X-Ray machines, and two, they are much easier to read as well as see any problems that may be present with your patients.  The next thing on your list is dental practice software.  The right  dental practice software, that is.  With the right software, you can totally integrate your practice as well as your employees into a tight and efficiently running unit.  There is one other thing that you'll need in order to make your dental practice work: the right mindset.

A lot of times, we've seen doctors who forget that even though there is a medical component to their practice, at heart, all dental practices are a for profit business.  That may sound hard, but that is the truth.  Without business sense, even if you have a great location, good people, high-tech equipment and of course dental software, you are just waiting to close your doors.

DentiMax, LLC
4115 E. Valley Auto Dr.
Suite 101
Mesa, AZ 85206
(800) 704-8494
(480) 396-1798
More Info on Dental Software

Why Dentists Need Dental Practice Management Software (Contd.)

As we discussed in our last article, there are several reasons to get dental software for your practice.

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More Reasons for Dental Software

2 Communicate and Document Your Client's Treatment Plan
Using dental practice management software, it's possible to know what your patients expect during a visit, what was done during their last visit, as well as the next step after that visit. A good software is available to document this data.

In other words, you are efficiently documenting your patient's treatment plan process in a way that allows for tracking while eliminating paperwork. And because their information is digitally-stored, you can pull out reports at any time to see who finished their treatment and who didn't. Because you're able to follow up, you'll avoid legal problems that may arise when a patient encounters a problem simply because both of you didn't stick to a plan.

It's your responsibility to document and follow through all treatment processes and recommendations. That's where computerized patient records come in.

3 You Can Meet Your Production Goals Easily
Meeting individual production goals in a dental office doesn't happen by chance. Instead, each member of your staff needs to define their respective goals as well as establish a path on how they are going to achieve them.

A dental practice management software comes with an integrated scheduler, where staff members can easily enter their goals and also see how the day's scheduled production goals are in line with their expected production for that day.

When the day ends, a record can be produced, showing each member's production, and whether or not patient record was complete. What's more, total production can be viewed and measured according to the set goals on a particular day. You can also generate financial reports, based on dates, and measure them up in line with your goals.

Insurance and Processing:  Practice Integration

4 Follow Up an Insurance Claim
An electronic software designed for dentists can make following up insurance claim an easy task, which translates to faster payments. The management software simply validates the records electronically before sending them to the payer. Again, you can minimize rejection claims since it tracks down and even attaches all documents that may be needed for a claim to go through.

5 Paperless Processing of Payments
With a dental management software, you can mainstream the process of payment to ensure that it's efficient and doesn't involve any paperwork. In fact, some companies dealing with dental management software offer hardware that can be used in credit/debit card payments, and this goes along with the entire operation of the software in question. Consequently, the system automatically processes and records any transaction done.

So if you haven't acquired any dental practice management software, you're loosing it. And if you've realized that achieving your goals in the office is harder than ever, what you need is a management software, to let you operate and run things smoothly and efficiently.

Read more...

DentiMax, LLC
4115 E. Valley Auto Dr.
Suite 101
Mesa, AZ 85206
(800) 704-8494
http://www.dentimax.com

Why Dentists Need Dental Practice Management Software

Dental software is not a luxury.  It is a necessity for a modern dental practice.

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Dental Software Improves Productivity and Profitability

An efficient dental team knows how to improve productivity and profitability at the workplace. After all, it's a win-win situation, where you offer good services to your patient in exchange for some good money. But what sets you apart from the average dentist? How do you ensure that you are operating smoothly and consistently in your office?

You see, several things take place in a dental office. Records of patients have to be kept safe, billing needs to be planned well, appointments need to be organized etc. These are tasks that can't be achieved the brick and mortar way. For instance, when dealing with your patients records, you realize that they are subjective, and may contain different cases - and you risk mixing things up. Again, you realize that you'll have to follow up an insurance claim from time to time, process payments from clients, and make sure that everything is running smoothly.

As you can see, there's a lot of work involved here, which calls for a good dental practice management software. This is computer software that can make your work easier and save you time. Consequently, it will reflect in your happy customers who keep coming back for your services.

Key Reasons Why You Should Use a Dental Practice Software

1 Easy Scheduling
New dentist practice businesses rely on paperwork due to the notion that dental practice software is expensive. But you see, what they don't know is that paperwork can lead to frustrations in the office. It even contributes to inefficient communication, which ultimately breads a number of greater problems.

Your office workflow greatly depends on how you schedule things for the day. A good dental practice software often has a scheduling system integrated into it, so your staff can use the features to gain easy access to a short call list. Again, you can track the length of time that patients are kept waiting on the appointment list.

In other words, it allows you and your staff members to achieve a greater control and flexibility level at the workplace, serving every patient conveniently. The right tools can help your practice to succeed.  You need some sort of X-ray system, preferably digital.

The final tool you need ties all the rest together.  You need the right dental software.

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DentiMax, LLC
4115 E. Valley Auto Dr.
Suite 101
Mesa, AZ 85206
(800) 704-8494
http://www.dentimax.com

More About Choosing the Best Dental Office Software

Dental practice integration software serves a lot of purposes.

A dental practice works best with the right practice management tools

Dental Software Programs and How They Help

Such dental software programs will also help an individual maintain client records, manage billing and insurance cover, plus coordinate the agenda without any difficulty. Therefore, you will be able to reduce the worry you go through on the job. These kind of programs will even make it easier to produce specific calculations and beneficial conclusions. In addition, an individual might still be capable of operate while visiting if you get cellular oral computer software.

Having said that, before you buy the program, a person should be informed on the different plans on the market. You actually should be aware of which companies are suitable for your current dentistry practice needs. As well, you should think about several critical indicators like easy, main system match ups, features, cost, and also effectiveness. An individual should ensure the fact that the program you purchase will be able to offer you by means of high quality illustrations or photos as well as accurate info.

Dental Professionals and Practice Management

For anybody who is a dental professional whom is an expert in cosmetic dentistry, you ought to pick out dentistry computer software that should help you to present clients whatever they may be like after having a surgical procedure or surgical treatment. They must know what should be expected after having a specific plastic dentist course of action. It should likewise be able to evaluate the possibility issues that the patients can offer. It needs to be successful throughout delivering dental facial exams, imaging features, and demonstrations involving procedures.

If you have to carry out quick diagnostics and notify the individuals regarding potential problems and also situations, you ought to get dentistry imaging computer software. It must be capable of publish digital camera x-rays right away plus increase and enlarge graphics. It is better if it dental software program is efficient at automatically keeping graphics towards the documents regarding clients, including notes, and turning and also magnifying images to help you effortlessly notice all dental issues.

Versatility, dependability, usefulness, and creativity should be made in every computer software. Your application must be able to generate adjustments, complete multi tasking, up-date files, integrate your day-to-day business office solutions, employ index charts and graphs, and still provide factual facts. You ought to be capable of quickly set up it to do what you long for. Naturally, it needs to be reliable continually. It shouldn't lock up and it must provide the actual assistance that you desire.

The particular dentistry computer software that you just choose must be convenient to use nevertheless able to execute complex projects. Your office employees must be able to apply it although individuals absence learning. Should you would prefer to get training, even though; you must make sure the fact that charges involved are acceptable. Furthermore, your software should be intended for speedy upgrades. You ought to be competent to enhance its actual features, so you can maintain the most recent trends in technological know-how in dental software.

DentiMax, LLC
4115 E. Valley Auto Dr.
Suite 101
Mesa, AZ 85206
Dental Software

Choosing the Best Dental Office Software (Contd)

Dental software helps a busy practice to succeed.

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The Difference Good Dental Software Can Make

How can dental software help?  By consolidating and integrating different systems together.  Today's dentist is as busy as ever. Not only at work but at home. It's no wonder mobile devices such as iPhones and Blackberrys are very popular among dentists. And although their custom tailored software has made headway in digital radiology it has not foraged as far in wide based connect-ability.

Dental office integration software have been around for decades. With new technology comes changes and enhancements to these complicated and mission critical systems. Whether you use Dentrix or Abelsoft for scheduling, charting, billing or reporting you know that your practice cannot live without it.

So far the dental software vendors have been relatively slow to incorporate the use of the Internet with their current programs. Their systems have remained a offline solution. This is unfortunate as the connect-ability options have spread not just between computers, but to mobile phones, netbooks, iPads, and many more mobile devices. Just imagine checking your schedule or view your production reports on your Blackberry or iPhone.

Good Dental Software is Tech Savvy

Good dental software is tech savvy.  Taking these offline systems online will be a hot topic in years to come. Privacy, security, and convenience will be high priorities in the design and development of the online functionality. This functionality will also need to integrate smoothly into legacy and current systems. While not all features of current software will need to go online, scheduling, reporting, and accounting will be ones that you'll see take to the web.

As a owner of a dental practice you will soon be connected no matter where you are. This may be of most interest for dentists which own or practice at multiple offices.  While the dental management software giants are slowly designing their move to online capability there are a add-on products which are popping up on the Internet which bridge this gap. These add-ons may not give you full functionality while you are out of the office, they can still be of great value.

So remember, when you want to integrate the systems of your practice, you want to make sure that you have a common interface to make it easy for all of your employees to access.  That's where installing dental software comes in.

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DentiMax, LLC
4115 E. Valley Auto Dr.
Suite 101
Mesa, AZ 85206
(800) 704-8494
http://www.dentimax.com

Dental Practice Management: Take Control of Your Financials Contd

Once you’ve identified your collection problems, you’ll want to put your staff to work.  In your next morning huddle, use a highlighter to identify large outstanding patient and insurance balances.  Then direct your front desk to call these patients and insurance companies.  Your staff may need to resubmit claims, and even send patients to collections.

 

A dental practice works best with the right practice management tools

Use an Effective Appointment Reminder and Recall System

A good patient reminder and recall system is the lifeblood of most successful practices.  Fortunately, just like your patient collection needs, your computer software system should provide an effective system to help your staff ensure high patient appointment compliance.

 

Recall Appointments

I find that the best time to create the next recall appointments for patients is while they are still in the office.  Be sure your staff does everything they can to make your patients’ next check-up appointments before the patients leave.   Sure, patients might forget the exact day of an appointment six months out, but the mere fact that they have made an appointment will serve to commit them to coming back.  Your software should provide an easy way to print recall appointment cards and lists so that, well before the scheduled recall appointment, you can remind patients of their recall appointments.

 

Appointment Reminders

There is nothing quite like experiencing a no show on a three-unit bridge appointment.  We’ve all had them, and, to some degree, it goes with the territory, but there are new tools available that will help minimize missed appointments.  To be sure, your front desk staff should make personal confirmation calls to all large cases; however, this type of personal follow-up drains a staff’s time and may be overkill for smaller cases, especially for offices running a lean staff.  Some software systems now offer the ability to e-mail customized appointment reminders directly from the appointment book screen.  If your system doesn’t have this capability, you may want to look into a third-party add-on service that can send e-mail and/or text message reminders to patients.  Don’t overlook your appointment reminder system because anything you can do to help your patients keep their appointments will have a direct impact on your bottom line.

DentiMax, LLC
4115 E. Valley Auto Dr.
Suite 101
Mesa, AZ 85206
(800) 704-8494
(480) 396-1798
http://www.dentimax.com

Patient Scheduling: It Can Make or Break Your Practice

How important is patient scheduling?  In a word, vital.

Patient Scheduling: It Can Make or Break Your Practice

By Shelly Mendoza

Today, many dentists face financial challenges that have been generally absent in dentistry.  Your staff’s ability to schedule productive days that increase overall collections is more important than ever.  There is a concept many doctors have not heard of called “scheduling by production.”  This is where your staff members use the features of your software’s appointment book to optimize what you produce and collect each day – and can give your practice immediate financial results.

Patient Scheduling Software: The Foundation of Your Practice

A practice’s financial success all starts with the schedule.

A practice’s financial success all starts with the schedule.  Your staff can maximize your schedule by doing the following:  schedule patients by type of procedure, create simple graphs where they can visually measure your scheduled and actual dollars, and create goals to see how close they are to making your numbers.  These software tools provide an easy guide for your front desk to help them schedule an ideal day that increases your production and collection.  And, maybe more importantly, this will help prevent the crazy overscheduled day that is followed by a day so unproductive that it doesn’t even cover the cost to pay your staff!

Running a productive day, every day, without complication, should be second nature to your staff.  This can be achieved by following these simple “schedule by production” steps:  First, determine how much money it really takes to cover the cost of your staff, pay your bills, and pay yourself.  Second, based on your patient treatment plans, determine how many high production and other procedures should be scheduled each day.  And last, make sure your staff utilizes your software’s appointment template feature to set a schedule that allows them to “drop in” the appropriate appointments and tally up your goal as they schedule and collect.  Following these steps will essentially take the guess work out of scheduling your day.

To read more about this topic, please click here

DentiMax, LLC
4115 E. Valley Auto Dr.
Suite 101
Mesa, AZ 85206
(800) 704-8494
(480) 396-1798
http://www.dentimax.com

Digital X Rays: Top Ten Things You Can Do With Your Old Darkroom

Digital X-Rays are the future.  But what do you do if you have old school X-Ray equipment?

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Digital X-Ray Sensors and X-Ray Developers

If you purchased or built out your dental office over five years ago, you may very well have one of those small rooms that used to house your old, temperamental, chemical-consuming x-ray processor. Your employees used to wear a path to this room over and over, multiple times every day. Some days the processor worked slowly, but well. Other days it didn’t, and you had no choice but to call the $100 per hour technician! Then something changed -- you decided to try some of those new-fangled digital x-ray sensors! At first, you kept your old x-ray processor “just in case.” Then you and your staff stopped going to that little room entirely. The door was shut, and nobody has given it a second thought since.
Digital x-ray technology has proven itself to be equally reliable and incredibly superior to film in diagnostic quality, time efficiency, overhead reduction, patient exposure, and environmental impact. I have been utilizing digital x-ray sensors in my own practice for a year and a half now, and I would be willing to argue that the digital x-ray has been the single-most revolutionary addition to the practice of dentistry since the advent of light-cured composite!

Digital Sensors

I have been extremely satisfied with the DentiMax sensors my staff has been using day in and day out. One of the things that excited me the most about these sensors at first was the price! It made me skeptical that they were one of the least expensive sensors available while at the same time being the slimmest. The CRA report on the DentiMax sensors rated them very high in comparison to the much more expensive “Name Brand” sensors we have all heard of. I am happy to report that the chance I took on these sensors has paid off.
I have also found my digital imaging software to be extremely intuitive and easy to use. The tools it provides are powerful, and they have helped me countless times as I have been able to easily diagnose and show my patient what is wrong in his or her mouth. My treatment plan presentations have increased in quality and efficiency now that I can easily show patients, on a 23” screen, exactly where the problems are. Even more important to me, I sense that my patients trust me more as their dentist and they take ownership of their treatment plans more readily after they have been able to see for themselves, in black and white and a thousand shades of grey, what needs to be done.
So, back to the darkroom. What in the world should we do with those little abandoned rooms that exist, or will shortly exist as soon as you make the move to go digital?
And so, without further delay, “THE TOP TEN THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR OLD DARKROOM,” in descending order:
10. Remodel it into a shower.
9. A place to put those bulky, old, archived paper files.
8. Start a retro photography hobby.
7. Install a soda fountain with energy drinks where the processor used to be.
6. Change it into a private office for the office manager or associate.
5. Panic Room!!! (You decide what kind of panic.)
4. Convert it into a floor-to-ceiling saltwater aquarium.
3. Create a sauna room (for those cold winter days or when the A/C is freezing you out).
2. Turn it into a tanning booth! (Great for employee retention.)
And the number one thing you can do with your old darkroom --
1. Finally, a place to put that cushy massage chair.
I wish you the best as you decide what to do with yours.

DentiMax, LLC
4115 E. Valley Auto Dr.
Suite 101
Mesa, AZ 85206
(800) 704-8494
(480) 396-1798
http://www.dentimax.com

Dental Practice Management and a Well Designed Website

As we stated once before, having a website is crucial for effective dental practice management.  

The Web and Your Dental Practice

The World Wide Web is only a part of the Internet.  However, it is the part that most people are familiar with.  If you consider, websites have changed a lot over the years. On the scheme of things, even though the Web isn't all that old it has become indispensible.  It used to be that websites were nothing more than a curiosity and a novelty, now they're required particularly where managing a dental practice is concerned.  

Even so, a lot of businesses still don't think that they need a website in these tech-savvy times.  In our last article, we covered the importance of having a website.    This article will cover some important design tips.  First off, and this can't be stressed enough, hire a pro.  

Why A Dental Practice Needs a Professional Site

When you're thinking about getting a website, be smart.  There are lots of companies offering design services, but make sure that you're getting someone that knows what they're doing, particularly if they're a freelancer.

Ask for some samples of their work.  Do their websites look clean and well-formatted, or do they look amateurish and hearken back to the old days of the web with animated gifs, and web counters?  And what about if they build websites that are designed using a template? To begin, know that template websites have also come a long way since the early days. It used to be that web purists sniffed at websites that were designed and built using a template.  However, unless there is a real need for a lot of features on your site, a template is a good way to get yourself a simple, easy to navigate website.  There is also another important design element to consider with your site.

Keep your website simple.  You don't need an animated intro that will waste the time of your patients who are only looking for a dentist because they lost a crown, or chipped a molar.  If you make it too hard, any potential new patients are going to look for a dentist that has a more navigable site.  

A successful dental practice depends on a lot of things.  You need management software, and competent employees.  You need a dentist obviously, and equipment.  But the most important thing you're going to need for your practice is patients.  And the best way to get them is to make yourself as visible as you can.  Getting a website is also a part of dental practice management.  

DentiMax, LLC
4115 E. Valley Auto Dr.
Suite 101
Mesa, AZ 85206
(800) 704-8494
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